[Elecraft] Remoting KAT500 to base of antenna

[Edward R Cole]

Fred,

Your high desert climate will probably produce less condensation than 
my sub-arctic/maritime environ.  What I do for enclosures is to not 
seal them airtight but provide good drain openings which air can 
exchange.  Of course the shelter is made to repel direct rain/snow.

I suspected that my TR relays were "freezing up" at lower temps 
making the action delayed so I used some big aluminum  Dale resistor 
strapped onto the relays to add direct heat by conduction.  I happen 
to have 28v equipment so used 28v thru the resistors to produce heat 
within their wattage rating (used 40w resistors at both relays).  Of 
course this also provided some heating of the ambient air of the 
enclosure which helped keep moisture from forming even in 90% 
humidity of the fall.  It rains 8-days with one day off from August 
to October when temps finally drop below freezing and rain becomes 
snow.  You don't have anything near that.

One thing I have noticed about drain holes in some equipment is they 
are too small to allow water to drop free due to surface tension and 
in my environ that results in the weep holes freezing tight.  I drill 
them out to 1/4 inch.  Of course if you are prone to insect/archnid 
invasion that is problematic.

PS: I lived five years in the high Mojave Desert so know all about 
"critters of the desert" (never stick your hand into a confined space 
before kicking it to see what crawls out or "rattles"!

73, Ed - KL7UW
------------------------------------------

3.  Reno/Sparks is a high desert [4,500'] directly adjacent to the
Carson Range and Sierra Nevada [really big mountains].  Winter temps go
down into single digits, it does snow/rain.  Should I do anything to
prevent condensation in the weatherproof box [light bulb, drain hole, ???].

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the Cal QSO Party 1-2 Oct 2016
- www.cqp.org


73, Ed - KL7UW
http://www.kl7uw.com
     "Kits made by KL7UW"
Dubus Mag business:
     dubususa at gmail.com