• You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
  • Click here to find out how to win free radios from Retevis!

Spray painting a Solarcon A99 antenna

Yeah I did the same thing for the same reason. one layer of black cheap tape(the thick stuff) then 3M white. was going to go with heat shrink tubing but for the price of the tubing I could have bout a new antron :shock:
Im thinking about putting up a gizmotchy 3. When i assemble it i was going to shrink tube all the joints. Will that cause any problems with the antennas performance?
 
Get a bottle of Noalox, sold at electrical supply & some big box stores.
Prevents oxidation & repels moisture. Treat all your joints where the tubing is telescoped.
Took my beam down after 12 years pulled it apart & it looked like it did the day I built it.
Shrink tubing will keep water out most of the time but will not stop the aluminum from
oxidizing.
Treat your hardware also clamps screws bolt & nuts, dissimilar metals react with each
other. Steel & aluminum very prone to galvanic corrosion
 
  • Like
Reactions: Shadetree Mechanic
I suggested spray painting a white Solarcon A99 antenna flat black to help "stealth it" before putting it up in a pine tree. One person said it could affect the SWR of the antenna.

Comments?
yep painted mine matt black, top part sticks out like a sore thumb, If it was white, then it would not be so bad, but night time it stood out again, trial and error, didnt affect the swr at all, it was normal car black primer
 
Older thread here,

I tried sky blue thinking it would blend into the sky, it doesn't.

Black sticks out even worse.

Gray is a neutral shade and work the best.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alexis Mercado

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • @ BJ radionut:
    EVAN/Crawdad :love: ...runna pile-up on 6m SSB(y) W4AXW in the air
    +1
  • @ Crawdad:
    One of the few times my tiny station gets heard on 6m!:D
  • @ Galanary:
    anyone out here familiar with the Icom IC-7300 mods
  • @ Crawdad:
    7300 very nice radio, what's to hack?
  • @ kopcicle:
    The mobile version of this site just pisses me off