If you can get a copper buss it may be better than aluminum; just my opinion.
I never liked aluminum on the ground ( I hate it in electric panels too among
other places) Jim's idea is good and sound and perhaps one of the easiest and
it will be reliable.
A properly crimped terminal will be nearly impervious if not impervious to
water invasion and corrosion (only at the crimp). However correct crimping
takes good tooling and the cheap tools that most people use will not really cut
it. I did quite a few cross-sections when I worked for the largest connector
corp in the world and I have seen what a good crimp can do and a poor crimp
cannot do. Too bad the company does not exist as it did because they had tons
of white papers and information available that is no more. Yes the areas
around the crimp will need protected or they can corrode. Then crimp terminals
have a problem outside also. Most are tin plated and there will be a problem
with fretting, especially when joining to aluminum or stainless. There are
gold plated, silver plated, and even platinum plated terminals available at
very expensive prices.
Solder can crack and break, and must be copper to copper or brass or something
similar. It is tons of work, but a crimped terminal that is then soldered at
the crimp barrel works.
I have used several methods on my ham antenna, but I am spoiled by brazing
everything from commercial radio.
Much of making a choice is personal. Any one or combination of them will need
maintenance. Some are just easier to implement than others.
73,
Bill
AI4WM
--- On Tue, 8/16/11, Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net> wrote:
From: Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] soldering radials
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Date: Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 8:31 AM
On 8/16/11 3:28 AM, Mark Robinson wrote:
> DXE supply a ring lug. You can crimp and solder the radial wire to the ring
> lug and then you can bolt the ring lug to the plate using the stainless
> steel nuts and bolts supplied with the plate. I would also apply Penetrox to
> the ring lug and bolt threads before you bolt it up.
>
>
> Mark N1UK
>
>
>
> If yes, how can I solder them? Also if I use a DXE plate to atacch the
> radials, I need to solder the wire to terminals, so what type of solder may
> I use?
>
>
I wouldn't bother with all that soldering and crimping.
Get 3 or 4 of the ground/neutral bus things at the hardware store for $5
each. They're aluminum with holes and screws to clamp down on the wire.
There's nothing special about arranging the wires in a circular
pattern other than appearance.
The ground lug things are a LOT faster.. strip wire, shove into hole,
crank down on screw. When you're done, a drop of loctite on each screw
to hold them from backing out. If you're worried about corrosion, cover
the whole thing in paint or noalox.
here's a picture of one in copper
http://www.ecodirect.com/Ilsco-CAN-300-CAN-Ground-Neutral-Bus-24-Taps-p/ilsco-can-300.htm
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