After reading Carl's post about resoldering connections to radials and feed
points on 160 radiators, I thought that I would throw my two-cents-worth into
this thread. I never use ordinary solder in places on any antenna, be it a
beverage or a radiator, that will be directly exposed to the weather. After
about a year the weather corrodes the solder and before long you have
improper connections that will cause the problems that Carl mentioned.
All of my radials on my ground system and all beverage connections here that
are exposed are silver soldered. Yes the stuff costs a bit more and you need
a hot flame from MAPP gas or acetylene to melt it, but it lasts. We only use
silver solder on ground systems that we put in on broadcast stations and
after 10 years you see no signs of decay.
Food for thought .
73...........de Goose W8AV (the ham formerly known as WD8LLD)
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