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Soldering and Antennas
Richard Clark wrote: On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:12:03 GMT, Irv Finkleman wrote: Is a copper to copper contact always necessary in an antenna or does solder provide the necessary continuity when joining wire? Hi Irv, In the Navy, I taught (per the syllabus) that you made a gas-tight electrical connection between conductors and sealed it with solder. Solder was not expected to maintain the electrical or mechanical connection. An example would be a Western Union Splice, then flowed with solder. Yep! The good old 'Western Union Splice' one of the first things I learned way back when. I am disregarding the special case of magnetic loops where RsubA must be kept low. I am also disregarding the matter of mechanical integrity. That pretty much conforms to what I say above. However, having said that, Lead, Tin and other alloys are usually good conductors when used in suitable quantity (or with sufficient surface area). There is nothing wrong with a soldered joint in a magnetic loop, although a soldered loop can easily be done poorly. I must have had a Senior's moment. I was thinking of a mechanical joint rather than a soldered one. In a magloop, which is one of the projects I'm working on now, I plan to use copper and silver-solder for sure. There are other issues of weathering of solder, and galvanic reactions. This argues sealing the solder with rubber or synthetic coating, and/or examining the metals involved. This is usually a rare issue to be concerned about. As per Owen's post I will consider a sealant or protection of some sort. In any event, the major effort is installing radials which will be soldered to a ring of copper wire around the base of the antenna -- it will be readily accessible for inspection and repair if required. I don't want to have to to that too often though -- and I sure as heck don't want to run out and dig through the snow when it's 30 below! :-) In my case I am looking at soldering radials to a piece of copper wire at the base of an antenna, and also adding a bit of length to the radiating element. What about the use of wire nuts to join wires? They enforce the gas-tight connection and preserve the seal of that interface through spring force, but usually in a dry environment (I suppose you can find weather proof versions). Wire nuts with suitable protective coating after connection may just be the easiest way to go. I only want to put out 8 radials. As for the radiating element, it doesn't have a lot of strain on it either, but I think for temporary testing I'll just use a quick twist of the wire and solder it until I find the length I want -- then I'll do a Western Union bit with just a few turns, then solder flood it. It is #12 and shouldn't be a problem to twist in a fancy manner. Thanks for the ideas. Irv The antenna is an HF marconi in an inverted-L configuration. Thanks for any advice on the matter. Irv VE6BP 73's Richard Clark, KB7QHC -- -------------------------------------- Visit my HomePage at http://members.shaw.ca/finkirv/index.html Visit my Baby Sofia website at http://members.shaw.ca/finkirv4/index.htm Visit my OLDTIMERS website at http://members.shaw.ca/finkirv5/index.htm -------------------- Irv Finkleman, Grampa/Ex-Navy/Old Fart/Ham Radio VE6BP Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
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