Hi Bob, I have never, ever seen silicone decomponse / deteriorate in sunlight---ever. I believe it's because there's no plastic in it, per se, which is affected (in time) by UV rays...
Anyway, it works---AND it's cheap, AND it's readily available! Hi Hi. ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ ********************************* ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rob Atkinson" <ranchoro...@gmail.com> To: "Discussion of AM Radio in the Amateur Service" <amradio@mailman.qth.net> Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 10:57 AM Subject: Re: [AMRadio] antennas > Eddy, > > I had wondered why no one had mentioned a simple tube of silicone from > the hardware store and was about to but you took the words out of my > mouth. I was starting to think there was some gotcha associated with > it that I didn't know about, but I've been using it outside with no > problems. Maybe it breaks down in sunlight? > > 73 > > Rob > K5UJ > > On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 7:26 AM, Edward Swynar <gswy...@durham.net> wrote: > > Hi Guys, > > > > Contrary to "...tribal knowledge", I insist that clear silicone > > sealant---G.E. brand, whatever---still can't be beat on applications that > > are out-of-doors & in the open...! > > > > I smear it all over my PL-259 connectors---and then some---that I use to > > hook-up my feeders to the bases / tuning networks of my extended inverted > > "L" arrays for 160-meters here: in the open air, there are no noxious / > > corrosive fumes to contend with... > > > > In the Spring, when it's time to roll-up the radials & store away the tuning > > networks, I simply get an X-acto knife & make a slit into the silicone the > > length of the connector, then peel the whole thing off in one piece. > > > > It's cheap, effective, and never allows water entry into the "works"---even > > when buried for (literally) months at a time under a foot & more of snow! > > > > I concur, however, with the "dangerous" potential side-effects of > > silicone...case in point: one Field Day, many moons ago, I used silicone as > > an adhesive to anchor a small air-variable capacitor down securely inside a > > Tupperware enclosure, used to tune a delta loop on 40. It was a dewey damp > > Sunday morning when we opened-up the Tupperware lid to se why the tuning of > > our antenna had gone awry...to our surprise, the rotor blades of the > > capacitor were completely coated in rust! > > > > Our only conclusion was that the noxious, vinegar-like smell of the > > silicone, in a sealed environment, had somehow "attacked" the steel > > capacitor, & aged it by a quantum leap! > > > > Used outdoors & in the open, however, I've never had that problem... > > > > ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net > AMRadio mailing list > Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/amradio@mailman.qth.net/ > List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html > List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio > Post: AMRadio@mailman.qth.net > To unsubscribe, send an email to amradio-requ...@mailman.qth.net with > the word unsubscribe in the message body. > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > ______________________________________________________________ Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net AMRadio mailing list Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/amradio@mailman.qth.net/ List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Post: AMRadio@mailman.qth.net To unsubscribe, send an email to amradio-requ...@mailman.qth.net with the word unsubscribe in the message body. This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
