So I just built my first dipole antenna, and I have a question or two.

Do I need to give it some sort of earth ground, since the "shield" element will be suspended in the air just like the "hot" element?

Would 14 gauge stranded copper wire be able to handle 300 watts PEP on SSB, and 150-175 watts on AM? I normally just run 4 watts on AM, and 12 watts PEP on SSB, but if possible I'd like to work a little bit of DX, and 14 gauge is the heaviest wire that I had enough of to work with.

Also, I'll give you guys a description of how I built it, and if you don't care, tell me if I royally screwed something up. I've tested it and it works, even inside my house, but I'm just curious if there's anything I can do better.

I took the SO-239 connector out of an old junk CB radio and pushed it through the hole in the center of the clear protector that comes on a spindle of burnable CDs. I attached one wire to the shield and one wire to the center conductor with solder, pulled them in opposite directions, and then piled hot glue all over that side of the connector to protect the connections from moisture/corrosion. The clear CD serves to keep rain from directly touching the feedline and the female side of the SO-239. I used 14 gauge stranded copper wire that I had for making/repairing CB radio power cords. I cut the wires at 9 feet 6 inches each, for a total of 19 feet total, but then I folded back 5 inches of each element for a total of 18 feet two inches, or 9 feet one inch on each one. I folded them back and taped them with electrical tape because I was told this would work just like cutting them, but I would have the option of letting more slack back out if I wanted to. I'm going to drill two holes in the plastic disc close to the edge opposite the sides where the wires go and run some cord through there for the purpose of hanging the center of the dipole from a tree. I also put a drop of hot glue on the exposed ends of the elements to keep moisture from getting between the copper and the coating.

Here's some pictures I took before I pulled the wires in opposite directions and smothered them in hot glue.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...e/P1140064.JPG

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...e/P1140060.JPG