[time-nuts] GPS antenna installation problem

Magnus Danielson magnus at rubidium.dyndns.org
Mon Mar 2 08:09:33 UTC 2009


Steve Rooke skrev:
> Gaffa tape the cable to the supporting pipe with a small drip loop
> into the connector.

No. The glue of Gaffa tape ages. Also, it is not very nice to the cable. 
Gaffa should not be used for permanent installations. For temporary 
installations I prefer using a strap (no the narrow plastic straps, but 
the wither weave-type, not sure what they are called in english) running 
at least one turn around the cable. Dropping cable that way helps. For 
longer runs the cable should be strapped to some fixed structure or a 
steel wire and done in such a way that the cable is not fully stretched, 
so that each strap-point actually takes the force of the cable downto 
the next strap-point. This way the cable does not get to carry heavy 
loads, which it is not designed for, the dielectrum does not get a firm 
grip around the center wire...

In general Gaffa should be used conservative and only for short periods 
of time as removing the glue becomes an issue and even more annoying as 
it has dried out and hardend to the surface but lost the grip to the 
actual tape... which makes the grip brittle.

Cheers,
Magnus



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