Very Sensitive Antenna With Rusty Welding Wire!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab

[@carlubambi5541]

Is there a recommended amount of tension or sag summer sag and winter shrink .How much tension should there be to keep antenna and if you are using a dipole for transmitting does the sag affect the SWR ?

[@KD2HJP]

Mr Carlson.. Do you ever sell your equipment? Duplicates? Are you open to adoption? I'm 52.. have a really odd set of skills, but health occasionally balks LOL

[@XPFTP]

eletric fence wire. here south of u tractor supply has like 1/4 mile rolls for cheap. might even be half mile rolls i forget. ive yet to find the end of my rolls lol 3 years later

[@tomspahr3013]

Back in the days of the 50s and 60s, when I grew up, you could take electric classes in junior and high school in the San Fernando Valley California. So you get the basics of electricity and now I don't think they many shop classes. So there's not many people left that you can find that still work on older radios and equipment. I bought a Teac AG-D8900 AV Digital Home Theater Receiver at Costco over 20 years ago, and it from working. I called a guy in Modesto, California, near where I live in Merced. He said he only works on the older stuff. I replaced it with another receiver

[@Flowtester1]

Mr. Carlson never does anything half ass. Always gives it 110%. I hope he has kids. He is a perfect role model for any young man.

[@duroxkilo]

@@interesting7906 what are you saying? this channel has always had proper video AND audio, like well before it was 'a thing' on yt...

[@pablojre]

​@@interesting7906he's making educational videos, entertainment is not the primary purpose. He doesn't need all the bells & whistles of fancy video editing. His audio is always clear, all his cuts are clean and appropriately timed, I'm not sure what else you expect - an animated intro with a theme song?

[@Hungry_Hunter]

@@interesting7906 I find the whole LAB trip a bit self obsessed . All the piles of antiquated test equipment all neatly stacked as a back drop. The longwinded descriptions of undoing screws and painfully monotonous monologue punctuated by details previously explained over and over.

[@anthonymccarthy4164]

@@interesting7906 I couldn't disagree with you more. He is doing something that requires attention to detail, someone could get hurt or killed if they didn't have detailed information. As to your diagnosis, you're clearly not a qualified medical professional. His videos are some of the best on these topics.

[@anthonymccarthy4164]

Or young woman.

[@cgtower8860]

Mr. Carlson is the neighbor we all wish we had. Bucket truck, generator, complete fab shop, electronics guru...yeah...wonder if there are any homes for sale in his neighborhood.

[@MichiganPeatMoss]

Aug 2024: Per your original antenna video, I used the welding wire for a much simpler 200-foot longwire antenna and single spring arrangement with paracord. Yes, it's still up to this day as well!

[@georgemolnar3299]

Hey Paul, Great vid! Fifty years ago, my 6th grade teacher ( Dutch W1GXY ) and I ( WN1USM ) put up my first dipole antenna ( 40 meter band ). We used Copper Weld wire-which held up beautifully-well into my college years. We stretched it between a pine tree and a back porch post. We used rope and a clothesline pulley screwed into the tree with a plastic weight plate hanging down near the trunk. During wind storms that plate used to fly up and down as the tree swayed! I was going to comment on the white zip ties, but I see many more have already. I used to work for a Photo Voltaic research company and we wired our array sensors with white zip ties. When we went to decommission the site, the zips just crumbled in our hands. I love how transparent your welding wire is, my Copper Weld was plainly visible. Nice job! George ( WA1USM )..

[@mauricenewman-c8z]

My prayers have been answered. The GRRS will continue. Many thanks Mr. C

[@JRobinson-v9l]

I always give you a thumbs up! As I have stated you are a major gift to those of us that know and understand electronics but not on your level. You take all of us along !!! Thank you so very much for you do and share.❤

[@ibrahimkocaalioglu]

it was like yesterday the day i watched you install the antenna.

[@goingjag]

LOL, I wasn’t going to view this video! I thought it was the original install one from, I thought, a few months ago.

[@PeterDyall-bn7ut]

At the 1 min mark I smashed the like button when I heard the Grand Receiver series will resume!!!

