[TowerTalk] Radial wire and antenna spacing

[Jim Lux]

At 09:51 AM 1/30/2006, n4jbk at bellsouth.net wrote:
>Does anyone know of a source for inexpensive wire for making up a radial 
>system? Being as there is so much wire needed price is a factor unfortunately.
>Also I have a telrex 20m646 and a hygain 155ca about 11 feet apart, I was 
>looking to put a force 12 ( or other kind of 12 and 17 dualbander) between 
>them, the 20m646 is at bout 100 feet, the 155ca is above that.
>Thanks for the input.
>73 joe N4JBK


Places that do motor rewinding typically have the best prices on large 
amounts of copper wire. You should be able to get very close to the value 
of the copper, which fluctuates a fair amount.  It's sold by the pound, so 
figure out how much you need.

On occasion, there are pricing anomalies, so you can get, for instance, 
AWG12 or AWG14 solid "house wire" from Home Depot in 1000 ft spools 
cheaper, because HD happened to buy when copper was cheap.

There's also the surplus possibility, but, in general, copper wire is 
something that is so easy to get scrap value for (which is very close to 
the copper value), you're not going to find it for much less than new wire 
(in large quantities), unless there's some special situation for the 
seller.  The price differential between new and scrap, in even moderate 
quantities (10 lbs, for instance) is very small.

On the other hand, if you're buying a small amount (a few pounds), then, 
you're paying for retail convenience, and shipping and handling costs will 
dominate.