Roger that, Jim. Until I can get my ENTIRE loop path clear of
vegetation, I will have to accept the trade-off and continue to use the
insulated stuff. (Maybe this winter, fingers crossed). Since I can
pull the entire loop down in about 10 minutes, keeping it pruned to
tuned length isn't much of a task... Mine aren't nearly as high up as
yours. :)
I'd love to give the bare solid stuff a try... How much weight do you
have to use to keep it tensioned in the air? 280+ feet of #8 would be
some bit heavier...
And I'd definitely have to come up with a bigger diameter pulley. :)
______________________
Clay Autery, KY5G
MONTAC Enterprises
(318) 518-1389
On 8/6/2017 1:40 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> The problem with using ordinary copper wire for antennas where the
> wire is under tension is that it stretches. Mine high dipoles are
> under about 100# of tension (up 140 ft, fed with RG11), so every few
> years, I have to let down my 80/40 dipole that's built with #10 THHN
> stranded and circumcise it to keep it on frequency. I've since
> migrated to using #8 bare solid copper that I've stretched by tying
> one end to a tree and the other end to the trailer mount of my SUV and
> pulling slowly until it breaks. The result is close to being hard
> drawn, roughly AWG #9, and about 15% longer. Antennas that I've built
> with this seem not to stretch. Over the years, W6GJB and I have done
> this with at least 2,000 ft of #8.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
> On 8/6/2017 10:44 AM, Clay Autery wrote:
>> Correct... THHN is not intended for use as exterior antenna wire, but
>> it surely does work well... I can get it in any color I want and in a
>> 2500+ foot spool, et al.
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