HFU HF Underground
Technical Topics => Equipment => Topic started by: flexoman61 on July 13, 2015, 1713 UTC
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Simple question, Is bare wire better to use
than insulated wire?
I currently use #14 insulated solid copper wire, 100' with balun and coax feed line.
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I'd stick with what you've got. Stranded insulated wire is much easier to work with and safer if there are nearby electrical lines with the remotest chance of coming into contact with your antenna.
I've used both over the years, and wouldn't consider going back to the bare stuff.
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Hi there flexoman61!
I second Pigmeat here. It doesn't really matter. I have used both types of wire and couldn't say that one of the types stand out in performance.
Sidenote: the type of insulation "may" be of importance when calculating lengths for resonant Antennas... but honestly... there other features of the wire that need to be included in those calulations as well. I just say that beacuse you may have read about.
Don't worry about that. You're fine with the typ of wire you got there. :)
Kind regards,
~Zazzle.
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I picked up several rolls of magnet wire at the abandoned store previously known as RS. It's good for playing around with antenna layouts as long as it's protected from limbs, squirrels, large moths....
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I picked up several rolls of magnet wire at the abandoned store previously known as RS. It's good for playing around with antenna layouts as long as it's protected from limbs, squirrels, large moths....
I used the green wire once to keep the neighbors happy. A suicidal starling took it down. At least the antenna was able to kill the bird that killed it.
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An advantage of stranded wire is that it is less likely to break than solid wire after repeated flexing.