[@alandrury9955]

Good to hear you're moving ahead with the receiver restoration project and great to see a Mr C video actually shot outside and in the daylight

[@JoeJ-8282]

I wish you were my neighbor, because I could learn so much more from you than JUST simply by watching your KZbin videos, (as good as those are!), because I would be regularly visiting and talking with you, and wanting to help you out with your projects and videos! It would be great fun for me, being a major electronics nerd myself!

[@rusty1187]

.... And he has a utility boom truck!!!

[@jonsymmonds1120]

I have used steel electric fence wire for years for both transmit and receive with good results. As long as I have a good solder joint to the steel wire, it does a great job. I think my 80 meter dipole has been up for close to 20 years!

[@jimgiordano8218]

I am so happy to hear that you will be continuing the receiver restoration series, I have been waiting for it to continue.

[@nyckhampson792]

Mr Carlon quite rightly so, You and your family live in a stunning house and gardens (yard you guys call it- that aint no yard) ...Sir your a clever man, and do amazing things that even non engineers are drawn to , esp the 'old radio restos' ....keep it up , its well appreciated

[@johnblystone8781]

So glad to hear that the Grand Receiver Restoration is still on-going. Especially looking forward to the Collins R390 A.

[@goingjag]

Yes, I’m trying to remember if that was what I used at the MARS station at Ft Hood in 1968-9.

[@carlubambi5541]

I used 308 stainless alloy for a wire antenna .its been working great and cheap to buy a spool

[@rksg2003]

Mr Carlson I do enjoy these videos and have for many years now..Thank you because I know camera work and editing are way more time consuming than most people realize especially to make the quality of videos that you do..

[@jgeorge6081]

Not to mention the editing!

[@JFirn86Q]

Fantastically engineered system, I love it. Nicely done as usual.

[@JK-we1dr]

Lovely looking home

[@terrym1065]

What a great piece of equipment to have at the ready, that bucket truck must be a dream to own. I have two 40' Rohn towers with multiple antennas, vertical's and twin stacked arrays and now find myself struggling to climb safely doing maintenance, envious for sure. Spring tension on the antenna is a great idea and yes the wire looks fine IMO. Glad to hear the restoration series is in the works, thanks as that is educational as well as enjoyable. Nice video Mr C., much appreciated. 73

[@111000100101001]

The antenna system looks to be holding up well. Thanks for taking us up to look over things!

[@bradleyleben7785]

My wife seen your truck and said,” I need one of those!” She would be snipping every twig she could see. 🤣🤣 Looking forward to your next videos.

[@anderleof]

...saw your truck...

[@aserta]

My brother's wife rented one. He woke up one morning, bed empty, noises outside. The missus was up on the thing, all dressed up the part snipping the poplar trees. Farmer's wives, "can do" attitude 24/7.

[@batmandestroys1978]

Sir Mr Carlson Lab very impressed! Great athleticism the way you climbed into that cheery picker and scaled it!

[@robertheintz8017]

He moves like a cat. lol

[@batmandestroys1978]

@@robertheintz8017 He sure does! Lol.

[@toms.3977]

Oh joy! An outside antenna video. I'm all in! Thanks, Paul.

[@GeorgeWMays]

I absolutely love that truck. You are too cool. Next, if you just had your own small nuclear power generation facility, water well, underground cistern system, and septic system.... Seriously though, the truck is amazing. Thanks for another thoroughly entertaining video.

[@dakata2416]

Thanks again Mr. Carlson!

[@almosthuman4457]

Such a beautiful place.

[@Rs500ybd]

Nice Cherry Picker that a real one. Always impressed by your attitude towards Electronics ... legend you have become.

[@njgriebel]

Yes the GRRS will continue! :) I can't wait!

[@PlanetaryThoughts9861]

Thanks for the update. That's a nice little truck you have there!

[@truthseeker3907]

Thank You 👍

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

You're welcome!

[@utubejeffo]

Army field telephone wire works well for antennas....copper and steel in twisted pair configuration. Legendary toughness, hard to stretch, tinned and takes solder well. It's stiff of course and hard to strip the insulation off, but you can pretty much forget it once it's up. Comes in half-kilometer reels at hamfests! Thanks! 73 K4UIE

[@tomspahr3013]

If you have a friend who works on aircraft, there's some .032 safety wire that's used to safetying aircraft components. I used it for a solar dryer (clothes line), and its lasted about 30 years. There's more than one type of wire. Some don't rust, and some will look tarnished, but hold up fine. I enjoy watching your content working on the old radios. I'm not much of an electronic guy, but it's interesting to see what do. Tommy

[@tomspahr3013]

Oops, I hit the send before I finished my reply. I wanted to say: from Costco, but I'm not that happy with it. I think my Teac overheated and took out something in the channels. The subwoffer still works.

