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I have used smaller gauge wire for this type of installation even 18 will work.? It actually is important to find something in this range you already have.? For outdoor installations the gauge is set to withstand the weather, the power may be less important.? I am using 14 here because I had a bunch of it.? Turning the ends too fit the space is no problem I have a 40M indoor in the attic and 5ft of each end is bent 90 degrees. ?40m antennas can be made to work 40, 15 and 6.? Ive worked dx on 6 with my 40m antenna.? The direction on 15 and 6 is off the ends instead on the broad side.? Besure to sweep each band after installation, plot the data on graph paper frequency vs SWR for the whole band.? The bottom of the "U" is the frequency of the antenna thinks it is cut for after the effects of the ?garbage in the attic.? If it is seriously off, readjust the antenna the amount to get back to your design. ?

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On Monday, March 23, 2020, 07:06:58 AM MST, E <erik@...> wrote:

Ron,

There are no dumb questions. This is how we all learn, together.

There are a lot of dipoles in attics out there, the big limiting factor here is the size of your attic. If you need more room consider zig zaging your wire, just keep your turns at 90 degrees or more. Also commercial multiband or shortened dipoles work well. Again run your dipole as far away from metal as possible. Try not to have your rig right below your antenna to reduce any potential RF problems.? Feed line:? A little care is needed here, be careful of running parallel to electrical lines or ductwork if using balanced lines. Use the best coax or twin lead you can but if you CAN use 300 ohm TV lead with some loss for easy routing.??

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As for wire size, the? NEC specifies 14 AWG. for antennas. Most applications use 14 AWG (or larger, such as 12 AWG) stranded copper wire, which will have the added strength of steel wire, as well as the conductivity of copper due to skin effect.

There will be little (or noticeable) difference in bandwidth of solid vs stranded wire of the same AWG.

73 de Erik Morse
N9OJR

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