Are there any companies that sell the big-ass glass/ceramic antenna
strain and standoff insulators anymore?

Most of the ham antenna places that sell wire antennas have a single
style of really tiny ceramic strain insulator, and one or two plastic
strain insulators, but they all obviously are made by the same company
and imported. Nothing wrong with them, but the ceramic one really will
not hold any rope above 3/16", and the plastic one won't take any rope
above 1/4" (and even that only with some effort.)

I have been buying good insulating plastics (e.g. G-10, Polycarbonate,
etc.) and making my own insulators, but if there were a good source of
the big classic ceramic and/or glass ribbed insulators - not just
strain but also the standoffs - I'd buy them in a hearbeat.

Cool old insulators do show up on E-bay etc. but they're generally
onesies-twosies and obviously being sold to collectors, not hams who
string them up on antennas.

I can go to the industrial supplier indices and find companies, even
local companies, that custom-make ceramic and glass insulators for the
electrical industries, but they have no intention, or even mechanism
if I call them, of selling a dozen insulators to an individual ham. If
anyone knows of an exception, please let me know!

Tim Shoppa wrote:
Are there any companies that sell the big-ass glass/ceramic antenna
strain and standoff insulators anymore?

Try a farm and ranch supply store and look for
ceramic insulators for electric fences. Lowe's
might also have them in their electric fence
section.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

"Tim Shoppa" wrote in message
...
Are there any companies that sell the big-ass glass/ceramic antenna
strain and standoff insulators anymore?

Most of the ham antenna places that sell wire antennas have a single
style of really tiny ceramic strain insulator, and one or two plastic
strain insulators, but they all obviously are made by the same company
and imported. Nothing wrong with them, but the ceramic one really will
not hold any rope above 3/16", and the plastic one won't take any rope
above 1/4" (and even that only with some effort.)

I have been buying good insulating plastics (e.g. G-10, Polycarbonate,
etc.) and making my own insulators, but if there were a good source of
the big classic ceramic and/or glass ribbed insulators - not just
strain but also the standoffs - I'd buy them in a hearbeat.

Cool old insulators do show up on E-bay etc. but they're generally
onesies-twosies and obviously being sold to collectors, not hams who
string them up on antennas.

I can go to the industrial supplier indices and find companies, even
local companies, that custom-make ceramic and glass insulators for the
electrical industries, but they have no intention, or even mechanism
if I call them, of selling a dozen insulators to an individual ham. If
anyone knows of an exception, please let me know!


Take a look at http://www.texastowers.com/mischard.htm

Second paragraph from the bottom.

73,
John

(Tim Shoppa) wrote in
:

Are there any companies that sell the big-ass glass/ceramic antenna
strain and standoff insulators anymore?


There's a miscelaneous collection he

http://www.surplussales.com/antennas...aSubIndex.html

Since it's "surplus", I don't know how repeatable their selection is.

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

Tim Shoppa wrote in news:9bd48768-b888-4d34-
:

Are there any companies that sell the big-ass glass/ceramic antenna
strain and standoff insulators anymore?


Look for the insulators used in tower guying systems.

-Bruce

Tim Shoppa wrote:
Are there any companies that sell the big-ass glass/ceramic antenna
strain and standoff insulators anymore?

Most of the ham antenna places that sell wire antennas have a single
style of really tiny ceramic strain insulator, and one or two plastic
strain insulators, but they all obviously are made by the same company
and imported. Nothing wrong with them, but the ceramic one really will
not hold any rope above 3/16", and the plastic one won't take any rope
above 1/4" (and even that only with some effort.)

I have been buying good insulating plastics (e.g. G-10, Polycarbonate,
etc.) and making my own insulators, but if there were a good source of
the big classic ceramic and/or glass ribbed insulators - not just
strain but also the standoffs - I'd buy them in a hearbeat.

Cool old insulators do show up on E-bay etc. but they're generally
onesies-twosies and obviously being sold to collectors, not hams who
string them up on antennas.

I can go to the industrial supplier indices and find companies, even
local companies, that custom-make ceramic and glass insulators for the
electrical industries, but they have no intention, or even mechanism
if I call them, of selling a dozen insulators to an individual ham. If
anyone knows of an exception, please let me know!

Dunno 'bout standoff insulators but Davis RF carries porcelain compression
insulators: http://www.davisrf.com/. I use their #10-72 (Daburn's PN) for
dipoles, supported by ¼" diameter rope. They don't have what I would call
good descriptions or even photos but you can search for a part number on
Daburn's website: http://www.daburn.com/

Bryan WA7PRC

On Apr 18, 9:52*pm, "Bryan" wrote:
Dunno 'bout standoff insulators but Davis RF carries porcelain compression
insulators:http://www.davisrf.com/. *I use their #10-72 (Daburn's PN) for
dipoles, supported by ¼" diameter rope. *They don't have what I would call
good descriptions or even photos but you can search for a part number on
Daburn's website:http://www.daburn.com/

Bryan WA7PRC

Thank you Bryan - now I know that a lot of the interesting stuff in
the Daburn catalog can be ordered from Davis RF, and that satisfies
almost all my wants and desires. Thanks so so much for pointing that
out, as well as the immediate relation between the Davis catalog and
the Daburn part numbers!

The Daburn 10-52 (also in the Davis RF catalog) is a very very
impressive feedthrough - I'm very happy to see it mentioned,
available, and at an affordable price!

Tim.

"Tim Shoppa" wrote in message
...
Are there any companies that sell the big-ass glass/ceramic antenna
strain and standoff insulators anymore?

This place has 59 different style standoffs and insulators, mostly
plastic, some
interesting mounts.

This one is porcelain with lag screw.

http://www.farmsupplystore.com/depar...lain-insulator

And then the whole list of 59.

http://www.farm,supplystore.com/s.nl...ge=1%2C30%2C59

Mike