DX-WIRE

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NOW 25% DISCOUNT ON DX-WIRE ZN !

Since 2002 "DX-WIRE" has been the brand-name of our successful antenna wires both solid and stranded. Because of its excellent conductivity copper is first choice for antenna wires. For this reason we purposely do not employ a copper alloy such as bronze that provides better chemical and mechanical stability at the price of inferior conductivity. Unfortunately most stranded or solid copper wires are made of soft copper providing reasonable flexibility but stretch irreversibly and break under relatively small loads. Furthermore PVC is the favourite insulating material in the electrical industry. As you will know PVC causes environmental problems and shows only limited UV-resistance. Therefore we have spent a lot of thought together with our manufacturers on developing suitable wires for the construction of wire antennas to improve the strength and weather resistance of copper-based conductors. To achieve that we have principally chosen three different approaches:

Copper Weld Steel Wire

This type of wire, which is quite popular in the USA, consists of a steel core with a solid layer of copper rolled onto it. The width of the copper layer is about 10% of the diameter. Thus a wire of 1 mm in diameter is covered with a copper layer of 0,05 mm. As on SW-frequencies the skin depth is in the same order these wires behave just like solid copper wires, as all RF-currents flow at the surface because of the skin effect. The central steel core improves the mechanical stability considerably. Copper weld steel wires hardly stretch and break at about tree times the load that soft copper wires can stand. Our most popular antenna wire of this type is our DX-WIRE "A". A thin layer of dark enamel protects it against corrosion and makes the wire almost invisible. This stealth wire has helped many hams to enjoy their hobby without arousing the suspicion of "friendly" neighbours.
Our bare DX-WIRE "B" is a low cost alternative and our type "ZN" is slightly thicker and with its thin tin coating a long-lasting alternative if visibility is of no importance. These solid copper-coated wires grant a high amount of strength even at very small diameters and low weight. However, this wire requires some skill in handling because it is rather rigid. It is recommended to keep the wire stretched out by a helper when building an antenna.
Once the antenna is up you'll soon forget these minor handling problems and enjoy a stealth antenna without hardly any sagging and minimal wind load. Because of the handling problems these wires should not be used for portable operations, when antennas have to be put up frequently and in a short time.

Harddrawn Stranded Copper Wire

A lot of radio amateurs prefer insulated flexible litz wire because of its easier handling for antenna building as well as for transporting and storing. In principle stranded wire can be constructed from copperweld wires, but the copper layer on the single strands will be extremely thin. On a copperweld wire of 0,2 mm in diameter the copper layer will be not more than 0,01 mm. As the skin depth is about 0,05 mm on the low bands there will be noticeably higher losses on these frequencies. Furthermore there have been reports of severe rusting as the protective layer of copper is extremely thin. For these reasons we have tried to find suppliers who are able to produce litz wire from harddrawn strands of solid copper. In the process of production the wire is drawn to the intended gauge by special machines. After controlled stretching in these machines the originally soft and elastic copper will get a mechanical tension that makes further stretching difficult and doubles the load of breaking. Usually these wires are heat-processed after drawing and the copper is soft again. The wire is elastic again, but at the price of a much lower breaking load. Without this glowing process the hard-drawn copper strands can be used to produce litz wire that is less elastic but considerably stronger. Furthermore it can be handled more conveniently than copper clad steel wire. At the moment we can offer two versions of hard drawn stranded wire, both covered with a thin insulation of black uv-resistant polyethylene. One of them is our durable type "F". This semi-flexible wire is recommended for stationary applications, while our newly developed type "FL"(flexible light) with is 19 strands of 0,25 mm each lends itself to portable use

PE-insulated litz wire with a stainless steel core in a copper mesh

This our Product for extreme conditions! A stranded core of high quality stainless steel is enwrapped in a mesh of finest copper strands (tinned). The insulation of black polyethylene protects the wire against the environment. Our DX-WIRE HDL (heavy-duty) is a top product "Made in Germany".