Hi TT'ers,
I was putting together my Hygain Ex 14 today and found something I hadn't
expected. When tightening up the hose clamps to secure the ends of the elements
(7/16") that regardless of how hard I cranked the clamps, the tips were still
loose enough that they could easily be pulled out-maybe 10# of pressure! Now I
don't want to get this up in the air and find that with the wind vibration that
they'll move in or out.
My question is what would be a more permanent way to secure them-I'm thinking
along the lines of aluminum pop rivets or a zip screw or two. The pop rivets
would be aluminum and the zip screws are steel (zip screws is what I call them,
I've heard them called other things. They are short self taping screws used in
duct work in the HVAC industry)
Also, I was surprised to see that Hygain no longer wants one to use a mating
compound on where the elements slide together, but says the raw aluminum on
aluminum is sufficient. I remember years ago they used to include a small
canister of the paste-which I still have left from prior antennas from them.
This antenna was used, maybe ten years old, and whatever compound the previous
owner used had dried into a hard crystalline compound that made taking the
antenna apart very difficult. At this point I almost wished I had left it alone
but I completely dissembled it and cleaned out all the elements and traps which
were packed with dead insect debris, and I do mean packed!
It is only the ends of elements that have this looseness problem, the other
sections seem to clamp up tight enough.
Thoughts?,
Kathy
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