Troubled with my Imax 2000

[Angler]

I just got my new Imax 2000 from Sparkys but I am hesitant to put it up before I get some questions answered. I have been trying to contact Sparkys, by phone and email with the "contact us" feature on the site, since the day before I ordered it but they are not answering the phone and are not returning my messages. I've thrown in the towel with Sparkys and I will never order anything from them again. Yeah, they were the cheapest but I guess you get what you pay for.
All I need are some reccommendations on the install of this antenna. I intend to coat it with paint or clear varnish or maybe clear polyurithane. I also am going to ground the antenna from one of the mounting clamps, straight down, to an 8ft grounding rod.
From the many threads that I've read on this forum and others it seems like most people use 10 guage green insulated solid copper wire. The only bummer is I can get 12 guage wire for .11 a foot but the 10 guage is .45 a foot. Still most people suggest the 10 guage solid insulated wire. After I run the wire to the ground rod and clamp it securely I intend to run a ground strap from the antenna mast to the grounding rod. The bottom of the antenna will only be about 18 feet up. Do you think this grounding procedure will work for me or am I missing something?
As for the protective finish I don't need stealth. All I want to do is protect the antenna from the elements up here in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. I read a thread somewhere about coating the antenna with clear varnish. That is what I would really like to do. I was thinking that a couple coats of good varnish after fine sanding the antenna would be ideal. I would really appreciate any help I can get from some of the many folks who have installed this antenna. Also, about sealling the joints, what type of silicone or caulk should I use? That is, the joints where the antenna is screwed together. By the way, I didn't get any instructions with this antenna. Was I supposed to get an instruction sheet?
I would be very thankful for any advice I can get for these concerns.

I am mounting this antenna for a cb radio and I just realized I may have put this thread in the wrong location. I am sorry.

 

[W5LZ]

Don't get too elaborate with your 'preventive maintenance' before it's required. Unless there's some particular need for refinishing the thing, then wait until it needs it. Assuming the thing is new and not a 'lemon' to start with, leave it alone. It should last at least a couple/few years before requiring sanding etc.
The joints should be put together correctly. That means using the equipment supplied in a normal manner. Sealing those joints shouldn't be necessary, but also shouldn't hurt. Just remember that they are supposed to make good electrical contact, don't use something that isn't conductive, and 'un-do-able' later.
Grounding your antenna is for safety purposes, not RF purposes. Basically a 'lightning' thingy. Number 12 or 10 wire is so marginal for lightning protection it isn't really funny. The NEC (National Electrical Code) is a very good source for that sort of thing, read it. Is the mast you plan to mount the antenna on metal? Use it for a conductor! I'm safe in saying that the average 1", 1.5" metal mast will carry more current than any commonly found wire. And unless that 'ground rod' is connected to the ground system for your house, it's not adequate grounding for anything. (Check that NEC again, don't take my word for it.)
Have fun...
- 'Doc

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

"Is the mast you plan to mount the antenna on metal? Use it for a conductor! I'm safe in saying that the average 1", 1.5" metal mast will carry more current than any commonly found wire."

X2

"And unless that 'ground rod' is connected to the ground system for your house, it's not adequate grounding for anything. (Check that NEC again, don't take my word for it.)"

would that send a surge through everything plugged into the homes electrical system if lightning hits the antenna ?

 

[Needle Bender]

i think id coat it with plastidip spray-on rubber. you can get it at the hardware store. its flexable and wont crack or let uv into the antenna fibrglass. i think it come in blue, yellow, clear, black, white and red but i havent ever seen green but that is what color id want. a deep forest green.

 

[Branko]

Hi Angler i think that you should not paint it jet i have it fore two ears on my roof now and it steel looks like new. And about grounding I personally think that it is not a good idea, because then you are making a lightning roar, in manual says DC grounded. I do not have radials and i did not grounded it and steel it works fine no 11 10 20 meter bands.

DC grounding antennas helps control some of the static build up, but isn't a means of minimizing the chances of lightning damage, should a strike occur.

The lightning arrestor should be installed at the grounded conductive bulkhead panel where the coaxial cables enter the building. It's best to place this at the AC service ground.

