[TowerTalk] Caps (was: Hose Clamps)

[K8RI]

On 2/1/2013 10:49 AM, john at kk9a.com wrote:
> Certainly it is possible for an insect nest to close off a tube however a

Unfortunately it's not.  As I said in an earlier post, I've seen towers 
felled by a spider web.  It's rare, but it happens


> PVC end cap will definitely seal the end and possibly trap moisture.
> Usually the ends of the elements and boom are the lowest points of the
> antenna so it could be full of water. Somehow my previous post on what I
> do with my homebrew antennas caused mostly criticism. I know that Telrex
> did not supply end caps with the products that I purchased from them years
> ago and they built heavy duty antennas. I am not sure what other
> manufacture's do. This is my last comment on this subject.

Likewise, I've never used end caps on elements and had no 
problems...well other than a 5L KLM on a tower at the East end of the 
house over in Breckenridge MI.  It was NOISY!  Man, but those elements 
did sing and at times, buzz.

I had 5L on 20, 6L on 15 (KLMs) and a 7L on 10 (Wilson) on separate 
towers. pair of phased 1/4 wave verticals on 40 with half wave spacing 
for a pair of figure 8 patterns. It probably would have worked better 
with 1/4 wave spacing so I could have gotten nulls off the back when 
working Europe
Booms had end caps and weep holes but nothing on the elements.  You 
should have seen those elements after the big ice storm back in the 
70's.  The element tips were pointing almost straight down, yet nothing 
broke.

Over half a mile of power line collapsed just to the West of us while 
the line across the field to the pole with the transformer was sagging 
to about 3 feet off the ground (maximum span)

We spent nearly two weeks without power and ended up with over a foot of 
water in a finished basement.

None of the station was damaged, but that was one cold house for two 
weeks. not many of us had generators back in those days.

73

Roger (K8RI)
>
> John KK9A
>
>
> To:	 <TOWERTALK at contesting.com>
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Caps (was: Hose Clamps)
> From:	 "Patrick Greenlee" <patrick_g at windstream.net>
> Date:	 Fri, 1 Feb 2013 07:58:10 -0600
>
> Here in Oklahoma we have insects we call "Mud Daubers" (look like wasps)
> that tend to close off most any openings they encounter with mud which
> dries to a good seal. Unfortunately, the holes most often closed are
> ones best left open such as ventilation for motors, furnace flues, and
> on and on but antennas are sometimes targeted.
>
> Patrick AF5CK
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Jerry Gardner
> Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2013 4:47 PM
> To: john at kk9a.com
> Cc: TOWERTALK at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Caps (was: Hose Clamps)
>
> On Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 2:35 PM, <john at kk9a.com> wrote:
>
> I do not put caps on any of my antenna elements or booms. I have never
> had
> an issue from using nothing and I don't have to worry about moisture
> accumulating.
>
>
> What about spiders and other assorted bugs?
>
>
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