[TowerTalk] securing loose element ends

Kathy Bookmiller wb2aio at yahoo.com
Wed Sep 22 17:48:16 PDT 2010


Hi TT'ers,
I was putting together my Hygain Ex 14 today and found something I hadn't expected. When tightening up the hose clamps to secure the ends of the elements (7/16") that regardless of how hard I cranked the clamps, the tips were still loose enough that they could easily be pulled out-maybe 10# of pressure! Now I don't want to get this up in the air and find that with the wind vibration that they'll move in or out. 
My question is what would be a more permanent way to secure them-I'm thinking along the lines of aluminum pop rivets or a zip screw or two. The pop rivets would be aluminum and the zip screws are steel (zip screws is what I call them, I've heard them called other things. They are short self taping screws used in duct work in the HVAC industry)
Also, I was surprised to see that Hygain no longer wants one to use a mating compound on where the elements slide together, but says the raw aluminum on aluminum is sufficient. I remember years ago they used to include a small canister of the paste-which I still have left from prior antennas from them. 
This antenna was used, maybe ten years old, and whatever compound the previous owner used had dried into a hard crystalline compound that made taking the antenna apart very difficult. At this point I almost wished I had left it alone but I completely dissembled it and cleaned out all the elements and traps which were packed with dead insect debris, and I do mean packed!
It is only the ends of elements that have this looseness problem, the other sections seem to clamp up tight enough.
Thoughts?,
Kathy



      


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