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Re: [Amps] High Voltage Wire

To: amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] High Voltage Wire
From: Manfred Mornhinweg <manfred@ludens.cl>
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 23:38:20 +0000
List-post: <amps@contesting.com">mailto:amps@contesting.com>
When I need some high voltage wire, I look into my box of coax cable scraps. I always find something suitable. Humble RG-59 is rated for 2300V rms, that's over 3.2kV DC. In many cases that's enough. And this is just its safe rating - the actual breakdown voltage is far higher than that.

Since I'm a born and proud cheapskate, or in more modern terminology a good recycler, I select some scrap of old RG-59 that looks very worn or dirty, take it apart, discard the worn jacket, use the center conductor with its insulation for the HV run, and I'm left with a bonus piece of braid, which can be used for low impedance connections, or to suck up some solder.

Thicker varieties of coax cables of course are rated for higher voltages, enough to satisfy those of you who run 4 or 5kV. And almost every ham who builds equipment has ugly-looking scraps of that stuff lying around, which are fine internally.

Manfred


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