From: "Dave Sergeant" <dave@davesergeant.com>
To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2010 09:29:25 +0100
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Subject: LF: Re: Antenna wire
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> Sorry to ask a stupid newbie question but what is the best wire for my
> aerial ? I had thought about getting a couple of 100m rolls of cheapo
> RG58 and soldering the centre and screen together, or is there a better
> way ? Tony, EI8JK
> 

I have been watching this thread with some bewilderment...

If the antenna you are putting up is a form of longwire, dipole 
(shortened I guess..), doublet, G5RV etc then it honestly doesn't 
matter one bit. Any piece of cheap stranded wire will do, and the only 
requirements are mechanical, ie to ensure it stays up in the air. 
Normal stranded 19/.76 or whatever will do. Most of us have plenty of 
this lying around the shack. There is absolutely no purpose in using 
coax, or for that matter heavy electrical cable, as you will struggle 
to keep this horizontal and its weight will soon break the guys.

If on the other hand you are talking about resonant loops, then it is 
important to keep the dc resistance as low as possible, especially on 
136 where the radiation resistance is miniscule. When I used a loop on 
136 I used heavy gauge loudspeaker cable, readily available in 100m 
rolls, with the pair shorted to make a single conductor. Don't bother 
with the 'oxygen free' stuff, that is throwing money down the drain.. I 
don't think coax, any sort, will give you as low a dc resistance.

73 Dave G3YMC

http://www.davesergeant.com