[TowerTalk] one last question

[ersmar at comcast.net]

Eugene:

     Welcome to the most interesting hobby (IMHO) in the world.  You'll enjoy Ham Radio even more once you jump in to things like DX'ing, contesting, antenna construction, VHF weak signal work, etc, etc., etc.  

     Forget about copperweld.  That stuff is too stiff to work with and the coppe cladding will disappear in a few years, unless you've spent a bunch of $ for really good stuff.  I speak from experience on both of these issues.

    Flex-weave is actually many, many strands of very, very thin gauge wires woven into the final diameter.  It has no non-conducting component in it, so yes, you can solder to it (and even make connections by tying knots with it, but not for permanent installation.)  I have some that I use for temporary wire antennas like for Field Day.  I'm not sure I'd install it for a permanent antenna; the tiny strands might not last too long due to abrasion from the trees around here.

    But another source to consider is Home Despot or Lowe's electrical department.  They sell ordinary solid #12 and #14 insulated house wiring in 500 foot rolls that is perfectly acceptable for Ham antenna use.  I also speak from experience here.  My inverted L for 160M was made of one piece of #14 solid copper, black insulated wire and it lasted for about 8 years until I took it down.  The price for this material has skyrocketed in recent months, but so has that of flex-weave and copperweld I would imagine.

    Good luck and let us know when you get on the air.

73 de
Gene Smar  AD3F


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Eugene Hertz" <ehertz at tcaf.org>
> sorry, meant to add this into my first post.
> 
> I am looking to buy antenna wire. I am trying to decide between copperweld or 
> this stuff called "flex-weave". Has anyone had experience with both to formulate 
> an opinion? Antenna is 40' up and then 140' over (L) 
> 
> Can one solder onto flex-weave? I wonder if it has non-metallic strands of some 
> kind which might make soldering difficult
> 
> thanks
> Eugene
> 
> 
> 
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