On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:35:53 -0400, merlin-7 wrote:

If I used electric fence wire for my RF ground radials, how long do you
all think it would last?

Do you think it may last a year or so?

When I was growing up on the farm, we had galvanized electric fencing
wire that had been lost in the weeds, and stomped into the ground (black
Iowa dirt) for YEARS and showed no sign of rust.

With todays copper prices, those half mile spools of 14AWG fence wire
from the FarmFleet are looking cheaper every day.

The biggest problem I can see would be getting proper electrical contact
to the radials themselves. Since steel will not take solder, and you get
all kinds of nasty galvanic reactions with dissimilar metals, I would try
brassing up the ends with a brazing torch, and then solder to the brass.

--Teh