Maco v58 going up, please look this over

Kevin: You should not even need to raise up 20 feet, for testing.
10ft should be fine. This way you can reach off an 6 or 8ft ladder to make any final adjustments.
Change out those crummy clamps unless they have went to good Stainless Steel hose type clamps.
After you get it tuned. Tape up all the sections with good tape.
This will help on water intrusion plus if something shakes loose this will also help hold all the sections in-place...even the radials.
Good Luck
All the Best
Gary

SCOTCH 33+...find at Home Depot/Lowes or just about any major hardware store...most generally, in the Electrical dept. section.
Cost for the good stuff around $3.00 a roll...get a couple.
And when you rap that pull it tightly overlapping each rap about half way...even the hose clamps...Then cut with a razor knife to finish...if you just pull that till it breaks it will over time tend to begin to unravel(which any tape will do) This will make a good joint and last many years.
The little extra work after tuning will help insure many years of good service. Always worked for me and have assembled many, many antennas over my 40+ years of RadioFun
Let us know how it all works out.
All the Best
Gary

Kevin: Another trick I use is this.
I normally do this during the entire assembly (so this may not be feasible now.)
I dab a little of this on tip of my finger and coat each section, where it overlaps the 2 sections on the inside. This helps control the oxidation that occurs between the 2 pieces over time.
This helps maintain a good electrical connection between the sections.

BJ radionut said:

Kevin: Another trick I use is this.
I normally do this during the entire assembly(so this may not be feasible now.
I dab a little on this on tip of my finger and coat each section, where it overlaps the 2 sections on the inside. This helps control the oxidation that occurs between the 2 pieces over time.
This helps maintain a good electrical connection between the sections.

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I use the never seize with the metal in it. It is supposed to conduct better than Noalox which is more like a dielectric grease.

No tape will prevent water inside. Just drill drain hole at the bottom. Mike

Chris: Anti-Seize or Never-Seize is good stuff...Agree!
However it is So Friken nasty to deal with...get that stuff on your cloths/gloves etc. It never washes out...There forever.
NOALOX contains graphite. and when mixed before usage is conductive. I have used that for splicing HV cables on lugs and disconnects for many years. Works well on battery terminal etc. it can be cleaned with a little alcohol or contact cleaner effectively.
Anti-Seize or Never Seize yes, most generally works well on conduit joints(pipe connections etc.) ground rods, malleable fittings and other such connections because it contains copper fillings.
However the XYL hated when I used that at work.
Talk about messing with cloths...even gasoline or Toluene would not hardly break that stuff down..

Mike: Yes, No tape is impervious to moisture...
However having been a cable splicer for almost 40 years...in the worst possible environment's..It damn sure helps!!!
When used as I described:
It will at least slow the process and help minimize the intrusion and contamination.
All the Best
Gary

TruckerKevin said:

Right, according to the pamphlet it was supposed to be 228 for 11 meter. I got it right at 228 inches and it was 2.0 on both 1 and 40,,, I’m hoping when I get the radials on it they drop perfectly.

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Kevin, my manual shows 27 MHz is 248" inches tall, from the tip down to a hole below the hole for mounting bracket C13P.

Also check the note #3 below the frequency chart. The manual gives you a warning, in UPPERCASE AND BOLD TYPE, regarding this adjustment. Read that too.

As others have said, your friend is not advising you well. Put the radials on this antenna.

I realize it is probably too late since you plan on putting this up tomorrow but here are some hard learned lessons I have picked up over the years having gone through 3 of them. Keep these in your notes so that when you put up your second one (hopefully you won't, but...) you can make these "changes":

1. Make sure the Hose clamps are ALL SS, not just the band. Use Breeze or a good Marine grade clamp where the band, bolt, and housing are all SS.

2. Adjust the top 1/2" section to lengthen or shorten the antenna, not the bottom 7/8" section as the instructions say. The top section only has a 4" overlap. all the others have a 6" overlap, so when you make it shorter (and you will) it gives it a better mechanical joint. The other reason is you will have greater bandwidth doing it this way. The larger the diameter of the radiator, the greater the bandwidth - tuning it this way ensures that you have 42" of the 7\8" radiator exposed.

3. Check the back of the SO-239 where the dielectric is. I haven't seen the current one, but the ones that I dealt with in the past would hold water so that when it rains, the collected water would short the center pin to ground and play havoc with your SWR. Use Coax Seal or some low emission Silicone and form a cone on the back of the SO-239 from the wire down to the outside edge so the water will run off and not collect.

4. Use NoAlox on ALL the aluminum to aluminum connections. Everywhere you have 2 surfaces meet, not just the tubing. Get a small SS brush (toothbrush size), mix up the NoAlox (it tends to separate), apply some to both mating surfaces, and brush it in. This will cut through the surface oxidation and the NoAlox will prevent the newly exposed aluminum from re-oxidizing.

5. Unless it has changed, the 1" tube that is part of the Base Assembly (BA1P) is open on the bottom (the white dielectric is a sleeve) so you shouldn't have to drill a hole to allow collected water to escape - water doesn't collect.

6. If the wire jumper is bare copper, you may want to consider something that will stand up to the elements better. An insulated wire that is sealed at both ring connectors or a tinned wire or braid.

There are a number of other things I would do to increase the antenna's ruggedness, but you won't be able to do them in the timeframe you have.

Good Luck!

P.S. My experience has been that when you tune the antenna down low and then raise it up to at least 1 wave length, the tune shifts up about 100KC's. YMMV

RG8X (mini 8) works well for jumpers.

Shadetree Mechanic said:

Without the radials, the coax shield will try to be the counterpoise. You should be fine after you put the radials on.

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+1

TruckerKevin said:

Just letting everyone know that this antenna went well. It was a real beast it about killed us raising it, but we got it 60 feet in the sky all guyed up. Good lmr400 cable, my swr are 1.2 on 1 and 1.4 on 40. The locals all say my signal has increased a who,e lot, very pleased with the results.

Can anyone recommend any good jumper cables for my equipment?

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400 SuperFlex is what I use for jumpers.