correct gel for HF antenna

I have been playing with yagi's, and directional antenna's for HF..
I have been coverring the wires with anything waterproof.
Is there a correct gel for conductance?
Or does it matter?
I saw a video somewhere of an HF/radio receiver,
and the A-M button did not work..
Well, it was because someone prior messed with it and used the wrong gel..
The right stuff was perfect right there as applied.
That was after he ran tests on circuits,,,,,,

Sounds like your talking about two different things, something to coat or paint an antenna with and something to clean, lubricate and restore a mechanical switch.

You can coat antenna elements and wires with most anything that is non conductive or has carbon for color. This includes many paints, varnishes, lacquers, etc. For HF antenna elements or wires I have never seen a conductive paint have any affect but if you coat a fiberglass or plastic radome over a VHF/UHF antenna with conductive paint it can partially shield it and cause problems.

Coating a bare antenna element or wire with non conductive paint is adding an insulating layer, which does make the wire or element appear slightly longer, but you will probably never see or measure the affects.

For restoring switch contacts there are lots of potions on the market but the very best proven product is Deoxit made by Caig Labratories. The D5 spray is probably the most popular and you can simply spray it on the contacts, move the switch and it works again unless its actually broken.

The best procedure is to clean the switch first with an inert spray cleaner to blow out dirt and corrosion, then spray a little Deoxit and work the switch for awhile, then blow that out with spray cleaner then give a very light coating of Deoxit to preserve the switch.

Or maybe I didn't understand the question and you were talking about something else..
prcguy

mainetrunk said:

I have been playing with yagi's, and directional antenna's for HF..
I have been coverring the wires with anything waterproof.
Is there a correct gel for conductance?
Or does it matter?
I saw a video somewhere of an HF/radio receiver,
and the A-M button did not work..
Well, it was because someone prior messed with it and used the wrong gel..
The right stuff was perfect right there as applied.
That was after he ran tests on circuits,,,,,,

Click to expand...

I should've said==
I built these antenna's, and use bare wire/coax and the sheilding to connect to the antenna's themselves.
wire goes to 1 spot, and sheilding gets twisted up and connected on another spot..
So, for weather proofing,
does any gel work?
Gel would be the weather coating/protection..
See, I made a loop antenna, and now it is time to connect correct coax,
spacers, and gel..
The spacers are for the 2 fiberglass sheets. 4 in X 26 in length, 1 centimeter thick.
It is a brace cause i live in a wind driven spot.
The copper wire I used to make the loop is 12 guage. 1 wire is in clear plastic, bare end tied into other bare wires..
Actually,it is 3 copper wires wrapped into 1 loop.
It is 3 loops that connect into 1..
1 in the center that loops and then takes a straight plunge down to the ends of another loop.
Which bends at the end to goto the 3rd loop..
So, the 3 loops are connected, and where they stop, thats where I tie into with coax and weather protection gel..
I am going to use 1/2 inch spacers between the 2 sheets of fiberglass..
8 of them, $5.40 at ACE.
I am going to thru bolt them for stability this winter.
I tested it, seems like the cat's meow.

AAh, waterproofing the bare coax to antenna element stuff. Most clear RTV silicone sealant works fine but there are some that give off excessive acetic acid which can corrode metals. Its been awhile since I ran across excessively acidic silicone sealant but when you do it smells really bad and stings your nose.

I also avoid black silicone sealant for RF connections and recently ran into a problem gluing down some RF transformers that would change characteristics and found it was the black sealant. The black sealant probably had carbon or similar for pigment and switching to clear fixed that. I've also used 5 min expoxy when the RF connection needed additional mechanical strength and that worked ok.

Another thing that can work well is a type of heat shrink tubing with hot glue inside. You can place a length of that on the coax and wires heading off the coax so they all butt up close to each other, shrink that, then cover the junction of the coax and wires with a slightly larger diameter piece and while its still hot pinch the junction of the two wires heading off the coax until its cool and that will seal everything real nice. It also gives strength to the junction.
prcguy

mainetrunk said:

I should've said==
I built these antenna's, and use bare wire/coax and the sheilding to connect to the antenna's themselves.
wire goes to 1 spot, and sheilding gets twisted up and connected on another spot..
So, for weather proofing,
does any gel work?
Gel would be the weather coating/protection..
See, I made a loop antenna, and now it is time to connect correct coax,
spacers, and gel..
The spacers are for the 2 fiberglass sheets. 4 in X 26 in length, 1 centimeter thick.
It is a brace cause i live in a wind driven spot.
The copper wire I used to make the loop is 12 guage. 1 wire is in clear plastic, bare end tied into other bare wires..
Actually,it is 3 copper wires wrapped into 1 loop.
It is 3 loops that connect into 1..
1 in the center that loops and then takes a straight plunge down to the ends of another loop.
Which bends at the end to goto the 3rd loop..
So, the 3 loops are connected, and where they stop, thats where I tie into with coax and weather protection gel..
I am going to use 1/2 inch spacers between the 2 sheets of fiberglass..
8 of them, $5.40 at ACE.
I am going to thru bolt them for stability this winter.
I tested it, seems like the cat's meow.

Click to expand...

Ok, thanks..
But, the VIDEO I saw was just a refference to that gel.
I am not playing with wires inside.
Alinco wouldn't like that.. Haha..
Just the coax to the element..
Strike that...
Plus, I am going to fill the 1/2 inch space between the 2 sheets of fiberglass..
So no ice,hornets, or caterpillers get in there..
Clear RV glue huh?
I just happen to have 1 with all those goodies.
Not mine, it is just in my parking area...
Thanks

Thread moved to Receive Antennas (below 30 MHz).

Thank you sir

I don't know which gel to use but Magic Pixie Dust could help if all else fails.

Hey MT-I personally never thought of using gel as a way to weatherproof joints and connections etc. but have had excellent results with good old Scotch 33 or 88 electrical tape. Its stretchy nature allows very good sealing ability-given that you stop the stretching thing at the last few inches of the wrap..

mainetrunk said:

I am not playing with wires inside.
Alinco wouldn't like that.. Haha..

Click to expand...

It is an AMATEUR radio, right? There was a time where people built their own transceivers and through the process actually learned about electrical theory and how radios truly operate. Alinco couldn't care less what you do after they have your money-you're responsible for keeping it in Part 97 compliance. If you do tinker and mess it up to the point where it has to go back, I'm sure Alinco will gladly take more of your money to fix it.

10-4.
It is the djx-x11t,
handheld receiver.