Painting a yagi

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mmckenna

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Depends on what you painted it with. Non-metallic paint wouldn't be an issue.

Most of the commercial Yagi's and folded dipoles I use are powder coated.
 

vagrant

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Based on prcguy's experience with painting, I did the same using the Rustoleum brand. I too experienced no changes in performance and my antennas blend in much better.
 

GlobalNorth

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Good old latex exterior paint will work if you mount it along the house eaves. If you put it on a tower, a mast, or in a place that can be a challenge to reach, paint it with epoxy or CARC paints. They'll last a decade or longer without maintenance if done with epoxy or CARC paints.
 

kruser

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only if the paint contains metal.
Yep, metallic paints will cause problems.
Mainly watch aluminum, silver and some gold colored paints as they can all carry some metal in the paint.

When I've needed to do this, I'd paint a hunk of plastic or something kind of hard and non-conductive. Let the paint cure as long as needed and then probe it with a DMM with the probes stuck well into the paint but spaced close to one another. If the paint is conductive at all, you will usually see a reading. Those are the ones I've stayed away from

In general, I've always used one of the rustoleum primers like the standard grey primer they sell. Those have always proven to be non-conductive plus the give a nice and durable coating plus usually dry very fast. Just mask off any connection points are tuning devices like gamma matches found on some yagis as some of those require metal contact to tune properly.
You may also want to make sure you are using an aluminum compatible paint if painting aluminum. As for as aluminum goes, I'd probably never paint an aluminum vertical that tunes by altering the element lengths where they insert to the next larger of smaller element size and slide up or down for tuning. You don't want paint in there.
 

kb7gjy

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On our montain top fiberglass omni "Station Master" antennas they are normally white. Due to ice loading and wind they would last a year maybe two depending on the winter. I then did an experiment. black plastidip tool coating (The DIY for wrenches etc). I made sure it didn't contain any metal and coated it in black.

My findings, performance, not affected. SWR did not change. Coverage remained the same. BUT.... I had to make a trip the mountain in the middle of winter for another agency. I couldn't see the antenna due to fog when I got there. I finished the repairs and looked up at the tower and noticed several other antennas on the tower that were loaded with ice (guessing 4" to 6") and some broken, except one..... There was the Station Master not a single bit of ice I could see. I went back inside and checked the performance of that repeater and it was just doing its thing, no problems.

I think between the black color and the flexibility of the "tool dip it" it sheds ice like nothing I have ever seen. My experiment is still running on the tower, I think 20+ years. Now every antenna I put up gets the same treatment.

Hope this helps.
 

jwt873

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I'm not recommending metallic paint, but out of curiosity, what ill effects would one expect if it was used? I can see problems spraying a conductive paint on areas that are supposed to be insulated (at the feedpoint etc). But other than that, it seems one would just be covering a conductor with a conductor.

As a side note, years ago when Sirius satellite radio first started broadcasting, I bought a stand alone receiver for the car. It came with a small mag mount 'puck' style antenna. They recommended that it be mounted on the outside of the car.

I had a little Pontiac Fiero back then. The Fiero body is all plastic. No metal to stick to. It was painted metal flake silver (you could see the flakes).. I stuck the antenna to the jack which was ;ocated under the front hood. I did wonder if the paint would be a problem, but it picked up the satellite signal with no difficulty.

The metal flake paint on the hood between the antenna and the sky made no difference. As a matter of fact, the radio had a bar type satellite signal strength meter.. Hood open, hood closed... Made no difference in signal strength.
 
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On our montain top fiberglass omni "Station Master" antennas they are normally white. Due to ice loading and wind they would last a year maybe two depending on the winter. I then did an experiment. black plastidip tool coating (The DIY for wrenches etc). I made sure it didn't contain any metal and coated it in black.

My findings, performance, not affected. SWR did not change. Coverage remained the same. BUT.... I had to make a trip the mountain in the middle of winter for another agency. I couldn't see the antenna due to fog when I got there. I finished the repairs and looked up at the tower and noticed several other antennas on the tower that were loaded with ice (guessing 4" to 6") and some broken, except one..... There was the Station Master not a single bit of ice I could see. I went back inside and checked the performance of that repeater and it was just doing its thing, no problems.

I think between the black color and the flexibility of the "tool dip it" it sheds ice like nothing I have ever seen. My experiment is still running on the tower, I think 20+ years. Now every antenna I put up gets the same treatment.

Hope this helps.

Where did you find a can of that tool dip big enough to dip that antenna just kidding so what you did was brush it on
 

prcguy

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Most CARC paints require the painter to be in a pressurized hazmat suit, its very nasty stuff. In fact if you have any mil surplus items painted with CARC paint you are not supposed to sand or grind the dried paint without proper training and being in a hazmat environment.

Good old latex exterior paint will work if you mount it along the house eaves. If you put it on a tower, a mast, or in a place that can be a challenge to reach, paint it with epoxy or CARC paints. They'll last a decade or longer without maintenance if done with epoxy or CARC paints.
 

Thunderknight

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I always spray paint my antennas (and mounting hardware, etc). Usually a dark green to make it blend it to the trees, roof or whatever else is around. Takes all the "glint" reflectivity off it too, so even in bright sun it's no more noticeable, and at night it disappears.
 

GlobalNorth

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Most CARC paints require the painter to be in a pressurized hazmat suit, its very nasty stuff. In fact if you have any mil surplus items painted with CARC paint you are not supposed to sand or grind the dried paint without proper training and being in a hazmat environment.


If one is going to use CARC paints, one should know the precautions or research them. One isn't buying CARC paints at Home Despot.

Likewise, if one wants to convert their garage to 220V, one should have a considerable knowledge of electricity, but some people try it any how. Some get lucky and some get a trip to the emergency department.
 
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