[CQ-Contest] Antenna Wire Source

[Charles Harpole]

Cautions........
-copper coated stranded steel will die very quickly because any tiny break
in the copper will instantly broom into rust.  Nearly same problem with
copper coated solid steel.

-poly covered wire, especially stranded, will wick water up the wire and
remain there for a long time, and will freeze in there too.

-stranded solid copper is best and stretch in a quad application is small
problem.

Signed, owner of two quads over years and seen all this and more.  Charly


On Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 11:35 AM, Robert Shohet <kq2m at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hi Tom,
>
> I have used all types of wire in all different sizes.  #12 is best but #14
> works well too.  I prefer stranded but have no
> problem with solid.  I use coated wire only as it prolongs life (less
> rust) and is quieter than bare wire.  #16 is too
> thin for surviving ice and wind.
>
> In 2008, before becoming seriously ill,  I planned to build an 80 meter
> 4-square and use 120 radials.  That meant that
> I had to find a LOT of wire that would not rust away in the wet and acidic
> New England soil.
>
> Typical ham radio sources of wire were cost-prohibitive, even for 5000’
> and up of wire.  So I decided to look at
> non-typical sources and I discovered that you can negotiate prices with
> Lowe’s on some items (unlike with Home Depot).
>
> Even with copper selling at over $4 a pound at that time, I negotiated
> buying 6,000’ of their coated #14 solid
> for less than 3c per foot, on 12  500’ spools.  Contrast that with the #13
> poly of Wireman than I paid 13c/foot back in 2005.
> No comparison!
>
> 73 and GL!
> Bob KQ2M
>
> kq2m at kq2m.com
>
> www.rlsfinancialgroup.com
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-- 
Charly, HS0ZCW