Billl -
Sounds like good solid info. A couple of questions for you: Would you
recommend stuffing the tube with the likes of Penetrox before puttig the
wire in as an extra to help keep moisture out ? Also, some boating techies
recommend use of shrink sleeving from barrel to wire for strength and
sealing...??
Gene / W2LU
----- Original Message -----
From: "AI4WM Bill" <ai4wm@yahoo.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>; "Jim Lux" <jimlux@earthlink.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 8:08 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] soldering radials
If you can get a copper buss it may be better than aluminum; just my
opinion. I never liked aluminum on the ground ( I hate it in electric panels
too among other places) Jim's idea is good and sound and perhaps one of the
easiest and it will be reliable.
A properly crimped terminal will be nearly impervious if not impervious to
water invasion and corrosion (only at the crimp). However correct crimping
takes good tooling and the cheap tools that most people use will not really
cut it. I did quite a few cross-sections when I worked for the largest
connector corp in the world and I have seen what a good crimp can do and a
poor crimp cannot do. Too bad the company does not exist as it did because
they had tons of white papers and information available that is no more. Yes
the areas around the crimp will need protected or they can corrode. Then
crimp terminals have a problem outside also. Most are tin plated and there
will be a problem with fretting, especially when joining to aluminum or
stainless. There are gold plated, silver plated, and even platinum plated
terminals available at very expensive prices.
Solder can crack and break, and must be copper to copper or brass or
something similar. It is tons of work, but a crimped terminal that is then
soldered at the crimp barrel works.
I have used several methods on my ham antenna, but I am spoiled by brazing
everything from commercial radio.
Much of making a choice is personal. Any one or combination of them will
need maintenance. Some are just easier to implement than others.
73,
Bill
AI4WM
--- On Tue, 8/16/11, Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net> wrote:
From: Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] soldering radials
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Date: Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 8:31 AM
On 8/16/11 3:28 AM, Mark Robinson wrote:
> DXE supply a ring lug. You can crimp and solder the radial wire to the
> ring
> lug and then you can bolt the ring lug to the plate using the stainless
> steel nuts and bolts supplied with the plate. I would also apply Penetrox
> to
> the ring lug and bolt threads before you bolt it up.
>
>
> Mark N1UK
>
>
>
> If yes, how can I solder them? Also if I use a DXE plate to atacch the
> radials, I need to solder the wire to terminals, so what type of solder
> may
> I use?
>
>
I wouldn't bother with all that soldering and crimping.
Get 3 or 4 of the ground/neutral bus things at the hardware store for $5
each. They're aluminum with holes and screws to clamp down on the wire.
There's nothing special about arranging the wires in a circular
pattern other than appearance.
The ground lug things are a LOT faster.. strip wire, shove into hole,
crank down on screw. When you're done, a drop of loctite on each screw
to hold them from backing out. If you're worried about corrosion, cover
the whole thing in paint or noalox.
here's a picture of one in copper
http://www.ecodirect.com/Ilsco-CAN-300-CAN-Ground-Neutral-Bus-24-Taps-p/ilsco-can-300.htm
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