[TowerTalk] Protecting Aluminum Antennas

[jimlux]

On 3/22/16 6:01 AM, Patrick Greenlee wrote:
> Want your antenna to more often go unnoticed?  Take a hint from some of
> the camouflage  patterns used on warships.  Visually break up the
> silhouette of the elements and boom by painting them in 2-3 shades such
> as light grey, black, and an intermediate grey in an irregular random
> pattern.
>

I'm not sure that this camouflage technique actually works in an 
objective test. A lot of camouflage, particularly older styles, was 
designed by artists according to what they thought would work.

Warship camouflage was designed to make it hard to get an accurate 
bearing and speed from a long distance away, not to hide the ship. So 
there were various "dazzle" patterns used which disrupted the 
characteristic outlines (particularly when you're looking through haze, 
smoke, fog through a telescope, periscope, etc.).  I'm not sure that's a 
valid approach for an antenna (except maybe a big dish?)

Other camouflage makes the thing you're hiding look like something else 
(e.g. cell towers as trees), but that's a pretty tough trick when you're 
trying to hide something against the sky, which is pretty bright, and 
anything you put up is going to be darker.

I think that your best bet is something that doesn't have specular 
reflections or glint (which really attracts attention).  A light grey 
probably works pretty well as a general thing.  I believe the phrase is 
"shape, shine, shadow" (from interpreting reconnaissance photos): you 
want to make the shape unfamiliar, not be shiny, nor have shadow details 
(paint the bottom light, and the top dark, so that when illuminated from 
above, it looks evenly shaded)

If your tower or antenna will be viewed against a neighboring 
mountainside, then the grays/browns/greens (according to your local 
vegetation.. here in SoCal, light brown would be best, except during the 
3-4 weeks a year when it's actually green, like now)