Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to send them to my customer and let them decide how they want to paint it.
--Eric Roth Network Engineer Webjogger Internet Services (845) 757-4000 www.webjogger.net From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tom DeReggi Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 8:21 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] painting an antenna Quick answer... "stix" primer from Lowes A couple tips on Painting.... You must use non-metalic non-carbon paint, to avoid RF loss. As well, you must use a paint that bonds properly to your specific material.... Steel, Aluminum, Plastic, ABS. There are many types of plastics, and they each have their own chemical requirements for proper paint type for bonding. Many paint types used or recommended by radio manufacturer are paids for high production factory applications, and not typically sold in small quantity and often require sprayers. The easiest way to solve the problem is to use a "Primer". If you use the proper primer, then you have the option to use a wide varierty of inexpensive over the counter paints with worry free bonding. " Stix" is an excellent choice for Primer. Its sold at Lowes, inexpensive, and can be used over metal and most plastics, such as those used most commonly for Antenna radomes. After one coat of Stix, you can then paint over it with standard exterior household latex paint. We use Valspar Duramax Exterior Latex, with FLAT finish, also sold at Lowes. (You still need to make sure paint is non-metallic/non-carbon, which the Valspar is.) We prefer Flat instead of Gloss paints because, when an antenna is high on a roof, glossy paint will reflect the sun more, and make the antenna look like a bright light, and stand out like a sore thumb. Primers are also easy. You'll will only need one coat of paint over the primer. The paint should be applied over the primer before the primer is fully dry, for optimal bond. (obviously not when the primer is still wet.). Generally, paint can go on within 30min after primer applied. Using hardware store stock paint, allows you to save a bunch compared to specialty paint stores. For example, a common Sherman Williams or McCormick paint design for Plastic without a primer could easilly cost $150-$200 a can, where as a gallon of ValSpar is $30, and Stix about $20. What happens if you dont use a good primer, and just paint household paint on Plastic? Well, within 6 months, the paint will be peeling off everywhere and make a big mess. If you have a good place to paint in advance, sure there are many good choices for acrylics, enamels, or oil based. But using water based Latex makes for easy clean up, and easy re-painting if ever needed, which works well for field painting. Dont get confused by all the different paint types, that cobine types, for example acrylic latex, or acrylic enamel, etc. It doesn't really matter, when painting over Stix. As long as using the good primer, Latex should work fine. The other thing is, painting over a pre-existing paint with the wrong type can cause negative chemical reactions, and also cause poor bonding, or peel after words. The solution to that is to use the "Stix" primer. It can be painted over most factory paints without worry, and allows most paints to be painted over the Stix. The secret is the Primer, not the paint.. I'm not saying that Stix is the best, but I know Stix is non metalic and non carbon and meets the requirements for antenna painting. Many Primer manufacturers do not like to disclose what their primer is made of because its their secret competitive recipe, so its hard to get out of the manufacturers whether it is metalic or carbon based or the loss it could have to RF. Another note, Paint looks a different color indoor than it does outdoors. I'll mix it to look light, and then outside it will look to dark. So make it lighter than you think you should. Also note, its much easier to make paint darker, than it is to make it lighter. So if you make it to dark, it takes a lot of paint added back to lighten it up. As for color choice... I've had little luck painting to match the sky. The reason is the color of the sky changes depending on the time of day and the weather. If trying to match the sky, use a lite (almost white) sky blue. I prefer to match antenna paint to the same color as the building it is mounted to, because a perfect match can be obtained, so it blends in with the building, and does not stand out. Anythign a different color than the building will draw the eye's attention to it. Painting to the sky color only makes the antenna look transparent 25% of the day, when it matches the sky, and the rest of the day when it doesn't, it stands out. Tom DeReggi RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Patient <mailto:[email protected]> To: WISPA General List <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 2:38 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] painting an antenna Krylon Fusion but not red, brown, or black. Old hillbilly test is to paint a business card, let it dry, and microwave it. If it gets hot don't use it. Jim From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Eric Roth Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 10:03 AM To: WISPA General List Cc: [email protected] Subject: [WISPA] painting an antenna Hi Everyone, We have a customer that we are putting in a ptmp 5.8ghz backhaul for wifi access points. Our customer is very big on aesthetics and would like to paint the omni that we are connecting the 5.8ghz backhaul AU to. Does anyone know what kind of paint they should use to paint the antenna with? I searched google and came up with epoxy paint. Is that correct? Thanks, --Eric Roth Network Engineer Webjogger Internet Services (845) 757-4000 www.webjogger.net _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2114/4827 - Release Date: 02/23/12 _____ _______________________________________________ Wireless mailing list [email protected] http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
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