Topband: enameled wire source

[Donald Chester]

Glen K4KV wrote:

"I am looking for a source for ground radial wire.

The THHN at Lowes is a bit more than $0.09/ft for #14.  Hoping to do
better than that.  Saw a reel of #18 at hamfest, 2000' for $95, I guess
I should have bought it!"

In 1974 I paid $400 for 16,000 ft. of #12 bare softdrawn copper wire for my radial system, at a time when the price of copper along with the economy in general had taken a dip.  That calculates out to 2.5 cents per foot.  Compared to other sources I was able to find at the time it seemed like a bargain price.

Using an online inflation calculator, in to-day's dollarettes, that same spool of wire would have cost $1763, or 11 cents per foot.  So 9 cents a foot for #14 isn't all that much more expensive than what I paid for mine over 30 years ago.

Although the price of copper recently took a big jump, when the the daily erosion of the dollar's buying power is taken into account, it  isn't all that expensive.  2-3 years ago when copper was a third its current price, that's when it was a bargain.


Don k4kyv




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