[TowerTalk] Copper wire prices

[Jim Lux]

At 08:23 AM 11/16/2006, Peter Dougherty wrote:
>At 06:50 AM 11/16/2006, you wrote:
>
> >I was at Home Depot yesterday and the spool of 500' 14 gauge
> >insulated, solid, is now going for $39.99.  Stranded is about $5
> >more for the spool.  I was paying about $12.99 for the same spool
> >(solid) a year or two ago.  I'm glad I bought a bunch.  And I hope
> >it goes back down eventually.
>
>You think *that's* bad, I'm putting in a halo-ground system. A 200'
>spool of #4 Solid is $178, and I need 2 of them!. I'm holding off
>till Spring and hoping it drops a little by then.


And now you can see why aluminum might not be such a bad 
alternative.  Prices on aluminum haven't gone up as much as for 
copper (in proportion).  Granted, it's a bit trickier to bond than 
copper (I don't think thermite will work with aluminum like it does 
with copper <grin>).

Aluminum has a conductivity about 65% that of copper, so you need to 
buy more, on a volume basis.  But it's also a LOT less dense (2.7 vs 
9), so you're buying 1/3 the weight. Even if copper and aluminum were 
the same price per pound, you'd be a lot better off with aluminum. 
Copper is about $3/lb and aluminum about $1.20/lb (in huge 
quantities.. but the ratio will be roughly constant for finished 
wire/bar).  There's a reason big power lines are aluminum and not copper.

There is *speculation* that copper prices will fall next year, so you 
might be able to do some options trading to get tomorrows price today 
(plus a premium). (aluminum prices also fell yesterday)  But hey.. 
are we commodity speculators or antenna builders.


Jim W6RMK