[@Realroyrogers]

I used MacLean 430 SS Lashing Wire - 0.45in stainless steel Wire is fully annealed and wax coated for ease of use. Put it up in 1988 , its still good, no rust no corrosion . Of course the the radio is in closet now because the invasion of panama was what I installed for. I got the wire off the linemen but you can buy it online. You would never need to do it again or even check it. I had tried several different types of wire before this and after time passed they all failed . Not this one

[@KJ6EAD]

Did you mean 0.045"?

[@donl1846]

GRRS will be returning, thank you Professor Carlson !!!

[@brizzle8797]

Just a quick thought if you are looking for a stainless wire replacement. The lashing wire we use to hold up fiber and coax to the support strand. Tested good for decades in weather, not too expensive! Thanks for the great videos!

[@hestheMaster]

Good idea getting up there to check on the wire. Surface rust can be chemically treated later and an anti-oxidative coating applied then. It should last for several years. Lovely looking area of Canada there Mr. Carlson.

[@cemx86]

At 6:19 - I noticed the "zip ties" used to retain the ropes at the insulators. These are white which generally means are not UV protected. The T&B brand Ty-Wrap black zip ties are the best for this application.

[@W1RMD]

Yes, U.V. resistant DOES matter. Some times even the black ones aren't sunlight resistant. I pays to get a decent brand like the kind you get at an electrician's warehouse. I have had problems with cheap wire ties right down to the mechanical lock inside.

[@cemx86]

The Thomas and Betts (T&B now ABB) brand Ty-Wrap model "zip ties" are considered best-in-class made of high strength nylon with an imbedded stainless steel locking tangs rather than the more commonly found plastic tangs.

[@nevillegoddard4966]

@@cemx86. Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Surely the black ones are better than the white ones?

[@cemx86]

Right. Black UV resistant cable ties will last much longer

[@Indiskret1]

Agreed! I always use Ty-Wraps with the metal tongue. They are great and very long lasting no matter what the application.

[@W4GHW]

Looking forward to the Grand Receiver series!

[@jeffclark2725]

Good afternoon, i forgot you still had that bucket truck,great video,thumbs up

[@jonathanreedpike]

The breaks to see the outside of the lab are a nice touch. Zip strips, zip ties, we always called them "zickers". Nice landscaping by the way.

[@jrkorman]

Might be difference in climate - but zip - ties only seem to last about 4 years or so outside in our Texas sun and heat. They still look good, but look at them hard and they snap like glass.

[@DukeDave1]

Thank-you for another great video Mr. Carlson. :)

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

My pleasure!

[@johnwillis12454]

I love your field trips !

[@eosjoe565]

The last time I did antenna work on my tower I rented a bucket truck from U-Haul and it sure made the task much easier. I will admit the controls took a little time to get used to but all in all it was well worth it.

[@ThejasonJaw5442]

Shortwave radio - 📻 enjoyed the video

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks 👍

[@Greg-et2dp]

Mr Carlsons lab your light blue truck with a cherry picker is awesome my friend

[@marksnethkamp8633]

Mr carlson just wanted an excuse for a big blue truck!

[@genestatler2514]

Yeah right?!?! Beautiful blue truck!!

[@W1RMD]

It looks like even though we're both on the same northern latitude (I'm in Maine) , you're pretty much 3000+ miles due west of me, your trees are much further into spring than here. We had about 30 inches of snow around Easter! I would love to see you do a video on modifying the MFJ-259B of yours. I've got the Nano VNA and I'm starting to use it. Maybe showing an alignment of an RCA AR-88, which requires more than basic alignment procedures and comparing the best verses the cheapest test equipment. And then, for good measure, show the VINTAGE way of aligning these communication receivers. I don't mean a complete alignment, just one section to show how the comparing how different equipment works. One thing I love best about your channel is the test equipment the you can build yourself. When you don't have to comply with U.L., factory, or FCC requirements, it is amazing how much simpler the test equipment can be! I see you have a garden and greenhouse. I would love to see a tour of these. Maybe include electronic projects around these. Just some ideas I'm brain storming (brain farting) around. I love your videos! It's nice to get outside the shop with the spring fever we've been having so thanks for bringing us up in the air with you! 73 and take care!

