Dave Platt wrote:
I figure steel wool would work fine for the aluminum tubing,

I've read that it is *not* a good idea to use steel wool to clean up
aluminum, especially if it's going to be exposed to the weather.
There's a tendency for tiny bits of the steel to get caught in the
aluminum... it'll rust.

I'd suggest using a 3M (or generic equivalent) green abrasive
scrubbing pad. These pads are rough enough to remove oxidation from
copper PC board material, so I imagine they'll shine up aluminum just
as well, but they won't leave rustable material behind.


3M pads and Bon Ami cleaner works well.

And clean aluminum has better gain. One of my 432 antennas tested at
Central States gained .4dB between very dirty oxidized elements and
cleaned elements.

tom
K0TAR