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Water in coax

It's a Mosley A-511 their 11 meter beam. You solder the center pin to the hot side of the driven element which is insulated from the boon and solder the shield to the other side which is grounded to the boom. This antenna was built special for me on a 3 inch boom and all the large elements like on their big HF antennas. You can rest assured that it works very well. There will be a drip loop going up and both sides will be taped with a layer of black tape a layer of waterproof tape and another layer of black tape. This will be overkill this time lol.
 
The wicking effect will always be there, even with a drip loop anywhere in the coax........
With additional water/moisture entering the coax at the antenna feed point, the water will make it's way all the way around the drip loop eventually.
A drip loop will not stop the water........
Real world experience .......
I agree.
It's called capillary action and it will allow liquids to migrate , even up
against gravity.

73
Jeff
 
I don't suppose there's anything you could put in that Shield to block off most of the wicking effect, solder or something?
 
I've only been involved in a couple of towers coming up and down one was hinged and the other a light duty with 3 guy on the rope.
Just curious what you got to do to get yours down or if you have to have a climber guy?
 
I have a climber guy and a couple ground guys to help. We have put this antenna and a couple of others up and stacked both towers. Have a home made gin pole that makes things easier.
Aah I was just curious what it's gonna take.
I've got a good 48' free stander to eventually figure out how, and who to help.
Appreciate the reply. Hope it goes very smooth .
 
just a thought, when its in place can you completely tin the braid to the opening and really tin it well?solder run all way through the braid? then use great grade rtv silicone and really coat opening well? then tape it. just thinking how to stop wicking. or maybe heat shrink it? you can buy long strips heat shrink nowdays at better automotive parts stores
 
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I switched over to N connectors for all my outside connections. These aren't completely water tight but are more water resistant than PL-259's.

They also make a far better electrical connection because the center pin doesn't get intermittent over time with wear and they don't rely on the torque like pl-259's for the connection.

You guys should try the N's and I'm sure you'll never go back to the tired old pl-259!

I also use rescue tape instead which is self vulcanizing making a water tight seal and easy to remove.

Coax seal works but leaves a lot of residue and is messy when removing a connector.

Rescue tape can be found at most hardware stores.
 
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When using coax seal I always back wrap a layer of tape around my connector first. Then seal, then another layer (sticky side down obviously) of quality black tape. This method keeps the connector clean and much easier to cut and remove when the time comes. Don't skimp on the tape...it's cheap compared to the headache and time wasted chasing down swr problems.
 
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Aah I was just curious what it's gonna take.
I've got a good 48' free stander to eventually figure out how, and who to help.
Appreciate the reply. Hope it goes very smooth .

Back in my younger days I would put up and take down my 40 foot free standing tower and all the antennas myself. I had a gin pole for erecting the tower or taking it down and would install a three element tribander, a six element yagi for 6m and an eleven element yagi for 2m all by myself including the hoisting while on the tower. I just needed someone on the ground to attach or disconnect the rope. I don't do that any more and in fact plan to modify the base of my current 64 foot free standing Trylon T-500 to a tilt-over this summer so there will be no more need to climb. Getting old sucks in a lot of ways. I am "only" 61 in June but arthritis has taken it's toll.
 
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I switched over to N connectors for all my outside connections. These aren't completely water tight but are more water resistant than PL-259's.

They also make a far better electrical connection because the center pin doesn't get intermittent over time with wear and they don't rely on the torque like pl-259's for the connection.

You guys should try the N's and I'm sure you'll never go back to the tired old pl-259!

I also use rescue tape instead which is self vulcanizing making a water tight seal and easy to remove.

Coax seal works but leaves a lot of residue and is messy when removing a connector.

Rescue tape can be found at most hardware stores.
Better follow up that rescue tape with some regular electrical tape. It is not UV resistant. I found that out when I found that it almost completely disappeared after a few years. I now cover it with Scotch-88 electrical tape and it has lasted well over a decade.............and still counting.
 
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