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Nasty, but unusual - in 20 years of playing with radios, I have not had
the problem that you have mentioned, but then again, I guess that I don't have a huge lightening rod of a tower that you do (bloody nice BTW). For the average user, the procedures I have mentioned will suffice 99.99% of the time (looks anxiously up into the sky to check for lighteningg). Matt Roger Halstead wrote in message ... 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) |
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