MR SAM F BILLINGSLEY wrote:
>
> I have a ten year old Butternut vertical that needs to be cleaned and
> re-tuned .
> Sam Billngsley/AE4GX
Sam - last autumn I went through just what you are asking about. Our
company has a Mosley Pro-96 (we call it Big Bertha) mounted on top of
our 12 story building in downtown Oakland. We use it for our ham club &
for emergency communications to the State Office of Emergency Comm.
Anyway, after being up on the tower for three years with all the nasty
city pollution and the close proximity to the salt air of the San
Francisco Bay, it started getting kinda "crusty". We pulled it down and
gave it a good cleaning:
First, each element was taken apart. Several different cleaners were
used, but the best result was with a blue jelly-like aluminum cleaner
that we picked up at a local Ace Hardware. Sorry - don't recall the
brand name, but if you can find an Ace, they can point you in the right
direction. This is pretty mean stuff, so you'll want to use rubber
gloves to work on it. It is easy to use, and does not require that
your arms look like Arnold Schwarzenneger's! We used Scotch-Brite pads
to go over the aluminum pieces after the jelly sat for five minutes.
After a couple minutes polishing with the Scotch-Brite & jelly, wash
off the aluminum with a hose and let it dry. Next we used some clean
rags and applied a coating of Penetrol Oil on all aluminum parts. This
gives it a good protective coating. Let all parts dry overnight.
You are now ready to re-assemble your antenna. Use a piece of 400 grit
sandpaper and clean off the Penetrol from the parts of the antenna
that will slide together - you want it off so that you get a good
electrical connection. After cleaning the Penetrol off, you'll need to
apply a product I believe is called Penetrox - might have the name
wrong, but we got it a Ham Radio Outlet. It looks like an oily paste
with very fine copper filings in it. It ensures you have a good
contact between the aluminum tubing. DON'T get it on your clothing!!
This process was used on our Pro-96, my Cush-Craft A3S at home, and
will be used on my Hustler 6BTV this coming spring. It works, and
your antenna will look like brand new for quite some time after doing
it...
--------------------------------------------
Jim Bennett / W6JHB (jbennett@ebmud.com)
Supervising Systems Programmer
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Oakland, CA 94607
voice: 510.287.0224 / fax: 510.287.0373
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