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Re: [TowerTalk] Loading Coils

To: "jim.thom jim.thom@telus.net" <jim.thom@telus.net>, towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Loading Coils
From: Gary K9GS <k9gs@gjschwartz.com>
Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2025 15:21:32 -0500
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Nickel is also difficult to solder to.73,Gary K9GS
-------- Original message --------From: "jim.thom jim.thom@telus.net" 
<jim.thom@telus.net> Date: 8/2/25  2:53 PM  (GMT-06:00) To: 
towertalk@contesting.com Subject: [TowerTalk] Loading Coils Date: Fri, 1 Aug 
2025 15:19:10 -0700From: David Gilbert <ab7echo@gmail.com>To: 
towertalk@contesting.comSubject: Re: [TowerTalk] Loading CoilsNickel has about 
4 times worse electrical conductivity compared tocopper, and the skin depth at 
30 MHz is about 20 times thinner (about 12microns for copper versus about 0.65 
for nickel).? ChatGPT tells me thatstandard nickel plating is roughly 5 to 10 
microns thick , and that evenlow cost nickel plating is typically 1 to 2 
microns thick.The math agrees with you.I wonder if anyone has made measured 
comparison of his coils versus asimilar copper one.Dave? ?AB7E##  nickel 
plated,  He's joking right ?  Years ago, I replaced the silverplated copper 
tubing coil in a hb amp with an IDENTICAL  aluminum tubingtank coil.  Talk 
about HOT.Nickel ?    You may as well douse it with lighter fluid, and toss in 
thezippo.Measure the Q of the nickel plated coil vs the copper coil, or 
silverplated copper coil......and you will be in for a rude awakening.Nickel is 
worse than phosphor bronze.  I just ran a typ 160m  coil throughK6STI's ' coil' 
 software....and using copper the Q was 1222.   Withphosphor bronze, it dropped 
to 464.....and nickel plated is even worse !  (aluminum was a  Q of 857  using 
3003-0 alloy).No doubt he wanted nickel so it was weather resistant.I wind my 
own copper tubing coils....then silver plate em.Jim  
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