[TowerTalk] remote tuner Vs lumped constants

[K8RI]

On 7/24/2013 11:34 PM, Gene Fuller wrote:
> I don't understand the problem with copperweld.  I have three 160 meter
> quarterwave slopers and three 80 meter bent vertical dipoles using
> alumoweld that have been up about 40 years with no problems. As I recall
> it is 20% aluminum.
> Gene / W2LU
>

What I had appeared to just be copper plated steel. It was listed as 
CopperWeld. Whether it was the real stuff?

I see the definition as "hard drawn Copper welded to a steel core"

73

Roger (K8RI).


> ----- Original Message ----- From: "K8RI" <K8RI-on-TowerTalk at tm.net>
> To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 6:55 PM
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] remote tuner Vs lumped constants
>
>
>> On 7/24/2013 2:53 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
>>> On 7/24/2013 11:25 AM, K8RI wrote:
>>>>
>>>> The fan dipole on 75 can  give much wider, usable areas.
>>>> With SS amps I'd like to be able to QSY with all the knob twisting.
>>>
>>> Yes. It's easy to make wire spreaders by cutting 1/2-in PVC conduit into
>>> 18-in lengths and drilling holes for the wires. If one of the wires is
>>> bare copper, the spreaders can be held in place with wire looped across
>>> the spreader and soldered.  I use hard drawn copper that I "make" by
>>> buying #8 bare copper from a big box store, tying one end around a tree
>>> and the other around a trailer hitch, and slowly stretching it until it
>>> breaks. The resulting hard drawn copper has stretched by roughly 10%.
>>
>> I used plain old stranded "antenna wire" that I hah on hand.  I too
>> used 1/2" conduit for a single end spreader about out 4' long
>> http://www.rogerhalstead.com/ham_files/AntennaSpreader1.htm
>> This is fed with LMR-400 using one of the current baluns described in
>> your tutorial http://www.rogerhalstead.com/ham_files/AntennaFeed2.htm
>>
>> That antenna is supported by ropes to large trees on the low end and a
>> rope through a pulley near the top of the 100' 45G. That rope is then
>> coiled up and tied off at the base of the tower making the raising and
>> lowering to prune quite easy.  That antenna is under several hundred
>> pounds of tension.
>>
>>  I've been thinking of using the same approach on the 160 half sloper
>> except it's end fed of course.
>>
>> I think these antennas with stubs might at least come close to what I
>> want.
>>
>>>
>>> I consider copperweld antenna wire a terrible choice for serious antenna
>>> work. My neighbor, W6GJB, built a 2-wire fan dipole using copperweld and
>>> RG8, and hoisted it between a couple of redwoods with pulleys on both
>>> ends and a weight on one end. It was on the ground the next day -- the
>>> copperweld broke.  We rebuilt it with the hard drawn copper.
>>
>> Only tried Copperweld once. Never purchased any more.
>>
>> I've also used that method to "hard draw" the wire,  You can also use
>> a lever (pipe, wood, what ever) the wire will stretch easily, but will
>> reach a point where the force required rises rapidly.  and you don't
>> have to break it, although breaking does guarantee it is as hard as
>> it's gonna get. <:-))
>>
>>>
>>> The Power Point shows another elegantly simple and effective method of
>>> broadbanding many resonant antennas that W6NL teaches in his classes at
>>> Stanford. With SimSmith, you can simultaneously model both SWR and loss,
>>> making it easy to optimize a design.
>>>
>>> 73, Jim K9YC
>>
>> 73
>>
>> Roger (K8RI)
>>
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