[time-nuts] GPS antenna failure

[Jeffrey Pawlan]

You have re-discovered the meaning of the word debug.

On Mon, 6 Feb 2006, Magnus Danielson wrote:
>  That besides finding a spider in the lower-cap, it had eaten half
> the o-ring on the outside and near the contact we also found its pray wound in.


You did not mention the brand or model of the antenna you were using. I was
using a Trimble outdoor antenna for a year. Then it went dead after heavy rain.
I found water inside. I opened it and found that the epozy had failed to bond
the top shell to the bottom thoroughly, thus allowing water to enter when the
air pressure changed due to temperture extemes.  I showed it to an engineer at
Trimble who completely dismissed the possibility that it was a problem with the
epoxy application. He insisted that I must have had water seep in through the
type N connector (which is completely on the bottom of the antenna and was
covered with heatshrink tubing)