The coax shields from the dipole and other antennas on the tower should be bonded to the base of the tower which should have a lighting ground rod or rods.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I agree about the # 10 or 12 wire being useless for lightning grounding. The NEC calls for a minimum of 6 gauge wire for grounding and utility companies are bound by law to use that as a minimum. If you really want to coat the antenna,and there is really no reason to do so at this point, you can give it a couple coats of spar varnish. It is meant to stand up to the harsh marine environment. I have used it before on fiberglass products and found that wiping it on with a rag is the best way to go. YMMV however.

 

[Angler]

Thank you all for the replies and opinions.
I put my antenna up a week ago last Saturday and am very pleased with the results. I really don't understand the replies that urged me not to apply a coating for preventitive maintenence. I mean, that's what preventitive maintenence means. Anyway, I put three coats of Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane on it and it looks very nice. This stuff is the ideal coating for this purpose, in my opinion, after doing much research trying to find a suitable protectorant for my antenna. I'm convinced I won't have to worry about the fiberglass fraying for at least ten years. It's not a simple job putting up an antenna and I don't want to take it down in two or three years because of weathering. I live in northeastern Michigan and the weather here on Lake Huron goes from one extreme to the other.
I had a couple options for a mast and chose the shorter of the two because I am not able to use guy wires. I mounted the antenna on a twenty one foot section of a top rail from a cyclone fence. Buried it three feet in the ground with one 60 pound bag of ready mix and bolted it to the fascia of my cabin with a wall mount clamp. The bottom of the antenna is eighteen feet high. I ran a #10 ground wire from the bottom u-bolt of the antenna to an 8 foot ground rod buried five inches from the antenna mast. I ran a #6 solid copper ground wire from the mast to the ground rod and another #6 solid copper ground wire from the ground rod to the ground rod of the electrical service of the cabin. I read the code for grounding an antenna and I think I did it properly. This wasn't so much for a direct lightning strike as it is for static build up, at least that's what I gather from the research that I've done. Plus it will help for indirect lightning strikes. The directions for the antenna say's it will also help with RFI when the antenna is grounded properly.
I used 50 foot of Times Microwave LMR400 from the antenna to my Astatic 600 and a 5 foot jumper of Times Microwave Ultraflex LMR400 from the Astatic to my radio. The SWR is nearly perfect. I can just barely notice the needle move when checking the SWR. I couldn't ask for anything better. I was very nervous putting this antenna up and trying to do it correctly because I have never put an antenna up before. I am absolutely thrilled at this set-up.
After making sure everything was done I hooked up my Cobra 142GTL that I bought from a guy on ebay. The radio is brand new and had never been hooked up and is really nice to look at but would it perform? Well, I fiddled around with it for a half hour and finally made a contact. Thanks to "Captain Walker" who returned my request for a radio check. He was about eight or nine miles from me and I talked to him until he reached his destination which was a couple miles from me. What a feeling of relief! Most all of you folks have alot of experience on radio so maybe you don't understand how excited I was to finally make contact. Just a couple months ago I didn't know anything about cb radio so after doing all that work, and not really knowing if I did it right, I am very, very pleased.
I have made many contacts since then but not on my Cobra. After that first contact I unhooked it and hooked up my first radio, a Realistic TRC-449. I have a Tenma 72-630A power supply that I use to run it and although Captain Walker said I was blowing him out of his car with my Cobra I am getting very good comments on the TRC-449 also.
Sorry about the long post, I guess I'm still very excited. This is a great hobby and I really enjoy reading this forum. There is so much info on this forum that it can be overwhelming at times.
Thanks again everyone.

 

[mackmobile43]

If using some sort of coating make sure it's pliable enough for the bending action of the antenna and as far as your grounding issues you're using the exact same pole for mounting that I use and it's been up for several years now and like your's is banged into the ground at 3' and another 21' section mounted on top of that with a clamp on that section and all of that is withing 2' of my houses' ground rod so I connected to ground there, thank goodness for no lightning strikes well any that I know of but it's stood some hurricane force gusts and not a single bend.

As far as RFI or most likely TVI is what you're speaking of the best thing in this case if needed would be a ground plane kit mounted at the base of the Imax 2000 and a coil of coax on in a 6'' turn of perhaps 5 to 6 windings to prevent common mode currents from going down your coax which is the biggest culprit of TVI.

Good luck and happy TXing.