[TowerTalk] guage of wire for 500 watt antenna?

[Alan NV8A]

I was quoting from a description of the NEC requirements rather than 
from the NEC itself, and you are correct: that description does not 
cover the situation where the antenna is exactly 150ft. long. Without 
checking, my guess is that the NEC in fact says "150ft. or longer."

I think it would be a mistake to ignore the NEC altogether, because an 
insurance company could use it against us in the case of a fire or 
injury or death caused by the collapse of an antenna "under power."

73

Alan NV8A

On 12/05/2017 11:09 AM, n8de at thepoint.net wrote:
> I've never worried about any 'NEC regulation', but, now I'm confused.
> What size is required for an antenna EXACTLY 150 feet long?   That's not 
> addressed in your posting.
> 73
> Don
> N8DE
> 
> 
> Quoting Alan NV8A <nv8a at charter.net>:
> 
>> I know that this discussion started with a question about wire for an
>> antenna to be used in Belize, but people are reporting what they have
>> used in the US. Does anyone actually take note of the NEC (that other
>> NEC) requirements that even for an antenna shorter than 150ft., 14AWG
>> *hard-drawn* copper is required -- and 10AWG *hard-drawn* copper for
>> antennas longer than 150ft.?
>>
>> 73
>>
>> Alan NV8A
>>
>>
>> On 12/03/2017 07:21 AM, john nistico wrote:
>>> Gary 14 gauge will more then handle 500 watts. Tell me how much  wire 
>>> you need and I'll donate it seeing I'm an electrician I have  plenty 
>>> laying around
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>> On Dec 2, 2017, at 5:21 PM, Bob Shohet, KQ2M <kq2m at kq2m.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I would suggest that you buy the wire ( I would use gauge 14 solid 
>>>>  copper PVC coated THHN, readily available and reasonably priced at  
>>>> Lowe?s, Home Depot, etc.) and put up the antenna at your qth and  
>>>> see how it fares in Winter cndx. (I use either gauge 14 or gauge  12 
>>>> for all the wire antennas at my qth).  If the antenna survives  then 
>>>> you know that you are ok.  If not, then you may want to go  with a 
>>>> heavier gauge.  Although there won?t be ice and snow in  Belize, 
>>>> there will be wind, rain and flying debris if it gets  windy enough 
>>>> and you want your wire to be strong enough to survive  without 
>>>> breaking.  You want the PVC coating on the wire to reduce  the 
>>>> effects of abrasion, corrosion by salt spray and to reduce the  rain 
>>>> noise on your antenna.
>>>>
>>>> 73
>>>>
>>>> Bob  KQ2M
>>>>
>>>> From: Gary Slagel via TowerTalk
>>>> Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2017 5:00 PM
>>>> To: towertalk at contesting.com
>>>> Subject: [TowerTalk] guage of wire for 500 watt antenna?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I'm hoping to get to Belize to work ARRL DX CW contest this year  
>>>> and I'd like to take my Elecraft KPA500/KAT500 and operate 500  
>>>> watts. I will be at a friends house and not next to the ocean so  
>>>> I'm thinking of getting a doublet up in the air as far as I can on 
>>>>  a fiberglass pole, feeding with 450 ohm ribbon and tuning it on 10  
>>>> thru 40 and maybe 80M.
>>>> The fiberglass pole won't take too much weight so I'd like to go  as 
>>>> small as I can on the wire.   Any suggestions or input?
>>>> Thanks, Gary KT0A
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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