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Old April 12th 10, 10:41 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna
Roy Lewallen Roy Lewallen is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,374
Default Wire glue...a possible help for using CATV line for amateurapplications??

Dave Smirkenberg wrote:
I bought a small jar of a carbon based adhesive called Wire glue on
ebay last month. Thought it might be good for PC board projects where
you have to solder in really tight spots.

Today while putzing in my attic I came across a roll of about 200 ft
of 75 ohm CATV cable that I stashed there when I moved in back in
2002. Well, the reason I never used it for anything in the first place
was the hassle involved in attaching reducing adapter like a UG/176-U
to the aluminum foil shield. It hit me that this "wire glue" might be
a decent way of doing so.

Has anyone had any experience with this stuff? If you are not familiar
with the material all you have to do is search for "wire glue" on
ebay. I'm curious as to the opinions of many of our esteemed group
members.

Thanks,

Dave


Having used, and had grief from, the best quality silver and gold
conductive epoxies, I'm highly skeptical of this stuff except in the
very least demanding of applications. It appears to provide no physical
strength to the joint, so any connection would have to be physically
strong to begin with -- in which case you've probably already got decent
electrical contact and just need to keep air and moisture out of the
joint. I'd be surprised if flexing, temperature changes, and any other
disturbances didn't cause the already marginal resistance to increase,
possibly dramatically. It looks to me like attaching a reducing adapter
is very likely to be much less of a hassle in the long run than fooling
with this stuff.

Have you considered putting an F or BNC connector on it, then using an
adapter as necessary?

Roy Lewallen, W7EL