Using foam cable and pressurizing the antenna.

[rew]

Has anyone used 1 5/8 inch foam cable and pressurized the antenna by sending the gas up the center conductor of the cable. I know we should use air cable but customer already has foam and they are going to use it. Thanks for any ideas or suggestions.

Robert

 

[bradgoehl]

I tried it once with 1 1/4 foam on a temporary site, and it did not keep pressure well. Thought about pulling uv resent tubing up to the antenna after that but never did it as we were finishing out our CP 30 miles down the road.

 

[okcradioguy!]

I've heard of guys doing it with success. I guess a lot of it has to do with how skilled a guy is at modifying things to where the gas can go where needed but not leak out.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

I have 2 sites doing that with 1 1/4" foam line. Permanent installs...I love it. Zero leaks in either one and you can fill 4-5 bays and 250' of line in about a minute. Very efficient use of nitrogen.

 

[rew]

Thanks everyone. I am going to be trying this in a few weeks. I will post how I do it and what results I have. I will have some time to play with this on the ground as it will be a few weeks before the antenna and cable get hung.

 

[ontheair247]

This has been discussed on other boards as I remember and there was an RF equipment rep that had info on what connector you needed and how to mod it. I think the idea was to drill a hole so the gas connector port gets into the center conductor.