so ive been running this 80m dipole i built last spring using some 14awg stranded house wire i had laying around. worked fine all summer but now that its getting colder the swr is creeping up and sometimes i get weird resonance spots that werent there before

thinking maybe i should have used something heavier like 12awg or even 10awg? the spans are pretty long, about 65 feet per leg hanging between some trees. or could it be the trees themselves changing with the seasons affecting things

anyone else notice seasonal changes with wire antennas or am i overthinking this

Wire gauge shouldnt matter much for receive but for transmit yeah heavier is usually better especially on 80m where you're pushing some current. I use 12awg for anything 40m and below.

But honestly sounds more like your trees are the culprit - leaves falling, branches moving, moisture content changing in the wood. I have an inverted V that does the same thing every fall when the oak trees start dropping leaves. Just retune it and dont worry about it too much unless the swr gets really bad

i had similar issues with a 40m dipole last year. turned out one of my end insulators was cracking and letting moisture in during the cold snaps. might want to check your connections and insulators before blaming the wire gauge