[TowerTalk] securing loose element ends

[Stan Stockton]

Kathy,

Pop rivets work very well.  That is what I would recommend at every  
joint - even in addition to the hose clamps.

Stan, K5GO

Sent from Stan's IPhone



On Sep 22, 2010, at 7:48 PM, Kathy Bookmiller <wb2aio at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 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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