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Re: Electrically conductive grease
by Bill Shell - N6WS 13 May '24

13 May '24

Hello All, I thought I would throw in my suggestion for a good anti-seize for antenna use. Jet-Lube has a product that is well suited for telescoping antenna parts, and for use on conductive surfaces. The product is Jet-Lube Silver Plus Regular, and it has a high aluminum content. If you have ever bought an InovAntenna, you were supplied with that product to use during assembly. I have been using it on my antennas for several years, and have had excellent results. It also does not cause thee corrosion at exposed area of joints like the copper version of the Jet-Lube. It is available in the USA through Amazon. 73, Bill N6WS On 5/13/2024 7:11 AM, Jim S via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > But your clothes slip off easier... > > "that stuff gets everywhere if you are even the slightest bit sloppy > with it, and it stains your clothes permanently." > > -----Original Message----- > From: Bruce Perens <bruce(a)perens.com> > Sent: May 13, 2024 2:14 AM > To: Joseph B. Fitzgerald <jfitzgerald(a)alum.wpi.edu> > Cc: Jim S <sracing(a)mindspring.com>, AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Electrically conductive grease > > Engine heads is an interesting point. A lot of anti-seize is designed > for very high temperature over 1000 F. Copper is said to perform well > for that application. But we probably won't exceed 150 F in our > application. > > On Sun, May 12, 2024, 22:44 Joseph B. Fitzgerald > <jfitzgerald(a)alum.wpi.edu> wrote: > > Bruce, you always make me think hard about stuff. No code radio > licenses. Post-open software licenses. Now zinc vs copper > anti-sieze! At least this time there are no lawyers involved :-) > > I have experience with several New England antenna builders who > swear by Jet Lube SS-30 copper anti-sieze, and I have personally > disassembled 20m yagi elements that had been exposed to 7 years of > New England weather and they came apart just fine with no evidence > of corrosion. But now that I think about it, the fact that it > had some kind of anti-sieze/anti corrosion grease applied was > probably the critical factor, with zinc or other fillers possibly > working just as well as or even better the copper. > > Permatex explicitly recommends their copper based product for use > with spark plugs in aluminum heads, although I will concede that > there is not a lot of moisture involved in that specific application. > > No matter what metal is in your anti-sieze, make sure to wear your > oldest work clothes when you use it ... that stuff gets everywhere > if you are even the slightest bit sloppy with it, and it stains > your clothes permanently. > > de KM1P Joe > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available athttps://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences athttps://mailman.amsat.org -- 73, Bill N6WS

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Re: Electrically conductive grease
by Jim S 13 May '24

13 May '24

But your clothes slip off easier... "that stuff gets everywhere if you are even the slightest bit sloppy with it, and it stains your clothes permanently." -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Perens <bruce(a)perens.com> Sent: May 13, 2024 2:14 AM To: Joseph B. Fitzgerald <jfitzgerald(a)alum.wpi.edu> Cc: Jim S <sracing(a)mindspring.com>, AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Electrically conductive grease Engine heads is an interesting point. A lot of anti-seize is designed for very high temperature over 1000 F. Copper is said to perform well for that application. But we probably won't exceed 150 F in our application. On Sun, May 12, 2024, 22:44 Joseph B. Fitzgerald <jfitzgerald(a)alum.wpi.edu (mailto:[email protected])> wrote: Bruce, you always make me think hard about stuff. No code radio licenses. Post-open software licenses. Now zinc vs copper anti-sieze! At least this time there are no lawyers involved :-) I have experience with several New England antenna builders who swear by Jet Lube SS-30 copper anti-sieze, and I have personally disassembled 20m yagi elements that had been exposed to 7 years of New England weather and they came apart just fine with no evidence of corrosion. But now that I think about it, the fact that it had some kind of anti-sieze/anti corrosion grease applied was probably the critical factor, with zinc or other fillers possibly working just as well as or even better the copper. Permatex explicitly recommends their copper based product for use with spark plugs in aluminum heads, although I will concede that there is not a lot of moisture involved in that specific application. No matter what metal is in your anti-sieze, make sure to wear your oldest work clothes when you use it ... that stuff gets everywhere if you are even the slightest bit sloppy with it, and it stains your clothes permanently. de KM1P Joe

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Re: Electrically conductive grease
by Joseph Armbruster 13 May '24

13 May '24

Have you considered alodining it? Joseph Armbruster On Fri, May 10, 2024 at 12:16 PM samuel galet via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > What is the best grease to use to lubricate aluminum antenna tubes to > prevent corrosion and improve conductance. It also needs to conduct > electricity and protect metal screws from rusting. > > > > Sent from my Galaxy > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at > https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org

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Multiple QO-100 DX-Peditions to VO1
by David G0MRF 13 May '24

