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The following are some sizes of wire as compared to their gauge. AWG: American Wire Gauge.
These calculations are from the electrical contractor sites and are handy for knowing the size for strength purposes. The size of wire does not play into antenna construction as much as the diameter will become a factor in bandwidth and power handelling capability. For example, a larger gauge will help in bandwidth, but it's more important for power. For example, you could use a 22g wire that is 30 feet long for reception, but I'm not certain it would last too long for transmission at power levels of 1,000 watts or more.
Diameters can be calculated by applying the formula D(AWG)=.005·92((36-AWG)/39) inch. For the 00, 000, 0000 etc. gauges you use -1, -2, -3, which makes more sense mathematically than "double nought." This means that in American wire gage every 6 gauge decrease gives a doubling of the wire diameter, and every 3 gauge decrease doubles the wire cross sectional area. Similar to dB in signal and power levels.
U.S.
Wire gauge |
Diameter
in Inches |
Diameter
in cm |
20 |
0.03196 |
.81180 |
18 |
0.04030 |
1.0236 |
16 |
0.05082 |
1.2908 |
14 |
0.06408 |
1.6276 |
12 |
0.08080 |
2.0523 |
10 |
0.10189 |
2.5880 |
8 |
0.12849 |
3.2636 |
6 |
0.16202 |
4.1153 |
5 |
0.18194 |
4.6213 |
4 |
0.20431 |
5.1895 |
3 |
0.22942 |
5.8273 |
2 |
0.25763 |
6.5438 |
1 |
0.28930 |
7.3482 |
0 |
0.32486 |
8.2514 |
00 |
0.36480 |
9.2659 |
Wire Gauge Specifics
More information on wire size can be found at WiKi, Engineer's Toolbox, or American/British Wire Gauge site.
| AWG gauge |
Wire
Diameter
Inches |
Wire
Diameter
Milimeters |
Ohms
p/1000ft. |
Ohms p/km |
Max chassis
amperage |
Max transmission
amperage |
Maximum
freq
(Hz) |
| OOOO |
0.4600 |
11.684 |
0.049 |
0.16072 |
380 |
302 |
125 |
| OOO |
0.4096 |
10.40384 |
0.0618 |
0.202704 |
328 |
239 |
160 |
| OO |
0.3648 |
9.26592 |
0.0779 |
0.255512 |
283 |
190 |
200 |
| 0 |
0.3249 |
8.25246 |
0.0983 |
0.322424 |
245 |
150 |
250 |
| 1 |
0.2893 |
7.34822 |
0.1239 |
0.406392 |
211 |
119 |
325 |
| 2 |
0.2576 |
6.54304 |
0.1563 |
0.512664 |
181 |
94 |
410 |
| 3 |
0.2294 |
5.82676 |
0.197 |
0.64616 |
158 |
75 |
500 |
| 4 |
0.2043 |
5.18922 |
0.2485 |
0.81508 |
135 |
60 |
650 |
| 5 |
0.1819 |
4.62026 |
0.3133 |
1.027624 |
118 |
47 |
810 |
| 6 |
0.162 |
4.1148 |
0.3951 |
1.295928 |
101 |
37 |
1100 |
| 7 |
0.1443 |
3.66522 |
0.4982 |
1.634096 |
89 |
30 |
1300 |
| 8 |
0.1285 |
3.2639 |
0.6282 |
2.060496 |
73 |
24 |
1650 |
| 9 |
0.1144 |
2.90576 |
0.7921 |
2.598088 |
64 |
19 |
2050 |
| 10 |
0.1019 |
2.58826 |
0.9989 |
3.276392 |
55 |
15 |
2600 |
| 11 |
0.0907 |
2.30378 |
1.26 |
4.1328 |
47 |
12 |
3200 |
| 12 |
0.0808 |
2.05232 |
1.588 |
5.20864 |
41 |
9.3 |
4150 |
| 13 |
0.072 |
1.8288 |
2.003 |
6.56984 |
35 |
7.4 |
5300 |
| 14 |
0.0641 |
1.62814 |
2.525 |
8.282 |
32 |
5.9 |
6700 |
| 15 |
0.0571 |
1.45034 |
3.184 |
10.44352 |
28 |
4.7 |
8250 |
| 16 |
0.0508 |
1.29032 |
4.016 |
13.17248 |
22 |
3.7 |
11 k |
| 17 |
0.0453 |
1.15062 |
5.064 |
16.60992 |
19 |
2.9 |
13 k |
| 18 |
0.0403 |
1.02362 |
6.385 |
20.9428 |
16 |
2.3 |
17 kHz |
| 19 |
0.0359 |
0.91186 |
8.051 |
26.40728 |
14 |
1.8 |
21 kHz |
| 20 |
0.032 |
0.8128 |
10.15 |
33.292 |
11 |
1.5 |
27 kHz |
| 21 |
0.0285 |
0.7239 |
12.8 |
41.984 |
9 |
1.2 |
33 kHz |
| 22 |
0.0254 |
0.64516 |
16.14 |
52.9392 |
7 |
0.92 |
42 kHz |
| 23 |
0.0226 |
0.57404 |
20.36 |
66.7808 |
4.7 |
0.729 |
53 kHz |
| 24 |
0.0201 |
0.51054 |
25.67 |
84.1976 |
3.5 |
0.577 |
68 kHz |
| 25 |
0.0179 |
0.45466 |
32.37 |
106.1736 |
2.7 |
0.457 |
85 kHz |
| 26 |
0.0159 |
0.40386 |
40.81 |
133.8568 |
2.2 |
0.361 |
107 kH |
| 27 |
0.0142 |
0.36068 |
51.47 |
168.8216 |
1.7 |
0.288 |
130 kHz |
| 28 |
0.0126 |
0.32004 |
64.9 |
212.872 |
1.4 |
0.226 |
170 kHz |
| 29 |
0.0113 |
0.28702 |
81.83 |
268.4024 |
1.2 |
0.182 |
210 kHz |
| 30 |
0.01 |
0.254 |
103.2 |
338.496 |
0.86 |
0.142 |
270 kHz |
| 31 |
0.0089 |
0.22606 |
130.1 |
426.728 |
0.7 |
0.113 |
340 kHz |
| 32 |
0.008 |
0.2032 |
164.1 |
538.248 |
0.53 |
0.091 |
430 kHz |
NOTES:
1). Maximum frequency = 100% skin depth for solid conductor copper.
2). Transmission = Wire lines between poles.
3). Chassis = Internal hookup.
4). Most figures given are for electrical wiring.
Frederick R. Vobbe, W8HDU
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