[TowerTalk] WD-1A as control cable

Thu Apr 16 16:01:37 EDT 2020

Tnx Jeff and Gedas.
The relay at each feed point is 12V, 50mA. I have used these SPDT relays for years without a problem. The WD1 wire should have no trouble handling that. The run of buried wire plus up to the elevated feed point and up to the Comtek box at the tower will be about 70'. Will make sure I seal the ends of the WD1 with liquid tape once I crimp/solder spade lugs on each end. 
If I get several years out of the wire I will be happy. And I already have a spool. 
I have a GHE box on a tower leg to switch the relays from HI and LOW 75/80M positions

73,
N2TK, Tony

-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk <towertalk-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Jeff Blaine
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2020 12:15 AM
To: Towertalk <towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] WD-1A as control cable

Tony, I used WD1 for 4-square control wire out here for years when I had control wires laying on the top of the ground.  It's incredibly tough and stood up with a bunch of other el-cheap-o wire I had picked up died fast due to UV degradation causing insulation failure.

The wire has some voltage drop but that's easy enough to fix if you have a monster run - I juiced my 400 & 800' runs with 15V on the controller end at the shack by default and never had an issue out there in the boonies.  I did double up the conductors for each instead of splitting them off individually (meaning a "run" would give me 2 net wires to use, not 4) but that was out of paranoia that I would cut or damage the wire laying on the ground.  But a guy should NEVER bury just enough control wires because you never know what may happen.  Especially with wire that comes literally "by the mile."

Not sure what "long term" is in your context.  My "temporary" use went from 2012 to 2017 and the only problems I had with that stuff is when I got it hung up in my mower deck.

Worked great out here in the boonies when finding money for "good stuff" 
was just not in cards.

73/jeff/ac0c
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie
www.ac0c.com

On 4/14/20 10:37 AM, Gedas wrote:
> We used to work with the stuff back when we certification tested 
> Sincgars R/T's etc. There are at least 4 variants of "WD-1" wire that 
> I was aware of. There may be many more.
>
> WD-1/TT, WD-1A/TT, WD-36/TT, WD-14/TT. As I recall the WD-1/TT was 
> just a "twisted pair" molded insulation with each wire made up of 3 
> steel & 4 copper wires, the WD-1A/TT was a "glued-pair"with each wire 
> made up of 3 steel & 4 copper wires, and the WD-36/TT was also a 
> "glued pair" of wires with each wire being just a pair of steel wires.
> WD-14/TT was the same as WD-1/TT but had a woven cloth covering. It 
> was never designed to be deployed and left out there for very long.
> The DC resistance spec for WD-1/TT was that it had to be less than 46 
> ohms/1000'.
>
> Gedas, W8BYA EN70JT
>
> Gallery at http://w8bya.com
> Light travels faster than sound....
> This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
>
> On 4/13/2020 6:51 PM, tony.kaz--- via TowerTalk wrote:
>> Has anyone ever measured the resistance of WD-1A cable? If so it will 
>> save the trouble of pulling some off a spool to test.
>>
>> Also the plan would be to use to control 12V to relays at the 
>> feedpoints of my 80M 4-Sq. The cable would be buried except for the 
>> vertical portion as the feedpoints are elevated. Based on previous 
>> experience with WD-1A outside I saw rusting of the wires. Is this 
>> wire typically only used for temporary use or have folks had success 
>> with using something like liquid tape to seal the ends where 
>> terminals were soldered?
>>
>> My backup plan is to buy a 500' spool of Southwire Landscape wire 
>> 16/2 stranded copper.
>>
>> 73 and stay safe
>>
>> N2TK, Tony
>>
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