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Re: [TowerTalk] Weather/water proofing aluminum tube ends

To: "Jeff Carter" <towertalk@hidden-valley.com>, Towertalk <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Weather/water proofing aluminum tube ends
From: "Dennis Vernacchia" <n6ki73@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:39:07 -0700
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Joe,

I don't have this specific answer about the sealant you need,
but when you finally get the antenna working and installed
be very careful applying more than 200 watts to this antenna on any freqs
that
have a high SWR..
DO NOT PUMP POWER INTO THE ANTENNA USING AN ANTENNA TUNER TO TRICK RADIO
INTO SEEING A LOW SWR - You will flash over the traps or tuning elements (
whatever they are called )
especially on the 40 mtr band if you try to tune antenna for SSB then load
it on
CW portion of band with an antenna tuner...These antennas also don't seem to
like rain and power and Hi SWR combo !!!

I would not use one of these antennas anymore for power over 200 Watts and
if there
is any SWR over 2 to 1 on any freq and you TX 500 or more watts to . IT WILL
FAIL !
( Yeah, I know teh manual says 900W key down - ....Baloney ! )

I still have one that I use only as a RX antenna and when I used to use it
for transmitting,
it burned up at least 3 times so I gave up after talking to other hams who
had similar bad luck.

If the traps or whatever they are called do flash over, you need to replace
the burned up
polyethylene insulator and use a gun barrel brush to clean out all the burnt
carbon tracks
inside the tubing !!! Or it may flash over again !!



73, Dennis N6KI


On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 3:23 PM, Jeff Carter <towertalk@hidden-valley.com>
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I am in the process of rebuilding some R7 traps, and the little end
> caps are shot.  I thought about plasti-dip for the ends but I don't
> know how it hold up for UV and prolonged outdoor exposure.
>
> What is the group's preference for sealing an aluminum tube which will
> be exposed to the weather?  I don't think Cushcraft sells anything for
> the R7 anymore and I'd rather have something better than these little
> caps, anyway, something more durable.
>
> Some of you build antennas from scratch, so other than crimping the
> ends there's got to be a good solution for sealing them.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Jeff/KD4RBG
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