Wall-Thickness ?

[WQZQ295]

Does wall thickness really matter?  About Antenna's; so, if I was to make a copper J-pole antenna, does the wall-thickness really matter?  So as long it's made to the right overall specs, right/wrong? 

[SteveShannon]

19 hours ago, WQZQ295 said:

Does wall thickness really matter?  About Antenna's; so, if I was to make a copper J-pole antenna, does the wall-thickness really matter?  So as long it's made to the right overall specs, right/wrong? 

Practically speaking, wall thickness matters only for resistance to physical damage. 

[SteveShannon]

An increase in outside diameter does result in slightly greater bandwidth (a wider band of low SWR).  I doubt it’ll make a huge difference though.

[Lscott]

1 hour ago, WQZQ295 said:

Does wall thickness really matter?  About Antenna's; so, if I was to make a copper J-pole antenna, does the wall-thickness really matter?  So as long it's made to the right overall specs, right/wrong? 

The wall thickness doesn't matter for RF performance. It is a factor for the mechanical strength. However the larger diameter of the conductor will make a noticeable difference in the bandwidth of the antenna. The larger diameter will result is a low SWR over a wider range of frequencies.

[KAF6045]

4 minutes ago, Lscott said:

The wall thickness doesn't matter for RF performance. It is a factor for the mechanical strength. However the larger diameter of the conductor will make a noticeable difference in the bandwidth of the antenna. The larger diameter will result is a low SWR over a wider range of frequencies.

It might require tweaking the dimensions some to return to the desired band tuning.

[WRKC935]

Yeah, wall thickness is more about structural integrity than RF emission.  If you look up 'skin effect' you will find that UHF rides right on the face of an antenna, not through the whole element.  And the depth it rides in is far smaller than anything you are gonna find to make an antenna out of so I wouldn't be concerned with that.

Now it was mentioned about the diameter of the antenna elements and how bigger diameters have a wider bandwidth.  This IS important and can throw off the design a bit.  So be aware of that.