Interesting. Got my TH7DX in late '82, maybe early '83. Instructions
required the damping rope ONLY in the untrapped elements. I missed this
part when I assembled mine, finally discarded the rope. The antenna has
been up, down, disassembled, up, down, moved, reassembled and I've never
used dampening rope. Do use the end caps except for 2 that were lost a
few years back. Always windy here on the coast and big sustained winds
in the winter but have never had an element failure. The sole issue I've
had (besides the really crappy BN-86 balun which was replaced early on)
was the use of the cheap plated screws inside the traps at the coil ends
which became a rust ball. I did replacement with SS and the appropriate
conductive grease on the DE 15M traps (my problem last summer). I need
to do the other traps this summer.
_I am still looking for advice on how to put the antenna element tubing
pieces apart._ I used the grey/silver tubing coating that was originally
supplied with the antenna back when and the tubing to tubing points are
frozen, solid. Have tried a few things but not heat. Was hoping to pull
everything apart last summer for a good overhaul, but ran into the
freeze problem and ran out of time. Fixing the traps was easy. So
someone must have a good suggestion for getting frozen element tubing
apart so it can be cleaned and reassembled.
Don W7WLL
Don W7WLL
On 7/20/2019 6:47 PM, K9MA wrote:
My TH7, assembled according to the manual with ropes and end caps, was
up for almost 30 years, with no failures. I do wish I had noticed
before I put it up that a few of the parts weren't stainless.
73,
Scott K9MA
On 7/20/2019 20:35, Richard Smith wrote:
I believe that the rope in the elements, specifically the element
tips, is particular to the Hy-Gain yagis, at least the 20, 15, and 10
meter designs. I have seen a Hy-Gain yagi, a 5 element 15 meter yagi,
with most of its element tips broken off by regularly occurring, but
not huge, winds. The yagi was built without the rope in the element
tips that is shown in the manual for the antenna.
I replaced the element tips in 1992, with the rope in the tips per
the instructions in the manual, and did not have any element tips
break off during the next 17 years of service at the same location.
Just sharing my experience.
73, Rich, N6KT
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|