Antenna Repair Question - Update

[Woodnaut]

So I forgot to lower the antenna before I went under the railroad tressel, again :facepalm:, and ended up cracking the antenna right at the base. The following photo shows part of the crack and how I have extracted it from the SST base.

Visual inspection of the antenna reveals no damage except for the very bottom. All of the damage seems to be confined to the last 2-1/2", so I plan on cutting off the bottom 3" and reinstalling it in the base. I'm hoping that no serious problems exist because this apparently does not encroach on any of the antenna internals - there is just coax cable running through this part of the antenna. The coax was not pulled so I'm still hoping there hasn't been any internal damage.

I realize that antenna repair can be a dodgy affair, but I'm hoping I can get away with this one without any deterioration in performance. I guess a radio check will help to sort that one out.

What would be a good material to pot the fiberglass (antenna) back into the original SST base it was built with? Epoxy? 5200? The original material looks somewhat like 5200. Thanks for your comments.

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: Antenna Repair Question

Re: Antenna Repair Question

Here is how the repair turned out. I trimmed the cracked portion off of the bottom of the antenna, cleaned it up and used epoxy to set it back into the SST coupling base that was originally on the antenna. I had a short 1 foot long extension piece from an old GPS antenna so I added it to the base. As it turned out this extension also helped to guide the coax out of the center of the antenna. Reception seems to be as good as ever, but haven't used it to transmit yet.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Antenna Repair Question

Re: Antenna Repair Question

As long as you didn't damage the cable, you should be good to go.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: Antenna Repair Question

Re: Antenna Repair Question

OMG just buy a new one

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: Antenna Repair Question

Re: Antenna Repair Question

OMG just buy a new one

A new one costs well over $100. I repaired this one with materials I had on hand and a few hours of labor. The repair looks sound so I think I'll see how this one works out.

 

[dwco5051]

Re: Antenna Repair Question

Re: Antenna Repair Question

OMG just buy a new one

A real man would never make such a statement. How else can he justify to his wife why he has a forty by thirty two foot garage full of stuff he has saved over the years and doesn't have enough room for even one car inside

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Antenna Repair Question

Re: Antenna Repair Question

A real man would never make such a statement. How else can he justify to his wife why he has a forty by thirty two foot garage full of stuff he has saved over the years and doesn't have enough room for even one car inside

Hey dwco, are you saying cars are supposed to go behind the doors. I thought they are made to secure a man's treasure?

Wood, that should work fine. The guts are at the end of the coax, so you are good to go until that trestle jumps at ya again.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Antenna Repair Question

Re: Antenna Repair Question

I thought transmitting antennas have a tuned length to work properly. Are those masts just made to raise the works up in the air? And would that metal sleeve a foot off the base mess with the wave form, or cause any transmitter overloads? My dad was a military radio guy in the 50's so I operate with a lot of ancient info!