I brought this up in a post about dipole center supports and thought I would ask the towertalk gang about this. I keep looking at those white cutting boards and wonder if they would work for antenna
Usually some form of high density polyethylene (HDPE) or a variety called UHMW - ultra high molecular weight which is quite slippery and used as an inexpensive substitute for TFE in sliding bearings,
Gordon, Great, I'll try the stuff out. I have to. Now when I go to the store I hear them calling to me. "Bob, try us for your antennas" hihihihi thanks Gordon, Bob K6UJ ______________________________
Grant, Yes, they have that same slippery feel like teflon. As you said with a thick panel it probably will hold up OK in the sun. For wire antenna usage I would probably be changing the wire or feedl
Another good material is the white high density polystyrene/PVC board made for exterior door trim. You can get it up to 6" wide in nominal 1" thickness. It seems to stand up to UV and RF very well. 7
Zapping a piece of material in the microwave for a minute or so, should give you some idea what the insulating properties are. If it doesn't get hot, (how hot?) it should be okay for an insulator at
I've used a lot of cutting boards as HV insulators.. the microwave test is sort of so, so.. it's at 2.5 GHz and it more measures RF absorption than things that are actually more important like HV bre
Have used the cutting boards for beveridge insulator and the top and middle tie/support for my K9AY array. will try the microwave test :) Wayne W3EA _______________________________________________ __
Yeah, an earlier post said that these cutting boards are nylon ... they aren't. Another thing to keep in mind is that HDPE will cold flow, so depending upon the load and the surface area of the conta
Exactly, 2450 MHz microwave fields are probably not as important as mechanical strength, HV breakdown, water absorption and mechanical properties for antenna insulators. Microwave ovens generate a re
This is an interesting thread. Lots of new high tech materials to choose from for making antenna insulators. While we are considering the various attributes of these promising solutions lets not lose