Newbie question regarding max wattage through an antenna?
Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 3:53 pm
I'm interested in building a simple half wave dipole out of copper piping (just for hobby purposes at the moment so nothing that needs to go on top of a block) and was wondering how I'd go about determining the max current rating for it? When working with wire I know you can use ohm's law and work out how much current will go through it. You can then look up different gauges of wire and their pre-determined ratings and go from there.
How does it work with copper piping though? Being hollow and designed to transport water, it's really hard to determine the equivalent 'rating'. I doubt it's much concern at the moment for my plans (I was thinking of putting up something in the region of 30 watts to broadcast to quite a local area in the future) but lets say one day I wanted to run 150 watts and become a 'proper' pirate, would 22 mm tubing be enough to handle it?
Any and all input is very much appreciated!
How does it work with copper piping though? Being hollow and designed to transport water, it's really hard to determine the equivalent 'rating'. I doubt it's much concern at the moment for my plans (I was thinking of putting up something in the region of 30 watts to broadcast to quite a local area in the future) but lets say one day I wanted to run 150 watts and become a 'proper' pirate, would 22 mm tubing be enough to handle it?
Any and all input is very much appreciated!