‰  NOW 13 WPM  ‰   TEXT IS FROM MAY 2015  QST PAGE 65   ‰

WE CAN CALCULATE THE TENSION IN THE WIRE AND SHOW SOME INTERESTING
RELATIONSHIPS.  THE EQUATIONS OF INTEREST ARE  THE SAME EQUATIONS ARE ALSO
GIVEN IN PENDERS HANDBOOK FOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS.  THEY APPLY TO THE CASE
WHERE THE ANTENNA END POINTS ARE AT THE SAME LEVEL.  WHEN THERE IS A
DIFFERENCE IN ELEVATION, THE FORMULAS BECOME A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED, BUT
THE RESULTS ARE SIMILAR.  A TYPICAL WIRE ANTENNA CONFIGURATION IS SHOWN IN
FIGURE 1.  KNOWING THE REQUIRED ANTENNA LENGTH, LC, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN
ƒ  QST DE W1AW  ‰
THE SUPPORTS INSULATORS, L, CAN BE CALCULATED USING EQUATION 2.  THEN,
KNOWING THE WEIGHT OF WIRE PER FOOT, W, THE WIRE TENSION FOR DIFFERENT
VALUES OF WIRE SAG CAN ALSO BE CALCULATED USING EQUATION 1.  THESE RESULTS
ARE SHOWN IN TABLE 1.  FROM THAT TABLE WE CAN DRAW SEVERAL CONCLUSIONS 1
FOR A GIVEN ANTENNA LENGTH AND SAG, THE WIRE GAUGE HAS NO EFFECT ON THE
STRENGTH OF THE ANTENNA IF WE DEFINE STRENGTH AS THE RATIO OF BREAKING LOAD
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