Galagher XL fence wire suppliers ?

[VK4ADC]

I was just reading an article on VK2OMD's site about 160M antennas and he refers to a "2.7mm Galagher XL high tensile fence wire" versus stainless 316 when comparing losses. I have found only one supplier listing it online but it is a 1000M roll at just over the $600 mark. Does anyone know of smaller quantities of this product ( eg 200M), or a similar product from an alternative manufacturer ? If not, it looks like a 200M roll of 3.2mm 316 stainless is on the near horizon....

The article is at http://owenduffy.net/blog/?p=183
The supplier I refer to is The Farm Store via ebay : http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Gallagher-Co ... 1021477588

[ZL1RS]

I realise your end purpose is different, but no farmer here in their right mind would use that stuff at 5 or 6 times the cost of regular #12 high tensile galv fencing wire ... so try http://www.gallagher.com.au/dealers.aspx?state=QLD for a local farm supply dealer to compare the price with that eBay seller.

Good luck ...

[VK4ADC]

so try http://www.gallagher.com.au/dealers.aspx?state=QLD for a local farm supply dealer to compare the price with that eBay seller.

Bob

That site was one of the first places I visited on my search for a better style of wire to put up a new dipole set starting at 160m, and well before putting this up as a new forum topic..

Looks like the 316 stainless unless I get anyone else with better info...

[ZL1RS]

... my advice was to check the price at another source. >AU$600/1000m for fencing wire is way over the top when we farmers are normally paying NZ$79/605m roll for standard galvanised fencing wire. It seemed incongruous to me that an alternative would be so much more expensive. Did you ring a Gallagher dealer farm supply store to compare the list price for the Gallagher product?

[VK4ADC]

Bob

I will try some phone calls to Gallagher suppliers tomorrow (Monday) but I suspect that the 1Km of wire is going to be the minimum available, and that is quite a bit more than I will require

The price and actual local availability will be the main points of interest.

73 Doug

[VK4TI]

316 .9mm stainless mgi wire retails for around $39.00 a kg , thats a lot of wire, a large roll might last a lifetime being anywhere from 10 to 20 kg depending

[VK4ADC]

316 .9mm stainless mgi wire

S/S wire that is 0.9mm dia, regardless of its intended purpose eg TIG/MIG welding, won't be suitable for the intended purpose. I know that at least some of it is copper coated but can't find any real details as to the thickness of the coating for the readily available stuff. BOC have 0.9 and 1.2mm wire available from $450 per 15KG roll but they also state "High silicon levels improve arc characteristics and weld pool fluidity, and flatten weld bead profile. Low carbon increases resistance to corrosion and maintains mechanical properties." What would those characteristics do to effective RF losses when used in antenna construction ??

I looked at the 2.0mm 316 S/S wire as one option but am leaning toward the 3.2mm size form the point of wire stretch and longetivity of the array. I want it to last many years without the need for retuning due to wire stretch.

The two properties that are the most important are its weight bearing capability and its effective losses as an antenna. The destination project is a ray dipole for 160 / 80 / 40 where each 160m leg is about 40m long and the 80 m leg (so 20m long) will hang from it and the 40m leg (about 10m long) will hang from that. The total wire 'weight' on each side will be about 70m so that will contribute a significant mechanical load despite the dipole being supported in the centre and each end.

The other aspect is the cross-section and its effect on the losses introduced into the antenna, not just on 160m but on 80 and 40m too. I want the best efficiency I can obtain and if I can't obtain the XL style wire, and since 2.0mm hard drawn copper wire is almost not available, the 3.2mm 316 stainless 7x7 has to be the next best choice.

It looks like it is possible to obtain a 200M roll of the 316 7x7 wire for about $120 via ebay, free post, and that would give me enough to play with for quite a while. Bunnings sell 30m rolls of the 316 7x7 S/S wire for about $40 so 200M for 3 times the price - the ebay option seems reasonable value.

[VK4TI]

more information is helpful , I have used the multi strand plastic coated 316 wire available from the hardware with the suggested use of cloths line wire , losses are slightly higher than copper but stretch after the intial tightening is negligible and less than hard drawn copper in my experience , the choice is obvious

[VK4WDM]

All the commercially-made military and ham antennas I have seen in recent years use plastic covered stainless steel wire. I used the ss "clothes line" wire that Barry is talking about for my 40m horizontal loop and portable end-fed antenna and it works very well.

73

Wayne VK4WDM

[VK2JDH]

I was just reading an article on VK2OMD's site about 160M antennas and he refers to a "2.7mm Galagher XL high tensile fence wire" versus stainless 316 when comparing losses. I have found only one supplier listing it online but it is a 1000M

http://www.bunnings.com.au/whites-wires ... -_p3040136

[VK4ADC]

Whites Wires doesn't publish any data other than the recommended tension and breaking strain values for their wire products other than stating "Our range of soft, medium and high tensile fence wires available in standard and heavy hot-dipped galvanised finishes. Also available, high performance red wire with zinc-alu coating for extra corrosion resistance." You can easily guess that the Bunnings product noted will be the #10012 Handyfence, soft tensile version, with standard galvanised coating.

If you refer to the original VK2OMD article (the very first post where I raised the question about XL wire suppliers), galv coated wire is a very poor alternative for antennas - even compared against S/S wire formats.

$89 for 250m of galv wire versus $120 for 200m of 316 S/S wire... best value option for longest product life and best performance as an antenna.. hmmmm...

[VK3IH]

there is an ebay seller in WA that sells 3mm Aluminium fencing wire in 100m rolls if that helps,

Paul VK3IH

[VK4ADC]

Paul

I succumbed to a 200m roll of the 3.2mm 7x7 316 stainless last week so I now have plenty for multiband dipole and/or OCF designs for the next few years.....

Thanks all for your input.

73 Doug

[VK4CRO]

hi Doug , after using household 7 core as dipoles for years and coping with stretch and breakages each storm
season (cheap skate) , I will go ss asap ,
de cro

[VK4MJF]

Don't forget the skin affect, never use hi tensile either bad for the body parts, has a memory