Towertalk
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [TowerTalk] Wire

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Wire
From: Steve K8LX <lists@oakcom.org>
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2021 18:39:17 -0500
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
I've switched over to #12 THHN, and love it so far. I have a high full wave 80M diamond quad loop made from it with fairly high tension on the top half and have not noticed any lowering of resonant frequency so far.

Solid wire is nice cuz it's easy to clean if you need to re-solder anything.

-Steve K8LX

On 3/11/2021 6:29 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
On 3/11/2021 3:15 PM, Dave Sublette wrote:
So I am considering just cutting new dipoles fromTHHN, probably #14.

Hi Dave,

Other than that failed experiment with FlexWeave when I got back on the air in 2003, I've never used anything but THHN for wire antennas. For low-stress applications (not very high, no tall trees involved), Our dipoles for FD, that get strung between ad hoc skyhooks or to ropes launched into low trees are all #14 THHN solid. I've been happy with #14; for my high dipoles suspended between very tall redwoods and fed with 150 ft or more of RG11, I've settled on #8 bare copper, stretched so that it approximates "hard drawn" and about #9. I've done this because even #10 stranded or solid stretches under tension, so I had to lower the dipoles every few years to snip a few feed off the ends.

#14 solid should be just fine for your application. Just be prepared to tweak length every few years. :)

73, Jim K9YC



_______________________________________________



_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________



_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>