[TowerTalk] Florida Ham fights UV - uses tape???????????

[Pete Smith]

At 08:15 AM 10/24/00 -0400, James White wrote:
...>I have seen gray pvc used for electrical conduit versus the white used for
>plumbing applications...the gray stuff in Home Depot is marked UV
>resistant...would it be better to go with UV resistant PVC or use F12's
>suggestion of simply quenching the UV by taping over the PVC?
>
>Taping over is easy enough to do but not very "professional" - I try to
>design our antennas so they can stay up for a sunspot cycle if at all
>possible...even if I coat the tape with scotchcoat this is crude at best and
>if the same results could be obtained by switching out the PVC I would
>prefer that...

I'm a little skeptical of the gray stuff, if it is chemically similar to
the gray insulation used on UF-B electrical wire.  After 3 years in my
decidedly less-fierce UV environment, exposed UF-B is definitely changing
chemically -- the color has yellowed and there are minute blisters all over
the surface.  I'm suspicious that the insulation is getting brittle, and
may start to crack where flexed, in a year or two more.  Same thing has
happened to a gray PVC electrical box that I use to switch my tower-mounted
80-meter array.

By contrast, taped PVC insulators on one of my C-3s show no signs of
deterioration over 6 years' time, so I'd say tape 'em neatly, forget the
Scotch-kote (which isn't UV-resistant anyway), and enjoy. 

73, Pete Smith N4ZR

Contesting is ... Extreme Radio

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