In a message dated 2/18/2011 7:31:14 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
towertalk-request@contesting.com writes:
> I'm not sure if Force12 still uses riveted construction of yagi
elements.
In any event, I just experienced my first rivet failure on my C3S (great
timing, huh?) and would like to avoid repeating this experience. What is
the tried and true wisdom on preventing rivet failure on these antennas?
First, the rivets are great. They're easy to use, effective and reduce
the cost and weight of the antenna over the old hose clamp method.
What you need to do is to use the rivets on 2 sides (180 degrees apart) or
3 sides (120 degrees apart). There is enough tolerance in the element
piece to element piece that using the conventional 1 side placement for the
rivets can lead to failure, especially in areas where there's a fair amount of
wind. (Hams in Texas used to call the KLM antennas Konstantly Losing Metal
since they kept shedding elements. If you use the aforementioned method of
2 or 3 rows of rivets, the problem will disappear.
Cheers,
Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH
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