Radio Works and a few other places sell a product called "Stuff" that's a
dielectric compound about the consistency of toothpaste. You squeeze it
into the connector to fill the voids and keep water out -- in addition to
the normal external weatherproofing measures. You apply it, tighten
everything, and wipe off the excess before you apply Coax-Seal, Scotch 88,
etc. Seems to work well.
73 - Paul N3GPU
----------
> From: Pete Smith <n4zr@contesting.com>
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Other wet stuff
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Date: Thursday, July 31, 1997 10:07 PM
>
> The following cautionary tale from a long-time 100-watter who just
> graduated to relative QRO last spring:
>
> The weatherproofing practices that work fine at 100 watts just won't cut
it
> at QRO. Within the last 2 weeks I've had to fix two connector problems
in
> my HF antenna system. In both cases, there was tangible water inside the
> connector. Now, I've noticed this before, at lower power, but without
> measurable ill effect. But in these latest cases, the water was
> accompanied by visible evidence of arcing -- sooty deposits -- and a
> shorted reading on my ohmmeter. In one case, a barrel connector, the
soot
> was readily visible, and once I cleaned it out the connector was fine.
In
> the other case, a PL-259 with adaptor for RG-8X, it couldn't be seen till
I
> disassembled the connector, and the only cure was to reinstall the
connector.
>
> So while I don't go to the extreme of the "3 layers of 88, vapor barrier,
> two latex condoms and another two layers of 88" crowd, something more
than
> carefully applied double layer 33+ seems indicated for reliability's
sake.
>
>
>
> 73, Pete Smith N4ZR
> n4zr@contesting.com
>
>
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