Looking for Stealthy Long Wire

Ross,

I really think the best stuff is from the Wireman - http://www.thewireman.com/antennap.html - the 532 is 18 gauge and the 534 is 26 gauge black insulated. I have been using the #18 stuff and it is premium antenna wire and very unnoticible.

 

Then you can floss while you eat it!

 

So what your saying is that using fine steel wire will result in huge signal loss. I would like to see that data. I would be interested in just how much loss we can expect from an end fed random wire made from steel craft wire as opposed to an identical end fed wire made from copper of the same diameter.

I know which is more likely to stay up in a wind. I actually used such an antenna with great success many years ago but it probably only worked because I was unaware of just how poor it was.

So anyway Owen please provide some figures so our prospective stealth operator can know just how much loss he's in for.

John..

 

John, there was a thread (or two) here where this was discussed at length. I'll try and find it, if you or someone else doesn't first.

But think about this: you don't use magnetic materials in the anode circuit of a high power RF amplifier. If you do, they get so hot from the loss that they can even discolor. You must use non-magnetic hardware like brass, instead.

When Owen said "no one will hear it", I know that he didn't mean that literally.

 

I think the discussion was in one of these threads.
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?272474-Use-Galvanized-Electric-Fence-Wire-or-Copper-for-Loop
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?270899-antenna-eddy-currents
Maybe there were more here or on eHam.

Sure, steel is successfully used in towers (such as a shunt-fed vertical), but look at the area of a tower vs. the area of a thin wire.

 

Plus the fact that steel wire will rust and further deteriorate rapidly; copper will last a lot longer!

 

some articles on the subject

Owens
http://vk1od.net/antenna/conductors/loss.htm

Mr D Jefferies
http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Per...exarticles/newantennexarticles/efficiency.pdf

Enjoy
Brendan

 

This particular wire is coated, is hard to see, and will not rust for quite some time but if it does it is very inexpensive so you simply replace it.

As for getting hot, I have used this stuff at 125 watts AM and it didn't get hot. The wire is not dissapating current, it is simply conducting a standing wave over the surface. I don't argue that copper is more efficient but the difference in miniscule and you would need some extremely sophisticated field strength equipment to measure the difference. You also can't use VHF or UHF models since the material responds differently at MF and HF.

The point I'm trying to make her is that no one should discourage a new amateur from trying something that has been proven to be successful by many others over dozens of years.

 

Steel wire, even stainless steel is more resistive (i.e. less conductive) than copper wire. Therefore it WILL dissipate more of the RF energy as heat than copper, and will have lower RF output. Granted there will be lower losses at RF than at DC, but they still exist.

I agree people should not be discouraged from experimenting. However, you are not experimenting here, you are arguing using wrong assumptions.

Bill

 

I'm not making any wrong assumptions Bill, I'm telling you that the amount of loss at RF with this type of wire is miniscule when compared to an equivalent wire made of copper. Go test it and let me know what you find out.