[time-nuts] wwvb weak on east coast especially when the pre-amps under water.

[Magnus Danielson]

On 05/14/2012 11:04 PM, paul swed wrote:
> Magnus is right lots of ways for water to sneak in.
> So I have not had time to figure it out yet. But it is a copper loop and I
> suspect the place its joining the preamp box let water in over time. The
> fact is even a small pin hole that allows air in and out thats humid can
> allow water buildup. But this is a lot and I need to figure out what
> happened. Its a homebrew antenna but am sure over years even the best can
> leak. Its about  2ft loop and I had been doing calcs on a 10 ft square loop
> and such.
> I suspect that would help quite a bit on the east coast. Time will tell.
> Still doing a bit of planning and will need to sink some piers for that
> size of an antenna.

The antenna which failed was actually quite impressively built. It was 
well built, but failed in assembly. It's replacement, the same model, 
have not failed since.

One of the things to care about is to not let there be a natural place 
for water to build up on a joint into the sensitive stuff. If you have a 
copper loop, then I would turn the tubing upwards into the box rather 
than on the sides of it, such that water drops of the downside rather 
than rest on box, and then have some angled ceiling over the "box".

Cheers,
Magnus