[OZAPRS] Stupid question - keeping foldable antenna base clean?

[Damien Gardner Jnr]

So I think I've figured out why my D7 quite often goes quite deaf (i.e.
I can 'hear' the digis repeating my posits as I drive from dandenong to
frankston, but the D7 doesn't decode them).. - the antenna I have on it
is a rather tall 2m/70cm dualbander that I bought from Andrews comms.. -
it's made of lengths of stainless steel (?) with joiners (chokes?) at
certain points up the length..  The base screws straight onto a PL259
(dear god did that confuse me when I got it!), and at the top of the
base, the antenna itself has a conical shaped bottom, which is held into
an equally conical 'socket' by a spring - idea being that you can lift
the antenna up, and fold it back (which I have to do every time I take
dad to the hospital, or go into the city - what is it with 2.4m
clearances?!?!?!).  The problem with this design, is that a) wind coming
past the antenna tends to put enough force on it to lift it up a bit
(Heading north up the hume will ALWAYS produce enough wind to have it
lift up out of its socket and lay down on the bonnet.. - never does it
coming south!), and make it wave around, and b) because of that, water
gets in and it corrodes something horrid..

 

I gave it a damned good clean while cleaning the hilux the other day
(first time it's had a wash in the 18 months I've owned it ;) ), and all
of a sudden, the D7 has stopped being so 'deaf'..

 

Anyone else have one of these antennas and have a fix for this
'problem'?  I would just fibreglass or epoxy it fixed in place, but
because of the length of it, i need to be able to lay it down a couple
of times a week..  But I figure that I can't be the only one who has
this kind of problem with one of these antennas??

 

Cheers,


Damien

 

--

Damien Gardner Jnr

VK2TDG/VK2DGJ. Dip EE. StudIEAust

Home: rendrag at rendrag.net -  http://www.rendrag.net/

Play: vk2tdg at pinegap.net  -  http://pinegap.net/

--

We rode on the winds of the rising storm,

  We ran to the sounds of thunder.

We danced among the lightning bolts,

  and tore the world asunder

 

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