We have had good luck with the Davis RF Polystealth line of antenna wire.
The black PE jacketed woven Copper-clad steel wire has survived well in
Hawaii. Several of us use it exclusively. We mostly use #13 for our 160m
elevated radial vertical but just started using #18 for our (better
supported) Beverage through the forest. We have used #22 for small
deployable dipoles as well.
True, if the jacket and cladding is compromised the steel will rust and
break. The jacket is pretty tough. We did have a sizable tree limb land on
an elevated radial and the #13 wire did survive but we do have a floating
center feed point so there was some "give" to the system.
I do notice that PE jacketed Flex-weave is also available (and perhaps not
black), I don't know if or why there is a difference with the Polystealth
line. Wire gauge offerings and jacket color only? I didn't read it
thoroughly.
73,
Kimo KH7U
Message:
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2023 10:04:14 -0700
From: "Lux, Jim" <jim@luxfamily.com>
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Antenna wire source?
Message-ID: <606d4faf-b807-d96d-8769-29cf76535586@luxfamily.com> for
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
On 9/27/23 11:43 PM, Jim Pruitt wrote:
> Hello Jim.
>
> Your experience with Flexweave does not match my experience.? I had an
> inverted vee up using flexweave and it was up for 8 years until I took
> it down and we do get some hellacious winds here in the PNW.
>
> I was and am looking for the surplus military type wire more for
> portable operations and that is why it is #22 or so.? Someone
> suggested that it is copperweld wire that I am looking for.? I
> certainly hope not as I will never use that stuff again!
>
> Thank you.
>
> Jim Pruitt
> WA7DUY
>
>
> On 9/27/2023 11:02 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
>> On 9/27/2023 9:52 PM, Jim Pruitt wrote:
>>> I wonder if anyone can tell me what the wire is called that were
>>> used in several military surplus wire antennas. It was like
>>> flexweave but was a bronze copper wire (I thought) and about #22awg
>>> or so.
>>
>> Don't know about that, but for almost 20 years, I've been buying the
>> 500 ft spools of #8 bare copper from the big box stores, and
>> stretching it to approximate #9 hard drawn copper.
>>
>> I tried several configurations of Flex Weave about 20 years ago, and
>> built several antennas with it. All were on the ground within a year.
>> Another OT ham bought some and had the same results.
>>
>> 73, Jim K9YC
> _______________________________________________
If you're looking for strong and flexible, what about stainless steel
aircraft cable?? Sure, you'll lose a bit from increased resistance, but
maybe it's small enough to not matter.? 'DUY is looking at AWG22, so
it's already kind of lossy.
To be honest, I don't know if you can get SS flex cable that small - AWG
22 is 0.025" (1/40th) inch.? I've seen1/32nd. (0.03125") type 304.?
(hey, Grainger has 27/1000 diameter, that's pretty close - and they have
0.021, which is even smaller.)
SS 304 is about 2.5 times more resistive than Copper, but if we neglect
permeability (Is 304 non-magnetic?) the skin depth is twice what it is
in copper (at 10 MHz, 1.6 mil vs 0.8 mil), so the actual resistance is
about the same.
304 ss is normally non-magnetic (mu of 1.005 or something like that) -
but that might be an annealed piece.? Cold working (i.e. drawing into
wire) can change the crystalline structure and make it magnetic, and if
the mu goes up, then the skin depth gets thinner, so the resistance
would rise.? That's also measured at DC - the permeability could be
significantly different at HF.
Or, just use AWG 22 stranded, insulated copper, and let it wear out and
fail (it's cheap).
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2023 16:17:03 -0400
From: Ken WA8JXM <wa8jxm@gmail.com>
To: Jim Pruitt <jpruitt67@gmail.com>
Cc: towertalk <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Antenna wire source?
Message-ID:
<CAABDLm0SxS4_mHFc4QFQNdh4d-s4CWYKJVMNV22rGQZ39Ky3pw@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
I can't find exact data but I think the trailing wire antenna for the
AN/ART-13 was 200 ft of flexwire. If you can locate the antenna (Ebay?)
that may be a source.
I cannot imagine Copperweld and flexwire in the same sentence.
Copperweld brings back memories. When I was a teenager, I got a MARS
issued "antenna kit" including 5200 feet of 3 strand 12 ga Copperweld
wire! I never used it for antenna wire but it did well for guy wires! The
kit included some massive insulators but they forgot to send me the antenna
supports :-( Oh well, I didn't have room in the backyard for a
rhombic anyway!
Ken
On Thu, Sep 28, 2023 at 12:52?AM Jim Pruitt <jpruitt67@gmail.com> wrote:
> I wonder if anyone can tell me what the wire is called that were used in
> several military surplus wire antennas. It was like flexweave but was a
> bronze copper wire (I thought) and about #22awg or so. I would like to
> find some of this but no clue what it is called let alone a possible
> source.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Jim Pruitt
> WA7DUY
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
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