13 May '24

This week sees three separate groups operating from just outside the coverage footprint of the QO-100 satellite. From Newfoundland the geostationary QO-100 satellite is nominally 1 degree below the horizon.After 5 years in orbit and much speculation, three groups are in the St John's area to try operating QO-100 with its S band uplink and 10GHz downlink. Already in Newfoundland and having success is Gopan, M0XUU. He is operating with a 0.8m dish from just north of the harbor entrance and updates can be found on the QO-100 DX Club web site. https://qo100dx.club/ Despite frequency periods of no signal or deep QSB, Gopan has alredy managed to work FT8 FT4 and CW. After a week on the air as VO1/M0XUU, Gopan will be leaving early Wednesday morning. Arriving today Monday 13th May, to Friday 17th, are a Canadian team with a 1.8m dish and up to 100W.Details of the operation by Stefan VE4SW and John VE1CWJ can be found at the QRZ.com page for special callsign VO100QO https://www.qrz.com/db/VO100QO Finally, Graham G3VZV and David G0MRF arrive on Wednesday 15th with 2 sets of equipment and will be active as VO1/G3VZV and VO1/G0MRF. They fly back to the UK early Sunday 19th. Updates will be posted on X @g0mrf Operating from the old lighthouse keepers bungalow on the southern side of the harbor entrance, GN37PN85, they will be working all modes including an attempt with DATV with a 175W S band amplifier. When not actively on the bands, a personal beacon will operate on 10489.539MHz in CW to act as a propagation indicator. 73 David

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Re: Electrically conductive grease
by Joseph B. Fitzgerald 13 May '24

13 May '24

Bruce, you always make me think hard about stuff. No code radio licenses. Post-open software licenses. Now zinc vs copper anti-sieze! At least this time there are no lawyers involved :-) I have experience with several New England antenna builders who swear by Jet Lube SS-30 copper anti-sieze, and I have personally disassembled 20m yagi elements that had been exposed to 7 years of New England weather and they came apart just fine with no evidence of corrosion. But now that I think about it, the fact that it had some kind of anti-sieze/anti corrosion grease applied was probably the critical factor, with zinc or other fillers possibly working just as well as or even better the copper. Permatex explicitly recommends their copper based product for use with spark plugs in aluminum heads, although I will concede that there is not a lot of moisture involved in that specific application. No matter what metal is in your anti-sieze, make sure to wear your oldest work clothes when you use it ... that stuff gets everywhere if you are even the slightest bit sloppy with it, and it stains your clothes permanently. de KM1P Joe

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Fwd: AMSAT/TAPR Hamvention Banquet: May 17
by Mark Thompson 12 May '24

12 May '24

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Stan Horzepa To: Cc: Stan Horzepa <stanzepa(a)gmail.com>Sent: Friday, May 10, 2024 at 06:22:30 PM CDTSubject: AMSAT/TAPR Hamvention Banquet: May 17 The 15th annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet on Hamvention Friday (May 17) at 18:30 EDT. This dinner is always a highlight of the TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio) and AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.) activities during the Hamvention. This year’s banquet speaker is Bill Reed, NX5R, AMSAT Volunteer Engineer, who will highlight the forthcoming PACSAT digital communications payload. You must purchase tickets ($60 each) for the Banquet in advance and online at the AMSAT Store before the May 10 deadline. Tickets purchased on-line will be maintained on a list with check-in at the door at the banquet center. The banquet venue is Kohler Presidential Banquet Center at 4548 Presidential Way, Kettering, Ohio – about 20 minutes from the Greene County Fairgrounds. You can view the banquet menu and other information here: https://www.amsat.org/product/2024-amsat-tapr-friday-night-banquet-registra… _______________________________________________

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5400 rotor voltage pot replace
by n4qwf 12 May '24

12 May '24

My Yaesu 5400 rotor seems to have lost its mine. The meter elevation worked just fine but the data sent from the computer was telling the rotor where to go but it did not go there. I use a Fox Delta controller with this rotor. Years ago I had a similar problem. A friend of mine who was a RF engineer for GE here in Lynchburg replaced the pot in the rotor box and for the last 20 or so years it has worked flawlessly. My friend has passed away since then. He passed along a bit of wisdom way back then. He said when you order the pot from Yaesu besure and get extra. Well I ordered 3. So I still have one to install. I have mounted the pot and resembled the rotor box. I am prepared to connect the rotor and see how it goes. Before I do that I wonder if there is a calibration I need to do before I calibrate the Fox Delta controller to the box. I have many files that I have saved from the Amsat-BB over the years concerning repairing the rotor and the box but I don't have any that reference any calibration of the replaced pot. Would someone with experience please give me some assistance.. Thanks <<John N4QWF

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Re: Electrically conductive grease
by Bruce Perens 12 May '24

