iron vs copper elements ?

[cobrian]

Hi everybody,
I have 2 questions concerning antennas.

One is what was the vertical antenna that has a loop or circular feed point that was shown on this web site some where ??

I would like to build a 10m vertical "halfwave coxaial sleeve antenna" with a

whip for 1 quarter and EMT hollow tubing of course for the other 1 quarter. The EMT is of course iron or steel...would it make a huge difference in

performance if I didnt use the normally prescribed 1 quarter wave copper feed thru tube ?

thank you all, Cobrian

 

[HomerBB]

My experience is that it will make no difference whether you use the steel conduit or the copper, except in your wallet.

There are several base antennas with the loop for the matching system. Among them is the Station Master, the Workman 5/8, Maco V5/8, etc.

 

[cobrian]

ferrous is OK for some freqs

thank you HBB,
I had heard that ferrous materials, bailing wire, clothes hangers , fencing wire ( grey/blue zinc plated ) and EMT iron tubing would work ....but besides
extra or super hi frequencies they will work? Your practical experience would indicate that it's workable at least for HFs.

The verticals loop feed it would appear are practicaly feed using the loop configuration if they are 5/8 wave. OK very good. Cobrian

 

[HomerBB]

thank you HBB,
I had heard that ferrous materials, bailing wire, clothes hangers , fencing wire ( grey/blue zinc plated ) and EMT iron tubing would work ....but besides
extra or super hi frequencies they will work? Your practical experience would indicate that it's workable at least for HFs.

The verticals loop feed it would appear are practicaly feed using the loop configuration if they are 5/8 wave. OK very good. Cobrian

My error on the antenna. It was you Wolf 1/2λ I was thinking of, not the Station Master. That makes it desirable antenna to try to reproduce as a homebrew.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I wouldn't use any type of ferrous metal for antenna construction. Iron or steel is heavier, prone to corrosion from rust, and is a much poorer conductor than copper is. The only exception would be a steel tower loaded as a vertical antenna and then the large cross sectional area makes up for the higher material resistance.