Anyone who has ever tried to manage solid number 12 copperweld can
appreciate the advantages of stranded. Even solid 14 and 16 are hard to
handle. However, as noted, stranded copperweld doesn't last long, though
I suppose it depends how thick the copper is.
My wire antennas, an 80 m dipole and a 40 m full wave, are now 18 AWG
solid copperweld. Those antennas were hard drawn copper AWG 14 for 29
years, with only one break, but I figured there had to be fatigue by
then. (I bought that wire in Finland in 1976.) The AWG 18 copperweld
isn't hard to handle, and it's very strong, surely stronger than the
copper was.
73,
Scott K9MA
On 9/9/2020 7:51 PM, john@kk9a.com wrote:
Anyone that uses temporary wire antennas would prefer stranded over solid.
There are many opinions on Copperweld wire for amateur radio. Some
differences may be environment, I tried it in Aruba and the steel quickly
rusted and the wire became very fragile. Besides stranded vs solid,
Copperweld is available in many different sized, from 2AWG to 24AWG and the
steel can be high or low carbon. It would be beneficial to see the specifics
of the Copperweld wire that is working for antennas. I have had excellent
results with inexpensive 14AWG solid THHN for temporary stuff.
John KK9A
Jim Lux wrote:
I'm sort of surprised they even sell stranded copperclad steel.. who
uses such things?
single strand copperclad has been around for more than a century - miles
of telephone wires on poles, for instance.
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
--
Scott K9MA
k9ma@sdellington.us
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|