[TowerTalk] Sealing Coax Connections

Tue Apr 22 08:43:39 EDT 2025

I bought a kit of color coding tapes from the big-box store. The color fades after a few years outdoors.

73
-de "Curly" John NI0K
QRZ.com<https://www.qrz.com/db/ni0k>
Hamshack Hotline<https://hamshackhotline.com/> call me: 6100271

On 4/21/2025 11:56 AM, W7TMT - Patrick wrote:

The Scotch branded colored tapes I buy and use for color coding electrical wires/cables for marine use is type 35. Its about the same thickness as 33 but has a slightly less aggressive adhesive and has less stretch as well. Still a high-quality tape but it doesn't seem to be the same as 33 from my experience. Just my observation of course.

73
Patrick, W7TMT

-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk <towertalk-bounces at contesting.com><mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of John Webster NN1SS
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2025 09:40
To: Chuck Dietz <w5prchuck at gmail.com><mailto:w5prchuck at gmail.com>; towertalk at contesting.com<mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Sealing Coax Connections

Yes. Scotch 33. I typically find it at hardware stores or the big box home improvement stores in the same place where they keep the Scotch 88.

The point is to reduce the heat that could transfer to underlying connectors in the summer (I live in NH) and preserve the integrity of the weather seal. YMMV but it works for me.

John
NN1SS

On Mon, Apr 21, 2025 at 12:13 PM Chuck Dietz <w5prchuck at gmail.com><mailto:w5prchuck at gmail.com> wrote:

White Scotch 33?

Chuck W5PR

On Mon, Apr 21, 2025 at 10:46 AM n4zkf n4zkf.com <n4zkf at n4zkf.com><mailto:n4zkf at n4zkf.com> wrote:

You got that right! If you ever want to get it off again when using

Butyl.

David Calder
n4zkf at n4zkf.com<mailto:n4zkf at n4zkf.com>
www.n4zkf.com<http://www.n4zkf.com><http://www.n4zkf.com><http://www.n4zkf.com>
Dxc.n4zkf.com port:7373<dxc.n4zkf.com:7373> n4zkf/r 147.375 MHz Tone
103.5

From: TowerTalk <towertalk-bounces at contesting.com><mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com> on behalf of
Steve Maki <lists at oakcom.org><mailto:lists at oakcom.org>
Date: Saturday, April 19, 2025 at 11:44 PM
To: towertalk <towertalk at contesting.com><mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Sealing Coax Connections In any case, one
must use a "courtesy" wrap under the nuclear stuff to avoid loud
swearing in the future.

Scotch 33 or 88 works OK for that, but the best courtesy wrap is a
layer of silicone tape.

-Steve K8LX

On 04/19/25 4:29 PM, Steve Jones wrote:

Interesting...I use the exact opposite procedure.  I first wrap
the connector with Scotch 88, with a little fold at the end for
easy

unwrapping.

Then cover everything with the self-fusing Coax Seal.  If I need
to get

to

the connector,  I scrape the sticky stuff away from the little
fold,

then

unwrap everything off to reveal a shiny clean connector.
73,
Steve
N6SJ

-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk<towertalk-bounces at contesting.com><mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Jim

Brown

Sent: Friday, April 18, 2025 10:56 PM To:towertalk at contesting.com<mailto:To:towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Sealing Coax Connections

On 4/18/2025 3:12 PM, Brian Beezley wrote:

Has anyone tried this method?:

https://tinyurl.com/mr3n2htx

Neighbor W6GJB and I, who have worked together on antennas for
10-15

years,

have tried a lot of methods. I've used heat shrink selectively to
solve specific problems, but not to cover connections completely.

One of the issues with any connection is that we often need to
open

them

up

to change something, or to troubleshoot an issue. The method we
settled

on

some years ago is to first wrap the connection with a self-fusing

silicone

product like Rescue Tape, then cover it with an overlapped wrap of

Scotch 88

to protect it both physically and from UV.
If we need to open up the connection, we can simply unwrap the 88,
then slice the silicone with a knife or razor blade.

This method has worked quite well for us. We do a lot of portable

operation

in Glen's contesting trailer

k9yc.com/7QP.pdf

and both of us live in the Santa Cruz Mountains, with a lot of
antennas rigged high in redwoods that experience storm damage,
every winter. And

also

receiving antennas -- I have two 550 ft long reversible Beverages
and a

pair

of phased VE3DO loops. We've figured out rigging pretty well
-- after losing a couple of 120 ft high dipoles in 2006-7, the
only

ones

I've lost since were three that were supported on one end by a 200
ft Douglas Fir whose root ball was pulled out of the ground! The
other end

of

all three dipoles were intact. We rig with weights on pulleys, and

rigging

is pretty robust.

73, Jim K9YC

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