[RTTY] Rainwater and connectors

[Bostjan Voncina - S55O]

To me it looks like a water problem somewhere in the radio part (coax, box,
antenna). It shouldn't at all work like that even with all what you said.
Do you have a center feed of the dipole that water can get into ?

If that is a yes, there might be your cause. Check your 6 months old system.

Gl

Bostjan - Ian s55o

2016-12-02 14:14 GMT+01:00 Thom <ki8w at ki8w.com>:

> Actually my antenna system is not quite 6 months old and I seal my coax
> connectors very well.  I use Super 88 electrical tape in a couple of
> layers, then coax seal over that then a couple more layers of Super 88.
> That should be good enough.
>
> Yep, I know about re-orientating the antenna to try and reduce the
> interaction of my antennas and the roof but I do not have that option.  I
> live in a mobile home park.  There are other homes close by.  There are
> very few trees and I have none on my lot.  My lot is 45 feet wide and 100
> feet long. My mobile home takes up 32% of that space and runs East to
> West.  I am not about to start string wires over the top of my neighbors
> homes so I am stuck with the orientation I currently have and the roof.
> Some of my neighbors homes have metal roofs just like mine.
>
> My antennas are also on the low side. The high point is only 30 feet,
> again because I only have 100 feet to work with.  My mast is basically in
> the middle of that 100 feet.
>
> To me, this is what makes Amateur Radio so much fun.  Finding out what
> works and what doesn't given the limitations I have with space.  My next
> project is a vertical or two.  We shall see how that works.
>
> I am also exploring the possibility of relocating my station to a remote
> site and running it all over the internet.
>
> As for spraying water on the roof...it is 28 degrees outside right now.
> The hose is stored for the winter.
>
> Anyway everything has dried out and all my antennas have that nice 1:1 swr
> ratio.
>
> Everybody have a great weekend.
>
> 73
>
> Thom KI8W
>
>
>
> On 12/2/2016 12:39, William Lisk wrote:
>
>> In the place where I worked, we had a radio system that failed after
>> about a year of successful operation.  It turned out that the outdoor
>> coaxial connectors provided by the system vendor were not rain-tight.
>> Over a period of time, water got into them and effectively shorted the
>> inner to the outer conductor.  I discovered this when basically tearing
>> everything apart to find the problem.  We dried everything out,
>> reconnected, and taped them.  Because there was no way to replace them
>> with more suitable connectors, we then improvised a rain shield with a
>> thick plastic bag and covered the taped connectors with that.  The
>> coaxial connections and cables were oriented in such a way that the
>> cable opening in the plastic bag faced down, which would not allow any
>> rain water in and formed a natural drain.  The repair was successful,
>> but we had to keep an eye on the bag to make sure that it had not
>> cracked due to the effects of sunlight and weathering.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Bill/KC2EMH
>>
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