antenna maintainance

[ridgescan]

I live on the coast of San Francisco. My other antennas are OK but my discone for some reason devlops this rust colored coating on the elements even though it's supposedly 'stainless steel' so I get up there with the rubbing compound , rags and I even put a coat of auto sealant on it. Is there something more practical to use on this? Perhaps an aerosol cleaner or such? Thanks By the way I have to do this like every two months.

 

[Techy]

Try some "Nev R Dull" wadding in the can. Looks like cotton, but its soaked in a cleaner. Run ya elements thru that till the oxidization is gone. Plus this will leave a lite coating of protectant behind. Must be the San Fran salt water atmosphere causing such a quick oxidiztion on the elements.

 

[prcguy]

Clean and degrease it then apply several coats of dull light gray epoxy spray paint. You can then forget about it for at least 5yrs in your area. You neighbors will like it because light gray will blend in with the sky better than shiny SS.
prcguy

 

[ridgescan]

Try some "Nev R Dull" wadding in the can. Looks like cotton, but its soaked in a cleaner. Run ya elements thru that till the oxidization is gone. Plus this will leave a lite coating of protectant behind. Must be the San Fran salt water atmosphere causing such a quick oxidiztion on the elements.

Hey thanks for the idea! I can see that it's a rare issue now! Yup it is that ocean mist-73s

 

[N1BHH]

Atmosphere in general can cause discoloration. Fires, smog, salt spray, it causes so many shiny objects to look like crud over time. In a vacuum we don't live.

 

[ridgescan]

Atmosphere in general can cause discoloration. Fires, smog, salt spray, it causes so many shiny objects to look like crud over time. In a vacuum we don't live.

Yeah but I am more concearned about the antenna's peak performance. Which leads me to ask wouldn't spray painting the elements change the peak performance of the antenna?

 

[prcguy]

For non metallic paints no change that you can hear or measure. Even black barbecue paint with a high carbon content will not change anything you can measure unless your painting over the radome of a microwave antenna. In fact, don't paint over a feed radome unless the paint is specifically made for that.
prcguy

Yeah but I am more concearned about the antenna's peak performance. Which leads me to ask wouldn't spray painting the elements change the peak performance of the antenna?

 

[ridgescan]

For non metallic paints no change that you can hear or measure. Even black barbecue paint with a high carbon content will not change anything you can measure unless your painting over the radome of a microwave antenna. In fact, don't paint over a feed radome unless the paint is specifically made for that.
prcguy

Thank you prc! I will take your advice.73s