Topband: Optimal radial wire type and gauge?

[Carl]

I use whatever I can find at the lowest cost which has been mostly #16 and 
18 stranded and insulated in 500-1000' reels at a local surplus shop. Ive 
even used #22 when the other wasnt on hand and it was a weekend.  With the 
current split thru a sufficient number of wires there shouldnt be any 
unecessary loss. You can also run a thicker wire for the first 50' of so 
where the current is highest and then splice in the smaller wire. This may 
be of interest when having to buy new wire at retail cost.

There has been very little breakage here from storm damage over the decades 
since the wires just lay on the branches and are not tied off tight.
The sine wave droop is a good way to get 130' of wire in less horizontal 
space (-;

Carl
KM1H




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick Kiessig" <kiessig at gmail.com>
To: <topband at contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2012 9:29 AM
Subject: Topband: Optimal radial wire type and gauge?


> The recent talk about optimizing the number of radials has me wondering
> about the optimal type and gauge for radial wire. I've been using #14
> stranded, insulated copper, but for no reason other than it's readily
> available in 500 ft spools at a decent price. With the cost of copper 
> being
> so high these days, is there a better choice? If so, how do we know it's
> really better? And is there an easy way to trade off cost vs. 
> effectiveness?
> I can't use mesh at my QTH, so I need to stay with actual wire.
>
>
>
> 73, Rick ZL2HAM
>
>
>
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