[@edic2619]

Thanks for video. Great job.

[@nathkrupa3463]

Great video Mr Carlson sir you are awesome engineer thanks for the sharing this video sir ❤😊😊❤😊

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

You are very welcome

[@genestatler2514]

I would give you a million thumbs up if I could Paul. I absolutely love your channel!! All the best from Gene in Tennessee.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Gene!

[@4X6GP]

Have you considered putting a common-mode choke at the feedpoint of the antenna? Without it, the outside of the coax shield effectively becomes part of the antenna. Since it enters your lab it will be prone to pick up noise there, which can then flow back up to the feedpoint and then back to the receiver. I am sure your antenna is efficient, but s/n ratio is more important in a receiving antenna.

[@blugoose86]

Love it Mr. C. In the past, I've always had someone else put up my antenna. Terribly afraid of heights. I think I would be okay in a bucket. Cool truck there.

[@gerryroberts662]

intersting things you check out, love this stuff..

[@EightPirates-ig1oz]

When I became HAM in the late 1950s the preference for wire antennas was to use copper clad steel. It has excellent corrosion resistance, strength, and works best as bare wire. It is available as dead soft steel as well as medium and high strength steel cores. Insulation is subject to UV related deterioration and greatly increases wind resistance. I believe insulation also accumulates more ice in the winter. Surprisingly, copper clad steel antenna wires provide superior conductivity and less signal loss due to seemingly enhanced skin effects. I never understood this, perhaps it is related to electromagnetic properties of steel. This does not apply to DC however which can cause a satellite signal coax to fail in delivering the DC for antenna mounted electronics. Use solid copper for anything like that. Stainless steel wire has a habit of failing under conditions of constant changes in tension. There is no warning of weakness before failure either. For this reason it is almost never used in sailboat rigging. High strength steels are hard to bend. Unless the wire is long and requires high tension to reduce sagging, mild steel is a lot easier to work with and generally adequate.

[@Bradleyscience]

Ok Paul, if that is your truck, I am drooling!! 🤣 A vehicle like that makes so much of our antenna work substantially easier. Cheers and 73

[@hmorgan2904]

Mr Carlson never ceases to amaze me. I have a question. Who has their own personal bucket truck?

[@parkjv1]

Awesomeness squared 😎 Mr. C!

[@nortonics5745]

Awesome? Did it inspire awe? I'll help you - no, it didn't.

[@christopherhall2635]

Great video as always. When you say it takes x2 re the project and x4 when you add a camera. What would be interesting is to do a 25 minute video but show it from conception in your mind to the upload to Pateron or YT. That would give us all a real insight into how it works 👌

[@CIRCUITDESIGNER]

I have used electric fence wire for such an antenna. It's galvanized and doesn't rust. Very low cost. Very good spring tension device on yours.

[@super-8]

Very long we have must wait, to see your antenna, now its all clear, he has an antenna^^

[@bofor3948]

Pleased to hear the grand receiver restoration is going to continue. You covered my favourite (CR88, I have an AR88 to restore) already, but would like to see the results of the others and their final comparison. Thank you for your efforts on these and fully understand the points you made on Patreon.

[@karlschwab6437]

My wire antenna was a dipole made with Copper Weld wire, with 450 ohm feeders. It had been up for many years and finally, this year, the wire rusted out at the feed point, which is up on my tower, about 18m high. Now, I am doing a lot of thinking about my climb up to it!

[@nyckhampson792]

For people asking about Mr Carlson putting up this ariel using the cable, method he did ... I refer you to the '80's film '*The Thing*' When 'MacReady' is about to take up the chopper in an oncoming snow storm, 'Bennings' or 'Norris' says "McReady is mad taking her up in this..." 'Palmer' replies "*He knows wat he's doin...*" As does Mr Carlson...😉

[@martincarmichael9011]

That antenna system is neat. You put a lot of pride in your work and it shows. I saw one item I would change, and that would be the white ties holding the rope. Here in FL white ties become brittle, basking in the sun, so it is recommended black, as they last much longer. . Love your videos.

