On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 16:08:10 +1100, "Matt"
wrote:

As with all of my external cable connections (excluding mobile
installs), I use good quality plugs that physically screw together. The
when I am finished, I use self amalgamating tape (costs about $20 Aust
per roll) which provides a weatherproof seal around the connection -
have cut the tape off plugs which I have done ten or more years
previously to find them as dry as the day I put them together. On top
of the self amalgamating tape, I use the normal electrical tape to give
the birds something to peck at before they reach the self amalgamating
tape (bloody cockies can be ferocious with antennas and coaxial cable
here).
I believe that the only way that coax is going to become water effected
is if it directly exposed to water (i.e. rain), and once you have put
the connector on the end of the cable, screwed it into the antenna and
taped it up, the chances of water getting into it are very remote (bar
the outer layer being cracked, cut or abraded). In my opinion,
pressurising the cable is not something that is needed for the average
hobbyist.


It only took one lightening strike to change my mind about
waterproofing 9913.

I used coax seal and taped over that. The tower took a hit that
removed every single bit of tape and coax seal from up there. I found
the coax seal on the ground. It looked like some one had cut down one
side and peeled it off. Then cut it so it looked like one of those
pieces of expanded metal. It even removed the silver plating from the
connectors.

15 minutes after the lightening strike I had water running out of my
2-meter rig.

I ordered 1500 feet of LMR 400 right soon after.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair?)
www.rogerhalstead.com



Matt

Dave Woolf wrote in message
...

Just wonder what other's might do to keep moisture
from getting into the semi-hollow 9913 type low
loss coax. It would seem inevitiable with changes
in temperature and pressure that moist air would
eventually work its way into the coax and then
condense.

I had a fellow ham that took the precaution of
pressurizing this type of coax to maintain
positive pressure and keep out outside air.
Seemed like a lot of effort but maybe it is necessary.

I have tried to seal the ends of the coax with silicone
sealant but I am not really sure that this has been
effective in the long term.

What do others do? What has been your experience?

Dave - K8RSP
(to reply to me directly remove NOSPAM from above
address)