[Elecraft] Antenna Wire

[Art-W6KY]

Phillip,
I agree with Ron. I used the Hard-drawn stranded copper from HRO. Made
a dipole, 100ft per side, 450ohm ladderline. Had it up 3 years for 160 meters.
No stretch in the wire. Measured when I took it down. Still wuthin 1/8 of an
inch after 3 years....Also Universal Radio sells the Steel center/Copper clad
by the foot. Great stuff..
Good Luck,  Art  W6KY
K1-2  K1-4 

Ron D'Eau Claire <rondec at easystreet.com> wrote:
Sorry to hear that Phillip. 

Just about any wire is fine. Insulation makes no difference. 

Since you are subject to strong winds there, you might want to go with the
stronger types of wire designed for antennas. You want to stay with
something at least copper-clad. RF flows in the surface of the wire so the
insides don't matter at all. Hard-drawn stranded copper is very common and
sold by HRO and other outlets. Stronger yet is "copperweld", a single-strand
steel wire jacketed with copper. It's very strong but kinks easily. It's
like handling a giant slinky once you get it loose but not under tension.
One kink is deadly; it drastically weakens the wire at that point. Be very
careful as you pull the wire straight to make sure no loops turn into kinks.


Are you stringing wire between trees or even a long span between solid
supports? If so, you might want to consider some strain relief. When I lived
where high winds blew, I secured one end of my antenna by running a rope
from the end insulator over a pulley at the top of the support and down near
the ground. There it looped through another pulley and was run back up
several feet and tied off. To the "floating pulley near the ground I hooked
a bucket with some rocks in it - enough to hold proper tension on the wire.
When the wind blew, the antenna could sway and the bucket of rocks would
move up and down. It had about 4 feet of travel, but I never saw my 150 foot
wire move it more than a foot or two, even in 70 to 80 MPH gusts. 

If you do that, be sure the bucket has lots of holes in the bottom. A strong
storm with lots of rain can fill it and make it too heavy or rust out the
bottom over time so the rocks fall out! 

If you have a tree that sways, you might consider such a flexible attachment
at each end, and make sure the feed line has enough give to it doesn't limit
the travel. 

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Phil LaMarche
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 1:36 PM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Antenna Wire


Just lost all my wire antenna's in the hurricane just passed. The wire
broke in the wind. What should I purchase to replace what is lost?

Thanks in advance.

Philip LaMarche
LaMarche Enterprises, Inc.
www.instantgourmetspices.com 
727-944-3226
(800) 395-7795 pin 02
Cell 727-510-5038
N.A.S.F.T # 30210
W9DVM





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