[@gandalf87264]

I think it's the first time I have ever seen you outside your lab.

[@Go4Corvette]

Just look at old mines you will see rusty steel baling wire laying in the desert that is still good and 100+ years old. Excellent job on the antenna tower.

[@MrMersh-ts7jl]

You know, because if you i just finished fixing a tek 317, then did my first AA5 this weekend. 1958 rca circuit board! Thank you sir.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thats great! Congratulations, and thanks for the kind feedback too.

[@MrMersh-ts7jl]

@@MrCarlsonsLab it's well deserved! Through your patreon I've gained so much knowledge and drive to fix what's going to inevitably end up scrapped or dumped.

[@MrMersh-ts7jl]

@@MrCarlsonsLab by the way, I need more Vedolyzer in my life!

[@Larryn7luf]

My wife and myself always enjoy all of your videos. If I was a younger man, I would love to have your antenna. Can I borrow your truck? I do have a rope that I had put up 30 years ago and it is still up between two trees. Thank you again for your videos!

[@frederickbowman4494]

GREAT VIDEO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks!!

[@nevadabadger7925]

Greetings from Reno, Nevada.

[@williamwalker8107]

Nice digs.

[@RadioamateurKjellSvendsen]

Always love videos on interesting antennas! Have a video myself on my multiband dipole working so well! Also very interesting to learn about all the radio operators in Norway at the 2'nd world war being traced and killed, for whomever interested in some history lessons! Thank you so much, man, for your very good and interesting videos!! :0)

[@KeritechElectronics]

Rust or not, holding up just fine! Totally agreed that restorations can be extremely time consuming. Doing a few right now... and sometimes I can't Keri on just like that, I need to take a break and do something else because things are not going as planned and I need to retrace my steps, get some parts etc. But when you get it right, it can be so satisfying.

[@TexasNEV]

24 awg magnet wire setup as an end fed half wave has been amazing for me. I've gotten cq's 5/5 from over 4,500 miles away w/ a basic 100w rig.

[@markpitts5194]

Beware white zap straps and UV. I cable tied my fluorescent lights to the rafters in my shed. One morning they were all on the floor. I then tested black and white ties from the same company, just left them out doors, the white translucent ones went brittle after a few years, the black did not. I'm guessing that the pigment in the black ones stopped the UV getting to the core. The white ones snapped like match sticks, totally cooked! Greetings from the UK, love your videos.

[@KJ6EAD]

I had a similar experience in an office environment with a fluorescent tube wrapped with multiple natural nylon cable ties. The UV that leaked through the phosphor embrittled those ties impressively. They crumbled like broken glass after a couple of years in place.

[@snowwhite7677]

Like the bucket truck! But this is a radio channel not a bucket truck channel.

[@danielpeck6269]

I remember the first antenna I built for my Heath kit. I unwound an AC blower motor and strung the copper wire on my parents fence

[@johnyoungquist6540]

You can buy stainless lock wire from places like Princess auto and harbor freight it's fairly inexpensive and comes on a spool it might be a source of corrosion resistance antenna wire I believe the largest size red tailed available is .041 inches in diameter ohh it's sold as an aviation product and is available from non aviation sources for less money

[@Alexelectricalengineering]

Look pretty good for how long it is outside in the weather 👍👍👍

[@Magnetic581]

Interesting stuff

[@tonytfuntek3262]

Great design on your antenna system, but I was wondering if the rust affects the efficiency of the antenna. Thank you

[@Greg-et2dp]

Mr Carlsons lab you are good at restoring antique radios and alignment of antique radios my friend

[@christophermarshall5765]

He is also a licensed ham radio operator, like myself. That antenna setup is probably used for ham radio work also.

