[Elecraft] WA3WSJ: Bead-Wire Antenna

[Marshall Jose]

Since the wire is quite thin, the resonant element which results will 
have a rather high-Q and therefore best used for a narrow range (such as 
the CW sub-band). My wife does beading and uses the stuff; it looks to 
me like stranded stainless wire with a nylon jacket.

My guess is that the high Q will win out over the skin effect of the SS. 
Furthermore, although nylon is lossy at RF, that usually applies where 
the tangential electric field is relatively intense, such as when the 
nylon serves as an insulator or a capacitor dielectric, rather than 
merely as a jacket.

I also think Ed will have loads of fun in spite of the losses. :) Stay 
dry, man!

Marshall, WA3VPZ

Steve wrote:

> Ed,
> Some of this stuff is plastic coated steel or stainless steel, similar 
> to a
> fishing leader.  This could explain the difficulty in soldering to it.
>
> If it's truly not copper based, I would be concerned about potential
> resistive losses for long antenna runs.
>
> Is there a way to determine what material this wire is made from?
>
> Steve
> aa8af
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> >
> > I received lots of emails concerning my "Bead-Wire Antenna."
> > I've decided to post on the reflectors rather than send out
> > to each Individual op.
> >
> > Here's what I did to make my antenna. I went out to my local
> > craft store called " The Rag Shop" and bought a 40' spool of
> > flexible bead wire.
>