[TowerTalk] Splicing and weatherproofing ladder line

Jim Brown jim at audiosystemsgroup.com
Fri Dec 25 18:32:25 PST 2009


On Fri, 25 Dec 2009 13:54:14 -0600, Wes Attaway \(N5WA\) wrote:

>Twist the wires together over about a 1-inch length.  Solder the connection
>and massage some coax-seal around the joints.

I use ladder line for 2-wire Beverages. Soldering 300 ft out in the woods is 
not easy (unless you have a butane iron, which I do not). The one time I had 
to splice it I stripped and twisted as Wes suggested, then bonded the wires 
together using small split-bolt connectors. So that the two split bolts 
wouldn't short out to each other, I offset the splice by an few inches. 

It should also be noted that soldered copper joints are very likely to break 
at the joint when subjected to flexing, as with wire antennas in the wind. 
Copper split bolt connectors are an excellent way to splice wire antennas 
without soldering. I lock them down real well with pliers, then tape them up 
well to minimize oxidation. 

73,

Jim K9YC





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