All of my radials are crimped lugs bolted to a common ring at the base of
my antenna (either a stainless plate, or a piece of copper strapping)
Copper strapping can be bought with pre-punched holes, or punched by hand
with a Roper Whitney (or similar) hand punch.
All booked connections coated with conductive anti-oxidant.
I buy lugs from T&B, usually in bulk on eBay. Be sure to get the right size
for your wire, and invest a little in a proper crimping tool.
Greg, N2GZ
On Oct 12, 2016 11:52, "Richard (Rick) Karlquist" <richard@karlquist.com>
wrote:
> I'd like to get the latest thinking from the group
> on soldering radials. What I currently thinking
> is as follows:
>
> SOLDER SELECTION:
>
> 1. Tin lead doesn't hold up in the weather.
>
> 2. "Stay Brite" 3% silver solder (97% tin,
> no lead) is known to work well, but is expensive,
> and has a considerably higher melting point
> than 63/37.
>
> 3. Lead free plumber's solder obviously works
> in water pipes, but does it hold up outdoors
> in the rain? What is the melting point?
>
> FLUX SELECTION:
>
> 1. Pure rosin. Hardest to work with, but minimum
> corrosion issues.
>
> 2. Activated rosin. Easier to work with. What
> corrosion issues are there?
>
> 3. Acid core plumber's flux. Very easy to work
> with, very corrosive. Does this hold up in the
> rain, etc?
>
> (I remember the dire warnings that Heathkit manuals
> had about not using acid core solder, but I
> guess that doesn't apply to radials.)
>
> CRIMPING?
>
> Has anyone tried crimping as an alternative to solder?
>
> Rick
> N6RK
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