Basically, for ham use, a wire antenna can be made from anything.
Especially if it is at hand and it is cheap.
The problem is that today anything can be bought, from DX wire to laundry string, everything.
The problem back then is that we don't have to search, but we just need to have money.
Buying a 100m reel of CY4 or CY6 wire is not a problem, but the price is high; since the time of the 'copper' peak, cables have always cost too much compared to the price of basic materials.
Phosphor bronzes have long been forgotten, they are no longer produced because telephone and telegraph overhead lines have been a thing of the past for at least 30-50 years.
Even FB wire ages, not much, but it does age.
If someone has a stock at home, it is good to use what is at hand.
But when it comes to building a self-supporting antenna quickly and relatively cheaply from a material that has high strength and minimal permeability, especially in winter during frost, it is good to reach for something unified and cheap.
In my opinion, this is FeZn plastic-coated tension wire. It is unified, available, and cheap.
Today it is already a problem to find even cheaply the once common AlFe wire 10mm for aerial lines.
PK wire is a good thing for expeditions, short-term installations; this conductor would have been envied even in the USA for its easy availability and low price even today.
However, finding quality PK wire, for example from the former USSR, or similar, with PE insulation that withstands long-term weather influences and UV radiation, similar to old television twin wire, is almost impossible today for a cheap price.
Today, for the construction of wire antennas, progressive and cheap conductors such as UTP or FTP cables with a surface coating of PE or PU, with an internal steel supporting reinforcing steel wire, are used for self-supporting applications and outdoor installations, provided we can obtain them as waste.
A cross-section of 8x 0.5mm is sufficient for normal legal performances.
But even these conductors are not unified and available, like the plastic-coated FeZn wires.
