On 1/10/2011 4:58 PM, Al Kozakiewicz wrote:
> Just remember that solder does not survive contact with soil for very long.
Silver solder is much more reliable than regular solder and a bit more
conductive. OTOH it's a bit more pricey too, but a little goes a long ways.
> AM towers are connected to their radial fields in a similar manner. The
> ground ring is typically buried. But connections are brazed, not soldered.
Don't braze part of them, bury the ring and expect to braze on more
later. Dirt really makes brazing difficult.
Also when using normal brazing rod and a torch to braze wires to a
copper ring, the temp is high enough that the Copper will be cherry red
which is very close to its melting point. It's very easy to melt the
wires so a little practice goes a long way toward getting a good brazed
joint with copper to copper.
With practice you can make a very nice, sturdy, long lived, brazed
ground ring.
OTOH with something as large as the ground ring, the conductivity of SS
is not a problem and a little copper never seeze should take care of any
dissimilar metal problems. Even a silicone dielectric grease to protect
the connections will do the job.
73
Roger (K8RI)
> Al
> AB2ZY
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of K2VI
> Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 2:59 PM
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Home brew radial ring question
>
> I was thinking of purchasing the DX engineering radial plate and clamp
> priced at 73.00 , However the more i thought about it i was leary about the
> SS to copper connections and losses due to that dissimilar metals. I was
> wondering if a 3/4" soft copper pipe bent in a circle and double wrap the
> #14 radial wire and solder. also a #6 insulated stranded copper wire to the
> UNUN will be a more efficient ground system. I was thinking of installing
> 3/4 tees @ 180 degrees apart with copper pipe legs about 18 inches and smash
> the end so i can tap the ring in the gound so it will be securely in place
> and will not move. It sure will save money and my assesment is it will be a
> more direct system. All copper to the unun. By the way the antenna is a zero
> five 43' vertical. I will say the construction is heavier duty than my
> mosely or anything ive seen from an antenna company. This guy tom makes on
> heck of an antenna.
>
> tony
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