Yes, those who commented about using black for UV Protection are
correct. The sun is extremely strong here in the Middle East, and my
experience has been that a lasting black color is the best way to
assure long term reliability of dielectric materials.
Intuitively, when choosing dielectric materials, I used to think that
clear or very light was the best and dark was the worst color. This
was because of my thoughts towards minimizing dielectric losses
(thinking the darker colors had more contaminating materials that
increase losses). While this may possibly be true, none of the light
colored materials that I've used have held up under significant sun
exposure. I should qualify this by saying that I've never tried using
white teflon in this strong sun - maybe it will last.
The bottom line: Use Black dielectric materials, or paint them black,
etc.
73
Riki, 4X4NJ
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