[@skysteel7855]

Absolutely love your video's and gives me hope for my electronics projects. One thing I would say about this video is for safety only. Having had to work in one of these bucket trucks in one of my past jobs is a requirement to wear a hard hat and also a safety harness to attach your body to the bucket. I remember hearing about a poor guy who fell out of one and died. Please be safe my friend! You are obviously an electronics genius and am in awe of your talents. Jim C. from Holyrood, Newfoundland, Canada. I'm going to subscribe to your Patreon channel. Definitely a bargain for your knowledge

[@dave1135]

Welding wire is pretty tough stuff, i keep the left over wire in the whip when i change out my spool and use it in place of mechanics wire

[@tomhopkins2438]

I'm in my seventies and am returning to electronics as a hobby, great content sir👍 ps. You climbed into that rig like a mountain goat 🐐 more power to your elbow as they say in Ireland 👍

[@adrianruess1646]

Super cool ! 😎

[@anon5976]

Mr. Carlson is a G as in STRAIGHT UP GANGSTA

[@Ninjahat]

Woohoo! The blue bucket truck is back 😀

[@deanmartin8784]

Mr. Carlson did you paint the truck?

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Some of it, Tremclad blue is almost a perfect match, so you know what International was thinking.

[@delmarbish3926]

What kind of lighting protection do you use to keep it from getting into your lab?

[@barneymiller6204]

I thought that maybe you had given up on the grand receiver restoration series. glad that you will be getting back to it!

[@johnbellas490]

Hello Paul! I was wondering about the welding wire you used in your antenna! Since you installed the wire have you experienced any issues with it stretching over time!! Just curious! in my inverted VEE antennas is stainless steel strands woven in fabric like that used in outside folding chairs that is about 3.5 inches wide. The antennas have a wide frequency width in the 40 and 80 meter bands which is very good the stainless steel wires are about 22 gauge size strands woven through the base material to within about 1/8 inch 0f the edge of the antenna width of 3.5 inches. I have to shorten up the antenna legs about 1 to 2 inches a year to keep them in tune it seems this stretching has slowed down over the last two years, so it seems to have stabilized to some degree. I used plastic pulleys that is about 5 inches in diameter to suspend the apex of the antenna and at the near the ends of the legs that I use to lower and raise the whole assembly for service or to save in high wind conditions. My SWR remains under 1.3 to 1 across both 80 and 40 meters and 50 ohms or close to that figure with both Vee's. In my next experiment I will see what I can do with # 6 solid wire at 50 MHZ and 144 MHZ just for fun! As always you do great work with your videos Paul, I can't wait to see your upcoming videos on the old radios!! 73's from KC2UVN

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

The wire length has been pretty consistant, there is not much pulling force with the springs.

[@McTroyd]

HOW WAS THIS PUT UP YEARS AGO?! I feel like it's been months at most! 😳🤪😅 Looking good!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Times flying!

[@McTroyd]

@@MrCarlsonsLab That it is.

[@gooseknack]

Its holding up well. Zap Straps are called "zippy ties" in Australia..

[@ellisc.foleyjr9778]

Doesn't every one have a bucket truck! nope! some of us Peons still have to climb manually haha. thanks for sharing ECF

[@PlanetaryThoughts9861]

This peasant is too old for ladders and exploring the roof!

[@PlanetaryThoughts9861]

Really? My comment got deleted for calling myself a peasant that's too old for ladders? Too many Karens here.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

I see both your comments.

[@goingjag]

@@PlanetaryThoughts9861your posts show up fine.

[@davidhoppe6996]

I wish I could do a 3,6,9 on my property, I am pushing it with a 10 meter vertical with my HOA. Going to have to get some sort of long wire up for when my Hallicrafters SX-71 is back together. But have to finish my Carlson SIFT and rf probe first. Hard to find time these days!!

[@JH-jp9sv]

That's an interesting choice of wire! Personally for an EFHW, and since I only run QRP up to barefoot, I use 26ga magnet wire with a chrome-moly wrench counter weight. It lasts until a big storm then I break out $0.49 CAD more wire for a new antenna.

[@ShainAndrews]

But what size wrench?

[@JH-jp9sv]

@@ShainAndrews 14MM of course!

[@richardgoebel226]

I am curious whether the rust on the wires will decrease the sensitivity of the antenna. R.F. skin effect is what I am thinking of. When I grew up in Connecticut we would have to replace our roof mounted television antenna every 6 to 7 years because the aluminum elements became so corroded.

[@edgar9651]

Thanks. Maybe it would be good when you would tell us a little more about possible problem with rusted wire. Does it make any difference for the functionality of the antenna? Would a receiver with a non-rusted antenna work differently? Thanks.