Tony, Your mentor has the right idea, but a minor change might help. First of all, regardless of the tape used, it should *always* be wrapped from bottom to top, so that it sheds water. Doing it from top to bottom will bring water into the splice- not good!
The preferred method of waterproofing connectors starts with Scotch 130C Linerless Rubber Splicing Tape. This is self-vulcanizing tape that is used for high-voltage (12,000 and up) splices, and is the primary waterproofing layer. Follow this with two layers of Scotch Super 88 Vinyl Tape- this stuff is much better than 33 tape, which itself is great stuff. Finally, coat the whole splice with Scotchkote Electrical Sealant. 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tony Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 8:08 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Base station coax connector weatherproofing recommendations? I was taught by an old ham who did a lot of commercial installations the following. His advice was to use good quality tape 3M 33 or 88 tape. Start at the connector wrap downward past the connector. Spray with clear spray paint. Wrap 2 starts at the bottom the the 1st wrap go upward to the connector. Apply another coat of clear spray to seal the tape. Layer 3 starts at the connector again and goes downward past the end of previous wraps. Spray again. This gives a good water tight job. When you are inspecting the antenna you simply note the direction of the tape if it should come lose. You'll know how immediately it may or may not need attention. I did this after pealing off the sticky mess of coax seal on a rooftop installation. The previous installer was even so "thoughtful" as to plug the hole in the base of the Stationmaster. Actually the only thing holding the connector to the hardline was the seal as I suspected by the noise when the wind picked up. Several years of PA failures, some years it was twice a year, were history. Tony --- In [email protected] <mailto:Repeater-Builder%40yahoogroups.com> , "jland138" <jland...@...> wrote: > > Any recommendations or best practices on weatherproofing the coax connection to a base station antenna? The Comtelco XL (or horrors! Antenex FG) series both have a drain system at the base that need to remain open. Is it as simple as some coax seal and avoid plugging the drain holes? > > Any recommendations on using heat shrink at the cable end of the coax connector? Does it help, or does it eventually wind up as a moisture reservoir?
