[TowerTalk] Restoring Beam Antennas

[K8RI on TowerTalk]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jack - K4WSB" <K4WSB at arrl.net>
To: <K7LXC at aol.com>; <towertalk at contesting.com>; <mel at melwhitten.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2006 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Restoring Beam Antennas


>I had a ham fried who was the radio office on a sulphur ship.  Over
> the years he tried everything to attempt to protect his
> antennas.  Needless to say, between the salt & sulphur fumes nothing 
> worked.
> On one occasion he sprayed Krylon and found that once the paint
> cracked it allowed moisture to creep under the paint and caused more 
> corrosion.
>

If you are in that kind of environment I'd use the same stuff they use on 
the lower sides of cars called "chip guard".  I'm not sure what it's made 
of, but it's a some what flexible plastic.  It would add noticeable weight, 
but in a hostile environment might be worth any of the drawbacks.



> This was more than a few years back so my question is:  are the
> current acrylics more flexible and less prone to cracking?  Once it
> does crack will it not cause for more problems?

Acryllics are prone to cracking, but some acrylics are more prone to do so 
than others. One alternative that is "tough" but even more expensive than 
tough is the two part Cyanolics. You can get clear (same stuff made for 
clear coating paint jobs on cars and airplanes. Being a Cyanolic it requires 
supplied breathing air, not just a mask so it can be nasty stuff to work 
with.Generally they use a phosphate etch and either use a chromate primer, 
or alodyne alodine? treatment on the Aluminum to corrosion proof it and prep 
it for paint. Properly done the Alodine gives a shiny gold finish.  Needless 
to say this process takes lots and lots of washing to remove all traces of 
the etch and the alodine solution. That gold color is very thin and can be 
rubbed off with a bit of work.

Roger Halstead (K8RI and ARRL 40 year Life Member)
N833R - World's oldest Debonair CD-2
www.rogerhalstead.com

>
> At 08:37 AM 11/9/2006, K7LXC at aol.com wrote:
>>
>>In a message dated 11/3/2006 5:46:19 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
>>towertalk-request at contesting.com writes:
>>
>> >  I use Krylon #1301 Crystal Clear Gloss acrylic, available  most
>>hardware/paint stores.
>>Drys quick about 50 deg F.
>>_http://www.hardwareworld.com/Sp-Crystal-Clear-Acrylic-pC443NR.aspx_
>>(http://www.hardwareworld.com/Sp-Crystal-Clear-Acrylic-pC443NR.aspx)
>>
>>    Some professional installers use this as the final  coating on a coax
>>connector joint over the final wrap of tape. It's better  than
>>ScotchKote since
>>ScotchKote is meant for buried applications and does dry  up and
>>blow away when
>>used in normal tower/cable applications.
>>
>>     I'd be careful with the spray acrylic around some  antenna 
>> insulators. I
>>had a customer spray his new KT34XA with a coating of  Krylon acrylic and 
>>the
>>danged stuff melted and cracked the Lexan element  insulators.
>
> Jack Hartley
> K4WSB / VP2MSB
> ARRL - QCWA - OOTC
> DXCC Honor Roll
>
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