John,

That copper clad steel can be a royal pain to solder.  It's often used in 
twin lead to add strength.   The real heavy stuff is sold as antenna wire in 
14, 12, and 10 gauge.  one brand name is Copperweld.   In any case, it's a 
very thin coating of  sometimes poor quality copper.

Trying to clean up  the end before soldering with steel wool or sandpaper 
only makes things  worse in a lot of cases.   One trick is to clean it with 
chemical or acid.   I don't recall the preferred brand name, but there are 
copper/brass cleaners you may have around the house.   Or a stronger acid 
like used to clean or etch concrete, or some acid used by  plumbers.

Be careful, wear eye protection, put the end of the wire in the  chemical or 
acid used and allow to work for a time.  Rinse with water and allow to dry. 
Solder should stick.

73, Steve KW3A


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 11:34 AM
Subject: Re: antenna


> I'm told it's because the wire used is copper coated steel wire. If that's
> correct or not, I'm not sure, I'll have to check next time it's down since 
> I
> do know my metal, but that's possible I suppose.