[TowerTalk] TA-33 HELP

[wa9vrh]

HI Bill I have a TA-33 that I have owned for about 30 years. I
have cleaned and regooped it about 4 times now. I would suggest
that you take the traps apart and clean out all the dear departed
spiders etc. Make sure you have continuity between each end of
the traps with an ohmmeter.  Brillo pas do a nice job of making
the whole antenna look new. Reassemble using the gray stuff and
maybe some larger sheetmetal screws. (larger if needed or redrill
the holes. Reassemble the TA-33 and put it on a pushup pole or 10
ft mast pipe using a step ladder as support. You will be able to
tell if the antenna will load properly even with it that close to
the ground. Mosley makes a real mean antenna and it takes alot to
kill the older ones. I would suggest replacing ALL the plastic
boom to element and boom to mast pieces along with the driven
element insulators. After you have proven it's status I would
give the whole antenna a good coating of clear Krylon to help
seal in your cleaning job. Good luck on your antenna project. It
is one Great Antenna.  73's Larry WA9VRH

p.s. if the swr isn't perfect when it is close to the ground
don't worry. When you get it in the air that should make it
better. L.

----------
> From: Bill Hawkins <w5ec@digitalexp.com>
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] TA-33 HELP
> Date: Friday, January 14, 2000 4:36 PM
> 
> 
> I dug out an old Mosley TA-33 that was given to me about 10
years
> ago. It was old then. I started cleaning it up and it had a lot
of oxidation
> from being close to the Gulf for so long.
> The original instruction manual, ( 1 legal size sheet, front
and back!)
> said the elements used Penatrox where they telescoped but I
knew
> it would be trouble when I started disassembly.
> I was shocked when I removed the ss screw and tried to
> pull the element apart. It slipped out with no effort and was
perfectly
> preserved  except for dried Penatrox. That stuff works GREAT!
>  This is my first time using a trap antenna. I want to test
each element
> as it is assembled. My question is how will the driven element
act
> when it is used as a dipole with no parasitic elements. Will
the impedance
> still be close to 50 ohms and will resonant frequency be fairly
close?
> The telescoped sections are fastened only with a tapping screw.
It must
> have worked ok but would it be better to split the larger tube
and use
> a compression clamp?
> Any other advise for this antenna?
> TIA
> Bill
> PS I am reassembling with Penatrox!
> 
> 
> 
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