Antenna and propane, is it safe?

[KJ6LXX]

Another weekend and another crazy idea.

Here's the thing...
I got a free 500' spool of wire, and I already have a wood fence.
What I want to do is run 246' (123' each side) along the top of my fence, and see what I can pick up.

The question is...
About 10' away from one end there is a propane tank. Knowing that most of the power comes from the ends, is this safe???
I am only running 100 watts at this time.

Thanx in advance

[KM3F]

10 feet is very safe.
There would have to be an arc leakage from the antenna and a tank leakage at the same time with accumulations in the area of the arc to cause any danger.
Chances of those conditons being present at 100 watts is 1 in a billion in open air conditions.
If the tank is close by your residence, you would smell the propane leak before anything would happen.
Don't worry about it

[KJ6LXX]

Thanks a lot.
Thought so, but can't take chances when you have kids.
Also it is very open and there is almost always a breeze if not actual wind.

Thanks again and 7 3

[WB2WIK]

Just as a POI, "most of the power" doesn't come from the ends of an antenna like that. There will be high voltage at the ends when you transmit, but the power there is miniscule, since the current is nearly zero.

Still, it's true that an arc only takes a lot of voltage, and can occur at miniscule currents.

Ten feet is way too far for anything to arc unless the source is millions of volts (dry air).

To prevent even the possibility of an arc, loop the ends of the wires back on themselves, leaving no "sharp points" to incite any kind of arc.

If your fence is made of wood and the wire is touching it, you're a lot more likely to start a fire by burning the wood fence than by igniting the propane.

[KJ6LXX]

Just as a POI, "most of the power" doesn't come from the ends of an antenna like that. There will be high voltage at the ends when you transmit, but the power there is miniscule, since the current is nearly zero.

Still, it's true that an arc only takes a lot of voltage, and can occur at miniscule currents.

Ten feet is way too far for anything to arc unless the source is millions of volts (dry air).

To prevent even the possibility of an arc, loop the ends of the wires back on themselves, leaving no "sharp points" to incite any kind of arc.

If your fence is made of wood and the wire is touching it, you're a lot more likely to start a fire by burning the wood fence than by igniting the propane.

Great info.

The wire is insulated and I did leave a couple of extra feet to turn back on itself, as I always do for the reason that you stated and just in case I need it for tuning. I have now put it up and have 25' to the tank so I think I'm good. All I have left is to grab my FT-897 by the handle and take it out there and see what happens. If any good happens then I will run coax to the shack and hook it up for good. But I don't want to get to optomistic. The fence isn't really facing the direction that I would have it. Darn fence builders. Thinking of property lines instead of the important things

Thanks again and 7 3

[WB2WIK]

Great info.

The wire is insulated and I did leave a couple of extra feet to turn back on itself, as I always do for the reason that you stated and just in case I need it for tuning. I have now put it up and have 25' to the tank so I think I'm good. All I have left is to grab my FT-897 by the handle and take it out there and see what happens. If any good happens then I will run coax to the shack and hook it up for good. But I don't want to get to optomistic. The fence isn't really facing the direction that I would have it. Darn fence builders. Thinking of property lines instead of the important things

Thanks again and 7 3

Unless that's a really tall fence (like 40-50' tall), the "direction" won't make any difference at all on HF. It would, if that was a dipole for two meters; but for the lower bands....forget it. The ground influence is far more powerful than antenna orientation.

[KD7HB]

Besides all the other suggestions, propane gas is heaver than air, so any gas leak will be down on the ground and the grass.

Paul KD7HB

[K8JD]

If it was bare wire brushing against the leaky propane tank, Big Problem !
Your setup, No Problem.
You should hear some strong signals on 160 M, in the winter time. In summer A lot of LOUD lightning static !
A dipole this low is going to be resonant quite a way below the 160M band due to ground capacitance.
A 3rd harmonic response will be near the 60M band. Reception will be good anywhere in the lower ham and SWBC bands.