Something that is flexible so it will deflect when bent slightly but
still can be bent into a spiral....
The antenna will be 19" long, vertical, and mounted on a car, so it
needs to be stiff enough to withstand wind and an occasional whack with
something... I will mount it on a hinged pin so I can drop it when I
need to....
Brass or copper is commonly used for this except that it needs an outer
plastic sheath to protect it. I cannot use brass since I want the
antenna to be exposed...
I thought of titanium and/or stainless, but I don't know enough about
metals to make a judgement.... I can buy 1/8" titanium round 6Al-4V
pretty cheaply (about $20 for enough material for 2 antennas) but I
don't know if that will work, or if the titanium can be bent into the
shapes required.
The drawings and bend radii are shown here:
formatting link
and the full assembly is shown here:
formatting link
I would appreciate any suggestions or pointers, or comments.