Plasti-dipping an antenna?

[bob-the-scanner-man]

Pics! They're kind of big but I wanted to be sure they had enough detail.

A few "before" shots. One antenna is a Browning BR-180 2m/70cm antenna and the other is a Browning BR-140 CB antenna. Both are using NMO trunk lip mounts. As you can see both are stainless steel. I don't mind stainless steel, but it tends to stand out so I wanted to black everything out.

Here's the plastidip. It's around $6 at Lowe's and comes in a variety of colors.

Originally I put painter's tape over the base where the company's logo is located. Later I decided to go ahead and plasti-dip this part as well so I wound up not needing any tape.

After!

Overall, I'm impressed. It didn't change the performance of the antennas and it doesn't seem to have added any wind resistance. I think it's much less noticeable than the shiny stainless steel. The best part is that I can easily go back to the stainless if I want to.

 

[mmckenna]

Wow, that turned out really nice. I'll have to try that one day.

Looks good!

 

[milkman21218]

Very nice job. They really look good. And it makes a nice waterproof seal.

 

[Drachen_Fire]

I Plasti-dipped my Antennex UHF Phantom, as it had some oddball white scuffs on it. Works wonders.

 

[fourthhorseman]

Nice Results...Matted finish looks smooth!

I love PlastiDip..Thanks for posting pics boss!

to Add...the dip also comes in I think,,Yellow,Blue White..Possibly Red..
link to the catalog..lotta products..
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=22872&catid=699

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

Thanks for the kind comments! I'm very happy with how it turned out.

I had enough left over in the can to put on a few rubber duckies I had. They still worked fine but the rubber was starting to fall off. So I put a layer of electrical tape on them and then sprayed over that with 2 coats of the Plastidip. They don't look perfect but at least no more rubber can chip off and it looks better than an antenna with large chunks of rubber missing.

 

[milkman21218]

I was just wondering if the plastic dip will make the antenna coil to over heat and burn out? Because they are still air cooled. Costing the user a radio.

 

[k3cfc]

Plastick dip.

I was just wondering if the plastic dip will make the antenna coil to over heat and burn out? Because they are still air cooled. Costing the user a radio.

Really!!!

 

[_Wilson_]

looks really great! Bob, going to try to find some tomorrow, and thanks for the link Fourthhorseman.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

I was just wondering if the plastic dip will make the antenna coil to over heat and burn out? Because they are still air cooled. Costing the user a radio.

I really don't know what you're talking about but if my radio blows up I'll let you know.

 

[SCPD]

I am a little late as i can see you went ahead and did it. I dip all my antennas it's easier and cheaper than buying black antennas. + real paint is a mess and hard to remove unlike plastidip.

I have dipped coils too without an issue (of course i don't run more than 150W vhf via mobile).
Here's one I just did a few hours ago

 

[Darth_vader]

"Consider the liquid can a one-shot deal: open it, use it. Don't count on it keeping consistency; it will begin to cure right away."

Transferring the stuff to a small aluminium or steel paint tin with a tight-fitting "hammer-on" lid (<=US$1.00 at your local hardware store) helps the stuff keep its proper semi-liquid consistency when in storage. Experience has taught me the flimsy, loose-fitting plastic lids that come attached to the (very expensive, at over $10 at the hardware store I go to) tins of Plasti-dip are beyond inadequate for storage longer than about 3-4 days. I recently came across some black PD that was re-tinned more than two years ago and it was still perfectly fluid.

This assumes you are using the "dip" or "brush-on" product, not the aerosol spray.