[TowerTalk] 80M antenna wire size
Jim Thomson
jim.thom at telus.net
Sun Jan 5 12:57:08 EST 2020
Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2020 14:37:10 -0700
From: David Gilbert <xdavid at cis-broadband.com>
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] 80M antenna wire size
<According to EZNEC+, an 80m dipole at 100 feet (resonant and matched at
<3.7 MHz) has a 2:1 SWR bandwidth from 3.55 MHz to 3.87 MHz with #10
<copper wire and from 3.57 MHz to 3.86 MHz with #18 copper wire. Much
<thicker conductors or similar conductors at higher frequencies would
<make more difference of course (I've modeled 12 inch diameter wire cages
<for 80m and they make a usable improvement in bandwidth), but in spite
<of what somebody just posted the advantage for #10 wire on 80m does not
<seem significant to me for bandwidth.
<Dave?? AB7E
## 10 gauge wire is .102 inches in diameter.
18 gauge wire is .0403 inches in diameter.
## .102 / .0403 = 2.531
## 10 gauge is 2.531 x the circumference of 18 gauge wire. Thats a bunch.
Thats a huge difference in Length to diameter ratio.
## I have never tried a 80m wire dipole at 100 ft, but have
used a full sized wire inverted vee on 80m.
## 10 gauge wire provided for a much wider BW, vs the 16 +18 gauge I tried previously.
2 other folks here in town tried the same experiment...with same results. Again, inverted vee used.
Is EZNEC modeling your dipole correctly ?
Jim VE7RF
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