Well I started to work on my antenna farm which is going in my attic (just scanning, no ham stuff yet, still studying for my test). Well the first project was to try modify my old Radio Shack mag-mount antenna for local use. My plan was to wither remove the supplied coaxial cable and replace it with a single feed of RG-8 or to cut the coaxial and (GASP) replace the connectors to hook up the RG-8. Well that plan hit a snag right off the bat when I tried to remove the top element holder from the base screw.
Well the next thing I did was removed the bottom plastic covering that protected the magnet and from your car from being scratched, low and behold I came across a bunch of rush. (UGGGGG!!!!) After cleaning the rust chips off the magnet, I knew what the problem was now, the rusty screw. Shame on me for leaving it out in the garage last winter.
The first thing I tried to do was to use "liquid wrench", "goof-off" and such to try and loosen up the bolt from the element housing......no luck. The last resort and something that I really didn't want to do was to hack off the plastic housing. Finally after removing all of the housing I found that the screw and bolt holding the feed line and element were totally rusted. I tried again with the trust rust remover stuff and again no go, I ended up snapping the bolt in half while trying to loosen the bolt. Time for Plan B.
I ended up drilling out the bolt from the element holder, thus ruining the threads inside at the base of the holder. The next step was to start cleaning up the parts, the base, ect. Not too bad, a little CLR and a steel brush helped get off some of the rust and corrosion. Next step was to re-thread the element holder and find a new bolt. After measuring it up and finding a bolt, I threaded the holder for 18 - 15/16. I re-used the plastic spacers that were used with the original bolt, which had a lot of meat on them. To make sure I had the correct inside diameter for the new bolt, I first threaded the plastic with my tap and then filed down the inside of the plastic until the threads disappeared and they slipped on the bolt perfectly.
I then re-assembled the base (minus the plastic housing of course) with the original cable and hooked it up to one of my scanners to test it. So far so good for local stuff but I'm gonna have to spend some time listening for father away stations. It sound like its picking up better than before since I removed the rusty bolt and now have a better contact. We'll see what happens.
I do have some pictures that I took while doing this "fix" which I will post up tomorrow (getting up at 5am for a hour ride to work is not too fun). Granted its not pretty by far, but it would be in the attic and somewhat protected. I'm going to look and see if I can make some sort of housing for the guts to protect it better in case.
I'll let you all know how I make out. Also if there are any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.
Well the next thing I did was removed the bottom plastic covering that protected the magnet and from your car from being scratched, low and behold I came across a bunch of rush. (UGGGGG!!!!) After cleaning the rust chips off the magnet, I knew what the problem was now, the rusty screw. Shame on me for leaving it out in the garage last winter.
The first thing I tried to do was to use "liquid wrench", "goof-off" and such to try and loosen up the bolt from the element housing......no luck. The last resort and something that I really didn't want to do was to hack off the plastic housing. Finally after removing all of the housing I found that the screw and bolt holding the feed line and element were totally rusted. I tried again with the trust rust remover stuff and again no go, I ended up snapping the bolt in half while trying to loosen the bolt. Time for Plan B.
I ended up drilling out the bolt from the element holder, thus ruining the threads inside at the base of the holder. The next step was to start cleaning up the parts, the base, ect. Not too bad, a little CLR and a steel brush helped get off some of the rust and corrosion. Next step was to re-thread the element holder and find a new bolt. After measuring it up and finding a bolt, I threaded the holder for 18 - 15/16. I re-used the plastic spacers that were used with the original bolt, which had a lot of meat on them. To make sure I had the correct inside diameter for the new bolt, I first threaded the plastic with my tap and then filed down the inside of the plastic until the threads disappeared and they slipped on the bolt perfectly.
I then re-assembled the base (minus the plastic housing of course) with the original cable and hooked it up to one of my scanners to test it. So far so good for local stuff but I'm gonna have to spend some time listening for father away stations. It sound like its picking up better than before since I removed the rusty bolt and now have a better contact. We'll see what happens.
I do have some pictures that I took while doing this "fix" which I will post up tomorrow (getting up at 5am for a hour ride to work is not too fun). Granted its not pretty by far, but it would be in the attic and somewhat protected. I'm going to look and see if I can make some sort of housing for the guts to protect it better in case.
I'll let you all know how I make out. Also if there are any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.
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