[OKDXA] Splicing wire in a dipole question

[John Geiger (AF5CC)]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the advice.  I didn't plan on soldering it either, to be honest, 
but did do a good splice job on it.  Catch any of the 6m opening today?

73 John AF5CC

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Redmon" <k5sm.bob at gmail.com>
To: "Oklahoma - DX news and information" <okdxa at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, June 01, 2013 11:50 PM
Subject: Re: [OKDXA] Splicing wire in a dipole question


> John,
>
> I have had spliced antennas up for decades without problems. The key is to 
> provide strain relief (unless you are working with copperweld) and 
> construct/solder the splice properly (see ARRL handbook). It is easy to 
> mess up a soldering job when you are trying to join oxidized copper wire. 
> Be sure you remove all the oxidation. I tend to use fine sandpaper (400 or 
> 600 grit) and work on the wire to be soldered until it is all shiny and 
> copper again. After soldering, I always clean the joint with a baking 
> soda/water solution and then spray a coat of good enamel on it before 
> hoisting it back into the air.
>
> My good buddy Gary (W7FG..sk) always swore he never soldered anything 
> outside. He essentially "tied" the wire together (strain relief) and then 
> used crimp spices. Drove me nuts, but he never seemed to have any trouble.
>
> Bob
>
>
> On 6/1/2013 4:58 PM, John Geiger (AF5CC) wrote:
>> My dipole had an unfortuate encounter with a neighbor's tree branch on 
>> Wednesday evening during a storm, and is now going to require some repair 
>> or replacing.  One option is to fix it by splicing a few pieces of copper 
>> wire together.  This is the cheap option.  However, could this cause 
>> problems later on?  I am wondering if the junctions of the wire could 
>> corrode and start acting like a diode, throwing out RFI all over the 
>> place?
>>
>> Could this happen, or is splicing copper wire in a dipole usually ok?
>>
>> 73 John AF5CC
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>
> -- 
> Robert Redmon K5SM
> AMA 58073
>
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