[TowerTalk] Aluminum clad wire

[Joel Harrison]

About 18 months ago I began changing my Beverage antenna wire from stranded
copper to this aluminum (not steel or clad, but aluminum) electric fence
wire identified in Jack's link below from Tractor Supply. I cannot detect
any difference in performance as a result at this location. It works fine,
is much lighter than stranded copper and considerably less expensive. Those
are the "pros".

The "cons" are it isn't insulated (no problems with that here) and you can't
solder it so if it breaks so you have to resort to a non-solder repair but
so far I have only had one break when the moron bailing hay in the field
decided cross under one Beverage at an "unapproved" crossing and hung one on
the bailer and tore it down.

So, performance wise in receive only applications it works great at this
QTH. I have NOT used it for transmit applications.

73 Joel W5ZN



On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 7:33 AM, Jack <k4wsb at arrl.net> wrote:

> Would this work?
>
>
> http://www.tractorsupply.com/electric-fencing/electric-fence-wire-poly-tapes/electric-fence-wire/aluminum-electric-fence-wire-14-ga-1-4-mile-3600867
>
>
> At 02:14 AM 12/30/2010, Grant Saviers wrote:
> >I've been looking for aluminum clad steel wire for an antenna project
> >and this led finally to a source for aluminum clad high tensile steel
> >($90 for 3000'  11 ga).  Certainly a LOT cheaper than copper or
> >copperweld alternatives.
> >
> >
> http://www.kencove.com/fence/Aluminum+Clad+Wire+11-11.5+Gauge_detail_WAC11.php
> >
> >It took quite a bit of googling to find this, but now the question is
> >why not use this for all wire antennas because it is cheap, very
> >strong,  low-stretch, and corrosion resistant, although a little hard to
> >bend.  One spool would make a lot of really tough through the woods
> >Beveridges!  Also, there a number of horse fencing products that could
> >be useful for wire antennas.
> >
> >There are some assumptions with this farm supplier, i.e. Al thickness is
> >good enough for RF.  I found makers of well specified (ASTM B-415
> >Hard-Drawn Aluminum-Clad Steel Wire) Al clad guy, ground, and shield
> >wires for electric power distribution but the sizes and quantities per
> >spool are rather large and I couldn't find any retail sources.  One tm
> >is Alumoweld.
> >
> >Anybody know of sources for Al clad steel wire suitable for antenna use?
> >
> >Grant
> >KZ1W
>
>
> Jack Hartley
> K4WSB / VP2MSB
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-- 
73 Joel W5ZN

www.w5zn.org