Eugene:
Welcome to the most interesting hobby (IMHO) in the world. You'll enjoy
Ham Radio even more once you jump in to things like DX'ing, contesting, antenna
construction, VHF weak signal work, etc, etc., etc.
Forget about copperweld. That stuff is too stiff to work with and the
coppe cladding will disappear in a few years, unless you've spent a bunch of $
for really good stuff. I speak from experience on both of these issues.
Flex-weave is actually many, many strands of very, very thin gauge wires
woven into the final diameter. It has no non-conducting component in it, so
yes, you can solder to it (and even make connections by tying knots with it,
but not for permanent installation.) I have some that I use for temporary wire
antennas like for Field Day. I'm not sure I'd install it for a permanent
antenna; the tiny strands might not last too long due to abrasion from the
trees around here.
But another source to consider is Home Despot or Lowe's electrical
department. They sell ordinary solid #12 and #14 insulated house wiring in 500
foot rolls that is perfectly acceptable for Ham antenna use. I also speak from
experience here. My inverted L for 160M was made of one piece of #14 solid
copper, black insulated wire and it lasted for about 8 years until I took it
down. The price for this material has skyrocketed in recent months, but so has
that of flex-weave and copperweld I would imagine.
Good luck and let us know when you get on the air.
73 de
Gene Smar AD3F
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Eugene Hertz" <ehertz@tcaf.org>
> sorry, meant to add this into my first post.
>
> I am looking to buy antenna wire. I am trying to decide between copperweld or
> this stuff called "flex-weave". Has anyone had experience with both to
> formulate
> an opinion? Antenna is 40' up and then 140' over (L)
>
> Can one solder onto flex-weave? I wonder if it has non-metallic strands of
> some
> kind which might make soldering difficult
>
> thanks
> Eugene
>
>
>
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