[amsat-bb] Re: Cleaning oxidation from antenna

[Leroy Stenzel]

If they are Cushcraft yagis, just cleaning the surface may not be enough.  I
brought my antennas out of storage only to find that they had strange
patterns and high reflected power.  Someone was kind enough to suggest that
I check for corrosion in the sleeve at the middle of each director and the
reflector.  While each element appears to be at solid rod with a sleeve at
the mounting point, it is actually two rods crimped together by the sleeve.
That was the problem, and I have not been able to find a solution.  I
started over and built my own antennas out of old television antenna
elements using the Cushcraft booms and driven elements.  I used the W7RAI
program for Yagi design.  My system is not pretty, but it appears to do the
job better than the pretty but corroded mess I had.

Check your patterns with a field strength meter, and check for reflected
power.  If there are other solutions, I would like to hear them.  

Leroy, W5VG
AMSAT #2916 

-----Original Message-----
From: w6zkh at comcast.net [mailto:w6zkh at comcast.net] 
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 7:05 AM
To: amsat-bb
Subject: [amsat-bb] Cleaning oxidation from antenna

Recently picked up 2 yagi's that were near coastal locations, and the boom
and elements are oxidized. What is the best method to clean this? Just 'good
ole elbow grease and Scotchbrite pad' or something else. Nothing seems to be
pitted or deteriorated, just "ugly". 

John W6ZKH 


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