Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

Radials are a lot of work to put in, and the expense of wire is significant.  I can't see any justification for not joining them the best way available.  IMHO, silver brazing.   I use and recommend Sta-Silv 15 (15% Ag, 80%Cu, 5% P brazing stick) and a simple MAPP gas torch.  Propane is not

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

Is there any danger of damaging stranded copper wire by overheating it with a torch when soldering or brazing? 73, Matt NQ6N On Wed, Oct 12, 2016 at 2:41 PM, Drew Vonada-Smith wrote: > Radials are a lot of work to put in, and the expense of wire is > significant. I

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

Hi Matt,   We can not ever have enough radials, especially with a less than a 1/4 wave vertical.  Shorter antennas can get competitive if enough radials are used.    Recommend solid wire because oxidation from water can corrode the stranded faster. Each strand is loosing conductivity.  Solder

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

Matt, MAPP gas and a small torch doesn't pose much of a threat to pure copper. I've never had an issue, and I am not particularly skilled. A few asked me about sources for Stay-Silv 15. Here is one example link from Amazon:

Re: Topband: 80m rotatable dipole load coil questions

A quick note on a protective coating for aluminium: You might like to look at Alocrom 1200 (Alodine 1200 outside Europe) which can be hand-applied to preserve and protect aluminium from corrosion, retaining its conductivity. I used it for many years in industrial and military applications,

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

I must say that I soldered with a torch for the first time last weekend... and WOW what fun! (I was making bonding straps for my mobile from scratch. A standard soldering iron can't heat it up enough.) Mike, WA9PIE WA9PIE-2 Global DX Spotting Network hrd.wa9pie.net:8000 On Wed, Oct 12, 2016 at

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

All this talk of radials makes me wonder about my radial field The area that the radials live in has been burned in a backfire. It has a wide variety of wire in it, mostly stranded copper. I'm sure the insulation is no more now that it's been burned. I'm quite sure they're corroded now,

Topband: Soldering radials?

I'd like to get the latest thinking from the group on soldering radials. What I currently thinking is as follows: SOLDER SELECTION: 1. Tin lead doesn't hold up in the weather. 2. "Stay Brite" 3% silver solder (97% tin, no lead) is known to work well, but is expensive, and has a considerably

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

In past years (when I had a 80/160 vertical, I used normal 60/40 solder to solder radials to some 2"-wide copper strap. Then I just painted over the joints with black "tree paint" that I got from Home Depot. All joints were still in good shape when I cut everything apart and moved about 10-years

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

Any of the methods suggested here will work fine. Another way is to use bronze split-bolt connectors. You just have to make sure none of the wires can pull out after tightening (twisting them in groups should prevent that). Coat each wire with silicone dielectric grease first to help prevent

Topband: Soldering Radial Interconnections

Last year I posed a question to Al Christman whether it was really necessary to solder radials together where they overlap in a phased array. His response to this question was that he modeled an array where the radials were not interconnected and that the array's gain was slightly greater than

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

Rick I have after soldering painted the soldered joints with Scotchkote. I guess silver solder would be better but a pain. 73 Clive GM3POI -Original Message- From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Richard (Rick) Karlquist Sent: 12 October 2016 15:53 To:

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

On 10/12/2016 8:52 AM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote: I'd like to get the latest thinking from the group on soldering radials. What I currently thinking is as follows: Thanks for the responses. I now realize that I was not clear about what I was asking. I was mainly interested in how to

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

WLBZ AM radio 620 KHZ. in Bangor, Maine  in the early 1960's had a reduction in the ground wave signal most noticeable over 40 miles.  We  found the radial connections installed in the 1920's were in tough shape.   Ran new radials and inter-connected with silver solder. After the work was

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

Rick, I used to work on AM broadcast systems -- used both Stay Brite 3% with a propane torch, and 15% silver-bearing brazing rod with a small welding torch. As far as I could tell, both worked well electrically. The brazed joints were stronger, mechanically. My own system (installed 2008) had

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

All of my radials are crimped lugs bolted to a common ring at the base of my antenna (either a stainless plate, or a piece of copper strapping) Copper strapping can be bought with pre-punched holes, or punched by hand with a Roper Whitney (or similar) hand punch. All booked connections coated

Re: Topband: Soldering radials?

I had soldering problems here in the salt air until I switched to no lead plumbers solder and pure resin flux. have not had a problem since, I have radials and connections over 7 years old that are in great shape, exposed to the elements. YMMV 73 Merv K9FD/KH6 I'd like to get the latest