[Milsurplus] Antenna wire

[Paul Thekan]

Jim
Mike beat me to it with identifying the wire as phosphor bronze..I was just
getting my tea then.
I think Jim your thinking of the reel of that wire as used on the 'Gibson
Girl' SCR 578 survival radio that was used on aircraft during WW2 and
beyond.  I think it was 20 gauge or smaller and used to attach to a balloon
or kite to get it aloft.

 The antenna company  I had worked for TCI used this wire on all their
portable field antennas and of course a heavier gauge stranded wire . I'm
guessing a more tempered wire than what Mike had used .
  I have a " field portable' wire Rhombic 2 -30 mhz antenna and 90 ft of
aluminum tower that  I got from them and it uses this wire.

Ive found it makes great antenna wire for portable use .

Good luck on your project
Paul
N6FEG




On Fri, Sep 29, 2023, 5:49 AM Michael Hanz <aaf-radio-1 at aafradio.org> wrote:

> I seem to recall Radio Shack selling this type of "antenna wire", which is
> perhaps more properly called "phosphor bronze".  I have never found a
> record of any such wire used with aircraft equipment (my peculiar interest)
> back in the HF days.  The roll of Radio Shack stuff started sagging almost
> immediately every time I tried to use it, which is why I quickly shifted to
> the Copperweld type that the Services used.  The link below mentions that
> the "...electrical conductivity of phosphor bronze is about 15% that of
> pure copper."  That may or may not be of any interest to you.
>
>
> https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/metals-metal-products/all-about-phosphor-bronze-strength-properties-and-uses/
>
> Good luck,
> - Mike  KC4TOS
>
> On 9/29/2023 4:33 AM, Jim Pruitt wrote:
>
> Can someone tell me what the antenna wire is called that is milsurplus and
> as often obtained on fly fishing rods.  It was military antenna wire and
> was about #22awg I think (might have been as big as #18 but no bigger).  It
> is/was a bronzed copper woven copper stranded wire.  I posted the same
> question on another list but was told to use copperweld (I hate that stuff)
> or to buy some stainless steel wire (even worse).  The wire I am looking
> for is for temporary portable operation as a dipole or two or three.  Yes I
> could just buy a couple rolls of insulated wire to make this antenna but
> had some of the bronzed wire in the past and it would be ideal for the
> operation I have planned.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Jim Pruitt
>
>
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