HFU HF Underground

Technical Topics => Equipment => Topic started by: bandarr3000 on October 29, 2017, 2117 UTC

Title: Electronic Dog Fence Wire as Antenna
Post by: bandarr3000 on October 29, 2017, 2117 UTC
Hi,

I'm going to replace my current antenna wire (currently 14 gauge, only 45 feet long) with a longer wire about 170 feet long.  Five hundred feet of electronic dog fence wire, solid 20 gauge, is about $18.  Has anyone ever used this kind of wire for an antenna?  Can I expect it to hold up in the weather, including ice and snow?  It's so cheap that it seems too good to be true.

Thanks,

Dan Barr
Title: Re: Electronic Dog Fence Wire as Antenna
Post by: ChrisSmolinski on October 29, 2017, 2129 UTC
What is it made out of?

FWIW, I use #16 insulated hookup wire for my antennas. I can get 500 ft spools on eBay for about $20 shipped.
Title: Re: Electronic Dog Fence Wire as Antenna
Post by: bandarr3000 on October 29, 2017, 2139 UTC
The description simply says copper with polyethelene jacket. 

Thanks for the tip about the hookup wire on ebay.  Seems like I looked everywhere but there. 
Title: Re: Electronic Dog Fence Wire as Antenna
Post by: BoomboxDX on October 30, 2017, 0533 UTC
My guess is if it is used as a dog fence, it should hold up in weather.
Title: Re: Electronic Dog Fence Wire as Antenna
Post by: bandarr3000 on October 31, 2017, 0049 UTC
Thanks to both of you.  I found some 16 gauge wire on eBay. 
Title: Re: Electronic Dog Fence Wire as Antenna
Post by: IQ_imbalance on November 05, 2017, 1618 UTC
I always wondered about using electric fence wire...or even better, the stuff that's got wire woven into a nylon rope.  I have had some success with temporary antennas using magnet wire and plastic thumbtacks....
Title: Re: Electronic Dog Fence Wire as Antenna
Post by: Ed H on March 16, 2018, 0346 UTC
Both my "random wire dipole" and long wire are made with dog fence wire. It works perfectly, and has held up well. The dipole, in particular, has been a great on HF in reception of 22 m beacons. For reception, almost anything will do, it just has to stay in the air.
Title: Re: Electronic Dog Fence Wire as Antenna
Post by: RobRich on March 16, 2018, 0758 UTC
Naturally copper is preferred, but I have had receive antennas built with aluminum, stainless steel, and even "unknown" wire. Whatever is available, conductive, and inexpensive; again, assuming you are not transmitting wattage into it. A good example is my loop-on-ground being built out of coax because I already have lots of RG-6 available.

In recent times I have been using 20ga stranded copper speaker wire for basic antennas, ground-level radials, etc. Around $40-$45 shipped for an 1000' spool, which makes 2000' of wire.
Title: Re: Electronic Dog Fence Wire as Antenna
Post by: IQ_imbalance on April 22, 2018, 0132 UTC
Just discovered an invisible pet fence installed by the previous owners of my house. I'm going to check for continuity, but if its still in one piece I'm going to see what happens when used as a "Loop UNDER ground" antenna....
Title: Re: Electronic Dog Fence Wire as Antenna
Post by: Josh on April 22, 2018, 1642 UTC
The bigger an underground ant is the more rf it can pick up. That being said, when tests were done on in ground dipoles they needed to be shortened to obtain on frequency resonance compared to above ground dipoles at the same freq. This should turn out to be a dandy antenna, and hurricane proof. When that hurricane swept through Homestead AFB it took their wullenweber out to sea never to be seen again, including the central building. Nothing above ground was left of their flr9 or frd10 or whatever it was.