[TowerTalk] Looking for cheap source of radial wire...

[Richard Karlquist]

I have been studying the wire market for 
several years.  (I know, I need to get 
a life :-)  Anyway, I have noticed that, for
some unknown reason, 14 THHN is considerably
cheaper than bare 14 gauge wire.  OTOH, 
Romex 14-2 is considerably cheaper than
THHN (per foot of conductor).  If you don't
mind the labor of stripping off the cover,
just look for home improvement stores blowing
out 250 ft reels of the stuff and you can't
beat the price.  It ALWAYS seems to be on sale.
Bigger reels may not necessarily be a better
deal.  No rhyme or reason to it.

Also, the price per foot is minimum at 14 gauge.
Larger or small is more per foot (in home improvement
stores).  If you want smaller gauges, magnet wire
vendors charge several dollars per pound.  This
works out to about 1 cent per foot for 18 gauge.
Only slightly cheaper than Romex. 

Must be a volume thing as near as I can figure.
Everybody needs Romex.

Rick Karlquist N6RK

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
> [mailto:owner-towertalk@contesting.com]On Behalf Of David O Hachadorian
> Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2001 12:44 PM
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Looking for cheap source of radial wire...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, 10 Nov 2001 18:46:03 -0800 Steve Gehring
> <steven.gehring@verizon.net> writes:
> > 
> > All,
> > 
> > I'm looking for a cheap source of radial wire, somewhere in the 1000 
> > to 
> > 2000 ft range.  Any ideas?  There aren't any local hamfests in the 
> > near 
> > future.  Thanks ahead of time...
> > 
> > 73 de Steve, KZ9G
> 
> Try pricing a large roll of Romex, 14-2 with ground. It's cheap,
> and it's easy to remove the outer cover by stripping off a couple
> feet, tying one wire to a tree, and pulling on one of the other wires.
> There's no shipping fee, and two thirds of the wire you get is insulated.
> #14 is large enough to provide good mechanical strength to last for
> a long time.
> 
> Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
> Yuma, AZ
> K6LL@juno.com
> 
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List Sponsored by AN Wireless:  AN Wireless handles Rohn tower systems,
Trylon Titan towers, coax, hardline and more. Also check out our self
supporting towers up to 100 feet for under $1500!!  http://www.anwireless.com

-----
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