Pete, in the many, many miles of antenna wire we have sold in the last 20
years, our menu has expanded to 18 varieties, two of which are solid. Of
the stranded varieties, nine are jacketed. The mix includes mostly copper
clad steel, of 30 and 40% conductance(copper)and various hardness
ratings, and a few types of soft and hard copper. Through us, a number of
million feet are involved, and the two solid CCS account for over 80% of
the total. They are the least costly, strongest, long-lived, and best RF
performers in all respects short of convenience. They are harder to erect
to some degree, but well worth the effort.
The second most popular are the various stranded and jacketed copper and
CCS, and the least used are all types of bare stranded. The stranded
types are all easier to use and thus will always be in the mix.
Brand new, they would all perform about the same at the frequencies we
employ; with age the bare stranded will be noisier and more prone to
breakage and other reasons for demise, and the jacketed models will fall
in between.
Obviously, personal and individual requirements and preferences play a
significant part in what is used - that's simply the way it is in our
hobby, and as a vendor we try to make the choices all available. Other
vendors might report a different mix - the above is the WIREMAN data.
Just don't ever expect to hear a factual report that says, all other
things being equal, "your signal on the new stranded wire antenna is
better/worse than the solid!" One of these days, we'll make phosphor
bronze again - just let us know when 40+/- cents per foot sounds
attractive!
73 and Merry Christmas to all!
Press Jones, N8UG, The Wireman, Inc., Landrum, SC 29356
use n8ug@juno.com or (864) 895-4195 for tech help
orders only use 800-727-WIRE(9473) or cqwire@juno.com
http://www.thewireman.com
THE WIRE LINE(http://thewireman.com/wireline.html)
On Tue, 23 Dec 1997 09:59:35 -0500 Pete Smith <n4zr@contesting.com>
writes:
>OK, now I'm really confused.... according to a recent e-mail, there
>has
>been a big discussion on the rec.radio.amateur.antennas newsgroup that
>reached an "overwhelming" consensus that there are significant
>benefits to
>be gained from using solid rather than stranded wire in antennas.
>
>I don't have newsgroup access here, so I can't verify this, but I
>confess
>I'm dubious. Except for a #12 copperweld dipole when I was a kid, I
>have
>always used stranded. I can find no discussion of the relative merits
>of
>solid versus stranded wire in the Antenna Book, or in ON4UN's Low-Band
>DXing. Modeling programs I have used make no distinction between
>stranded
>and solid conductors, though they make a very meaningful distinction,
>as LB
>has recently pointed out, between different metals in the modeled
>conductors.
>
>So, smart antenna people, what's the story?
>
>
>73,
>
>Pete N4ZR
>
>In Wild Wonderful, fairly rare WEST Virginia
>
>--
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