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[TowerTalk] "Bright Idea Department!"

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] "Bright Idea Department!"
From: K2JAS@worldnet.att.net (Roger L. Elowitz)
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 1997 12:02:03 -0500
Hi Henry,

Welding should make an excellent rf connection between element sections
until... 
you decide to take the beam down and tune it up for the cw portion or....
move to another location and have to ship the long welded elements or....
try to sell it to someone who is also not buying your house and who doesn't
like where you've tuned it.

IMO a self-tapping stainless steel sheet metal screw and some stainless hose
clamps do just fine.  However, if you really want to improve the rf
conductivity why not...
gold plate the elements.  Now, that's pretty!  And think of all the Krylon
Acrylic
Lacquer you'd NOT have to buy since the gold won't oxidize.

But why stop there?  You could gold plate the entire tower and save a fortune in
galvanizing costs.  Then you could bypass all that expensive stainless steel
hardware
and go straight for the.............you guessed it... gold plated hardware.
In fact, you could
make a fortune signing autographs when all the tourist busses stop at your house
to show off your tower and beam. Your wife could explain that gold plating
everything
was necessary because it now "goes with your chrome and gold plated Vibroplex 
keyer."

The down side of all this is that your new celebrity status will preclude
your having any
time whatsoever to get on the air and yell CQ Contest.  Also, every single
conversation
you will ever have will always start with.... "Say, aren't you the guy who
has those gold
plated antenna elements and tower? What an ice breaker!  Just thiink of the
value of 
that picture on the cover of QST or CQ or National Geographic... or Mad
Magazine? 

I think I'd advise you to concentrate on your driving.  Now, let's hear some
more of your
great ideas.

73, Roger, K2JAS
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> SNIP <><><><><><><><><><><><><>

At 04:15 AM 3/22/97 +0000, you wrote:
>while driving around and day-dreaming, i was thinking about the connections
>in an element of a yagi. the idea, as i see it, is to get an electrically
>secure connection between the sections of the elements. this is the idea i
>had. what if a person got his/her yagi all measured and tuned up just right
>and took her/his handy tig welder and gave each joint a small bit of
>butter, just enough to make a gas tight connection. good idea? or stay away
>from sharp things until this passes. if you like this, i got a bunch more
>just like it.   tnx, henry  kb7rta
>
>
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