I have a strong dislike for copperweld -- I find it miserable to work
with, and neighbor W6GJB had a #12 copperweld 80M dipole break a few
days after paying climbers almost $1K to rig it in his tall redwoods.
My wire antennas are at 140 ft between redwoods, and fed with RG11,
rigged with pulleys, tied down at on end and a 90# jug of dry sand on
the other. I used to use THHN, #10 on permanent antennas, #14 for
portable ones, but the #10 THHN stretches over time if under tension,
and must be circumcised every few years.
If insulation is not needed, a far better approach is to buy a spool of
#8 bare copper from the big box store and stretch it to approximate #9
hard drawn copper. WA6NMF introduced me to this idea around 2004, and
neighbor W6GJB and I have done it several times since. We tie one end of
about 200 ft of wire to an immovable object, like a tree or telephone
pole, the other end to the trailer hitch of his pickup, and Glen drives
very slowly until it breaks, while I observe at a distance. The stretch
is typically 15-20%.
73, Jim K9YC
On 3/10/2019 8:25 AM, Gedas wrote:
I am planning to put up a long inverted v antenna with it's feedpoint
at 85' using 600' total wire (300' on each leg). The ends will be near
the ground, only 20-25 feet high.
My question is given that each leg of this antenna will be 300' long
am I better off going with a lighter weight #14 THHN insulated
stranded wire or some heavier #12 THHN stranded? I am not going to
purchase a different wire that would be better suited like copper-weld
etc since I have plenty of these other two and want to try something
today.
I realize there is going to be a _lot_ of sag in either case but I am
not sure of the breaking strengths of either #12 or #14 and in the end
which will help keep the wire up higher with less sag. Any ideas?
Gedas, W8BYA
Gallery at http://w8bya.com
Light travels faster than sound....
This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
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