[Antennas] Painting of Antenna Radomes
Barry L. Ornitz
[email protected]
2003年5月25日 19:32:33 -0400
Jim Simmons, KF4TUN, asked:
> Why not just using latex boat paint? The kind the use on
> sailboats. They stand up under horrible conditions.
This is a good question. The new high-gloss latex enamels are
actually quite different from the latex paints of years ago.
They use an acrylic chemistry that produces a far more durable
paint, yet can still be applied as a water-based emulsion.
They do hold up well, and most of the adhesion problems have
been solved. However, these paints are still a little porous
letting some moisture through. On old, weathered fiberglass,
I think I would still use an epoxy or urethane paint to keep
the moisture out. But if you wish to paint a metal antenna to
hide it, or protect it from a nasty environment (like salt
spray near the ocean, or acid rain, etc.) the new acrylic
latex paints should work fine.
Watch out about paints sold by boating dealers. The paint is
often no different from quality paint sold for homes, but
because of the "boat" in the name you usually pay more.
[Private airplane owners are probably more familiar with this
issue. An ordinary oil filter that you buy for a few bucks at
the local auto parts store suddenly costs 10X as much as soon
as an FAA number is applied and sold in an aviation parts
place!]
73, Barry WA4VZQ [email protected]