12 May '24

There are a few things you should consider. The Galvanic Series <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_series> runs from the most "noble" metal to the best to use as a sacrificial anode in electrolytic corrosion. You will notice that copper is *above *aluminum and zinc is below aluminum. Thus, I am somewhat dubious about the use of copper-filled anti-seize in protecting aluminum elements in the outdoor environment subject to acid rain and bird guano (part of which becomes nitric and phosphoric acid under the effect of bacterial decomposition). It seems to me that zinc or magnesium would be better and that the copper anti-seize might be a good anti-seize but a bad sacrificial electrode. Zinc is readily available. Steels are above copper on that table, and thus copper anti-seize is appropriate for that. Stainless steel has a potential for galling, so you need anti-seize with it. But you should be using it on _all_ fasteners. I can't over-emphasize what a pleasure it has been disassembling an antenna that spent 10 years in the air when the assembler used anti-seize diligently during its installation. I came with a hacksaw and bolt cutter, and never had to use them. Stainless steel doesn't rust because it forms a protective layer of chromium oxide on its surface. It is this layer that can also form galling and seize the union of a nut and bolt. Aluminum also forms a layer of aluminum oxide very quickly when exposed to atmosphere, it is this that protects it from further corrosion. We use rosin to remove these surface oxide layers from various materials and make them solderable. Rosin is an acid, but is only chemically active when heated, so it does not continue to rot the metal as other fluxes would. Because of the great speed with which these oxides form, welding of stainless steel and aluminum generally requires use of a gas which protects the joint from oxygen during the welding process. On Sun, May 12, 2024 at 9:14 AM Jim S via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > Sounds about right. However, I just tested some Permatex anti-seize and it > reads in the few dozen ohms range when meter probes are even only 1/16 inch > apart. So it is pretty conductive. > As you point out when compressed it is certainly "conductive". > > Jim > -----Original Message----- > From: Zach Metzinger <zmetzing(a)pobox.com> > Sent: May 12, 2024 10:00 AM > To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Electrically conductive grease > > On 5/10/24 11:16, samuel galet via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > What is the best grease to use to lubricate aluminum antenna tubes to > > prevent corrosion and improve conductance. It also needs to conduct > > electricity and protect metal screws from rusting. > > The grease itself does not conduct (much). The joint pushes the grease out > of the way and forms gas-tight metal-to-metal contact. The grease fills in > the voids and prevents oxidation. I suspect there is a non-trivial amount > of capacitive coupling going on, as well. > > I use the cheap stuff, and it seems to work just fine. Find it at any big > box store. > > https://www.gardnerbender.com/en/p/OX-100B/Ox-Gard-Anti-Oxidant-Compound > > 73, > > --- Zach > N0ZGO > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at > https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at > https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org > -- Bruce Perens K6BP

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Re: Electrically conductive grease
by Grant Hopper 12 May '24

12 May '24

I would assume that my practice of using stuff intended for aluminum wiring (Penetrox, Ox-guard, or Noalox), or Jet-lube copper anti-seize (I think this is the successor to Butternut's "butter-it's-not") would all be fine since I've never had any performance issues. 73, Grant KB7WSD On Sun, May 12, 2024 at 9:14 AM Jim S via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > Sounds about right. However, I just tested some Permatex anti-seize and it > reads in the few dozen ohms range when meter probes are even only 1/16 inch > apart. So it is pretty conductive. > As you point out when compressed it is certainly "conductive". > > Jim > -----Original Message----- > From: Zach Metzinger <zmetzing(a)pobox.com> > Sent: May 12, 2024 10:00 AM > To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Electrically conductive grease > > On 5/10/24 11:16, samuel galet via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > What is the best grease to use to lubricate aluminum antenna tubes to > > prevent corrosion and improve conductance. It also needs to conduct > > electricity and protect metal screws from rusting. > > The grease itself does not conduct (much). The joint pushes the grease out > of the way and forms gas-tight metal-to-metal contact. The grease fills in > the voids and prevents oxidation. I suspect there is a non-trivial amount > of capacitive coupling going on, as well. > > I use the cheap stuff, and it seems to work just fine. Find it at any big > box store. > > https://www.gardnerbender.com/en/p/OX-100B/Ox-Gard-Anti-Oxidant-Compound > > 73, > > --- Zach > N0ZGO > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at > https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at > https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ > > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org >

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Re: Electrically conductive grease
by Jim S 12 May '24

12 May '24

Sounds about right. However, I just tested some Permatex anti-seize and it reads in the few dozen ohms range when meter probes are even only 1/16 inch apart. So it is pretty conductive. As you point out when compressed it is certainly "conductive". Jim -----Original Message----- From: Zach Metzinger <zmetzing(a)pobox.com> Sent: May 12, 2024 10:00 AM To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Electrically conductive grease On 5/10/24 11:16, samuel galet via AMSAT-BB wrote: > What is the best grease to use to lubricate aluminum antenna tubes to > prevent corrosion and improve conductance. It also needs to conduct > electricity and protect metal screws from rusting. The grease itself does not conduct (much). The joint pushes the grease out of the way and forms gas-tight metal-to-metal contact. The grease fills in the voids and prevents oxidation. I suspect there is a non-trivial amount of capacitive coupling going on, as well. I use the cheap stuff, and it seems to work just fine. Find it at any big box store. https://www.gardnerbender.com/en/p/OX-100B/Ox-Gard-Anti-Oxidant-Compound 73, --- Zach N0ZGO ----------------------------------------------------------- Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/ View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org

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