----- Original Message -----
From: "JOHN A JACOBSEN" <jacobsen_5@msn.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2004 10:38 AM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Re:Ground radials, insulated or not
How do.. What I've done is watch for a sale on 14-2 "Romex" inside house
wire.
Slit off the outer covering with a romex tool, split apart the cable, and
you've got 750' of wire. 250' bare(the ground lead) and 500' insulated, the
black and white pair. The best of both worlds. AND if you watch the for
sales at the big box store, it will cost approx $15 depending on copper
prices.
73
Jake K9WN
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It's not too hard to rig up a jig with a sharp cold chisel (or a wood plane
blade) and some blocks of wood clamped in a vise so that you can pull the
wire across the blade out of the box and neatly strip one side of the
insulation off. Pull it through on the other side, and you wind up with
bare strands and insulation shreds.
I never thought about using one of those romex tools clamped in the same
fixture, but that would work FB. By the way, single edge razor blades don't
work (they snap too easily). A sharpened stiff putty knife also works fairly
well.
Definitely worth a try if you've got more time than money, or you score a
good deal on the Romex.
If you have time, depending on where your location, calling around to
surplus places will often turn up huge spools (as in 30-50 pounds or more)
of bare copper wire. The spool may have a bashed end, or the outer layers
may be kind of grungy. I have no idea what it's originally used for (maybe
as strands in bigger copper wire... The strands in 2/0 or 4/0 are fairly
large and it starts out as a single strand, after all). They sell it for the
copper scrap price, whatever that is at the time.
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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