White Paint on Copper Pipe - RF Problem? - HomeBrew Forum at eHam.net

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eHam.net Forum : HomeBrew : White Paint on Copper Pipe - RF Problem?

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White Paint on Copper Pipe - RF Problem?	Reply
by KI6RKE on June 21, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
Chasing down another "maybe you better not do that" comment. I'm making a 3 element 2m yagi with a wooden boom and copper pipe. This is not likely going to get left out in the rain but I would really like to paint it white just to make it look clean. Is Krylon white paint likely to affect things if the elements are painted? I've seen other painted antennas and wasn't worried about it until someone told me that many of the pigments used in paint would interact with RF. David K6CDW

RE: White Paint on Copper Pipe - RF Problem?	Reply
by KB1LKR on June 21, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
I'd not worry, except for metallic (e.g. 'silver' aluminum or gold/bronze) on radomes mounted over elements (e.g the fiberglass cover on a VHF/UHF vertical). In your case the painted surface is going to be immediately adjacent to the conductive skin of the copper and the pigments are likely non conductive metal oxides e.t. titanium oxide in white, though in this application I can't imagine even metallic pigments being a problem in this application. Just make sure you maintain good electrical contact (I'm guessing you're soldering though as it's copper not aluminum elements so shouldn't be an issue).

RE: White Paint on Copper Pipe - RF Problem?	Reply
by K1DA on June 26, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
I have been painting antennas flat grey or flat black for years. Lowers the neighborhood "impact". This includes Austin "radome" types, measured before and after on a Bird and showing no change. The glass on the Austins tebds to erode after many years near the ocean and painting them prevents that.

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