[TowerTalk] Help, Antenna modeling people.

[Jim Brown]

Yes. I first ran into this nearly ten years ago with the first 160/80 
dipole that I rigged between trees. Like a dummy, I failed to use an 
insulator between the ends of the dipole and the 5/16-in rope. When it 
got wet, the rope melted and the dipole was on the ground.

The ends of any wire are a high voltage point, and should be treated as 
such. This is also true of radials!

73, Jim K9YC

On Tue,11/29/2016 9:23 AM, Jeff DePolo wrote:
> In high-power broadcast, we regularly see burn-outs caused by weather-worn
> fiberglass insulators that start to wick up water when it rains.  What used
> to be mostly RF-transparent when dry becomes lossy when wet, with airborne
> contaminants, rust/oxidation, and whatever else aggravating the condition
> over time, ultimately leading to arc-over and/or mechanical failure.