[TowerTalk] 500 ft. rolls of #14 at Home Depot for $14?

[Jim Brown]

On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 11:17:10 -0400, Joe Giacobello wrote:

>I recollect that several months ago there were several posts referring 
>to the availability of 500 ft. rolls of #14 wire from Home Depot 
>(Lowes?).  I was at Home Depot yesterday and they didn't know what I was 
>talking about.  Did I get this wrong?  Please advise.

You must not have been in the right place in the store. Every Home Depot I've 
been in (Chicago area and central California around Sacramento) carries large 
and small spools of plain ordinary insulated single conductor house wire (THHN 
is the standard designation) in 10, 12, and 14 gauge, solid and stranded, 
several colors. They also carry #8 solid bare copper, and a bunch of other sizes 
of larger stranded copper, mostly insulated. ALL of these wires make wonderful 
antenna wire, and this may be the cheapest place to buy them.  In some stores 
I've been in, they are an aisle or two away from the main Electrical products and 
a bit toward the back of the store.  If you don't find this stuff, ask. 

I wanted a very strong wire for long antennas that would withstand a lot of wind 
and ice on a mountain top. We bought a spool of that #8 solid, tied one end to a 
power pole and the other to our SUV, and pulled it so that it was hard drawn. 

Jim Brown  K9YC