[TowerTalk] Coax shield grounding

[Jerry Keller]

There's lots of mentions of "tape" for weatherproofing divers areas of the
tower/antenna/ground system, but there's lots of different kinds. Thanks to
TowerTalk, I've now discovered the linerless rubber splicing tape that you
stretch out before applying, and which "seals to itself" very nicely, such
as Scotch 130C EPR Tape or Plymouth L969 Plyvolt... this wonderful stuff is
not at all the same as plastic electrician's tape, such as Scotch 17, etc.
But what is this "butyl rubber vapor wrap" ??  Do you have an example by
brand and type number?   Jerry K3BZ

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <K7LXC at aol.com>
To: <n4zr at contesting.com>; <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2003 8:14 AM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Coax shield grounding


> In a message dated 8/30/03 6:53:37 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> n4zr at contesting.com writes:
>
> > What's the best way to ground coax shields at the top and bottom of my
> >  tower?  I have seen the ICE model 360 and 380 blocks, but these seem to
> >  involve piercing and re-waterproofing of the coax jackets at each
> grounding
> >  block.  It would be possible to put on connectors and bracket barrel
> >  connectors to the tower leg, but I hesitate to add more connectors.
> Opinions?
> >
>     All commercial coax runs are grounded by removing some of the outer
> jacket and installing a compression ground clamp (Andrew, Polyphaser,
etc.) on the
> shield. The whole thing is weatherproofed and the ground wire sticking out
is
> attached to the tower.
>
>     Commercial specs call for cable grounding down the tower every 100'
and
> at the bottom where it turns horizontal to go into the building.
>
>     There's no problem with more connectors inline - the insertion loss is
> insignificant. The biggest potential problem is poor weatherproofing. A
couple
> layers of tape, a layer of butyl rubber vapor wrap, more layers of tape,
and
> you're good to go with a commercial, bombproof joint.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve     K7LXC
> TOWER TECH -
> Professional tower services for commercial and amateur
> _______________________________________________
>
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Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
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