Backstay Antenna

[Douglas]

Was Brian Duff, refering to, ss "Oxygen Starvation", that can happen when ss is prevented from exposure to air ?

Could not, water, by , capillary action work it's way down the 1 X 19 strands inside under the taping on the backstay wire , like it can and does on a swaged terminal barrel ?

The field design and fabricating advice , that I have read, says , never "pot" a ss structural fitting , or design a ss structural fitting that , can not be visually inspected, all around ?

Often times I see a "drip loop" , incorporated, when installing wiring on or around masts and ss rigging, especially at the mast head and at the partners,,,,, would not a drip loop be good to use where the GTO-15 attaches to the backstay, just above the insulator ?

Douglas

[allene]

I am an both a Ham radio operator and an electrical engineer. I own one of the antenna tuners pictured in the referenced pdf and my boat was equipped with a backstay antenna when I got it. I have talked hundreds of miles with "long wire" antennas.

It would be helpful to know what is in that tube but if it just an insulator and you are just talking about the electrical connection to the active part of the backstay then here goes. The referenced pdf article has a great line in it. It says to connect the antenna center coax to the swage connection and not around the wire. I think this is key advice. The swage is large and a connection can be made without covering any important part of the swage. If it were me, I would wrap the wire around the swage and use a thin hose clamp. I would not try and seal it from the weather as my opinion is that you can only seal water in, you cannot seal it out. I would use 12 gauge house wire for the connection and not bring the coax above deck. Any antenna has to have two elements. One is the backstay. The other is probably the ocean through a keel bolt. The idea of keeping the antenna high to avoid getting in the field seems silly to me unless this is a dual system with both elements on the backstay. If you are using the ocean as the "ground plane" you are going to be in the field. I have transmitted with 100 watts and never worried about this. Had I had 1000 watts as many hams do, perhaps I would worry. The reason I would use coper is that it is close to SS electrically and many center conductors in cable are steel. Even if they are coper, they are small gague wires so a 12 gauge will last longer.

Just my 2 cents. I have not done this as I didn't want all the bonding my boat had and pulled it all out. I replaced the backstay to remove the two insulators. I still wonder what is in that big tube.

Allen

[Patrick_Seattle]

Originally Posted by allene

It would be helpful to know what is in that tube but if it just an insulator and you are just talking about the electrical connection to the active part of the backstay then here goes. Allen

That "cylinder" says Norseman on it. I'm assuming its Norseman swageless fitting on top connected to a backstay adjuster. A quick look on the Navtec site though didn't reveal anything that looked exactly like that to my eye, but that's my guess.

[allene]

Originally Posted by Patrick_Seattle

That "cylinder" says Norseman on it. I'm assuming its Norseman swageless fitting on top connected to a backstay adjuster....

In that case the ball of tape is covering an insulator and the wire is attached above the insulator. I believe my boat had the backstay going through the insulator and folding back on itself clamped with a couple of U bolt clamps. Standard insulators basically work like that with the two loops mechanically interwoven and the insulator holding them apart. It was similar to these cheap ones. http://www.obrienplastics.com/images...rain_large.jpg

The nice thing about them is that the glass is in compression and if it breaks, the rig doesn't come down, it just gets slack a bit. But that didn't stop me from replacing my backstay.

That doesn't mean this is what is under that black blob but you really need to know what is under there to judge the system.

Allen

[SV Papillon]

most likely a u shaped wire clamp or god forbid a hose clamp lerks beneath the tape. I like Brion's suggestion of seizing for the connection. I never understood why noresman or other manufactures don't have a adequate provision for a electical connection on their insulating terminal. Probably a good patent opportunity out there for someone. Idealy there should be a terminal post on the insulated side of the connection where a properly soldered insulated lug could be fastened. Eliminate all the rigamaroo of trying to make a proper electrical connection to the outside of 1x19 wire.

Jake

[allene]

Originally Posted by SV Papillon

most likely a u shaped wire clamp or god forbid a hose clamp lerks beneath the tape. I like Brion's suggestion of seizing for the connection. I never understood why noresman or other manufactures don't have a adequate provision for a electical connection on their insulating terminal. Probably a good patent opportunity out there for someone. Idealy there should be a terminal post on the insulated side of the connection where a properly soldered insulated lug could be fastened. Eliminate all the rigamaroo of trying to make a proper electrical connection to the outside of 1x19 wire.

Jake

I was going to say that solder might not hold up in a salt water environment but I see that galvanically tin and lead straddle SS so maybe it will hold up. Mine had wire clamps and the insulator. I see that someone sells wall made insulators for this application. $100 instead of $2 so you have to want to do it right.

Allen