It may sound like overkill to drill at a downward angle toward the outside in most installations, but it's an excellent idea in addition to a good drip loop, especially for frame houses that have walls made of wood and other organic materials. Even a small amount of moisture from snow building up right on the fitting where it exits the wall or the small amount of rain that will contact it directly can seep inside and start dry rot and other problems.
Here in the northwest mold is a real concern. It's not just a nuisance, but a life-threatening concern that has killed people, especially children, who are unlucky enough to breath the air containing the spores. A couple of years ago a builder left some tiny gaps in wood siding on a new home that allowed moisture to seep in. Deadly black mold to started growing. Once started it spread drawing moisture from the air. By the time it was discovered because the family was suffering health problems, a new, 1.5 million dollar home had to be totally demolished and much of it disposed of as toxic waste, complete with the crews working in bunny suits inside a tent loading the remains of the house into sealed bags. When you're running open wire feeders or a single end-fed wire, good electrical insulation is important too unless the power is very low. Heyes, in his book "Practical Wire Antennas" tells a story about visiting a fellow Ham in England who used an end-fed wire that came into the shack through a small hole drilled in the wood frame of a window. On one band a voltage loop occurred at that point. Whenever the guy transmitted, smoke would curl up out of the hole where the wire touched the wood. Heyes observed that he was not aware that the Fire Brigade ever had to visit, but it didn't seem like a good way to get the RF outside <G>. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- I did much the same, with one added feature. I didn't trust the drip loops and driving West Texas rains, (when we do finally get rain), so I made the drill through at a slight downward angle to the outside. I know, after you seal it, it shouldn't matter. I used some DAP I had from a bathroom project for the seal, easily removable, (the landlord allowed a 2nd antenna later). Guess it was like chicken soup, made me feel better. :-) -- GB & 73's KA5OAI Sam Morgan _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
