It was probably GTO-15. I would hope that who ever went to the trouble
of adding the standoffs would know the difference. GTO is hard to tell
from RG59 from a distance. Neon sign suppliers even have it in
decorator colors.

Larry W4CSC wrote:

If the backstay turnbuckle were "hot" (energized with RF) this would
be prudent because there can be considerable voltages from the tuner
on certain frequencies, such as near when the backstay is a 1/2
wavelength antenna.

The question arises, why does the coax go to the backstay AT ALL? It
goes to the TUNER who's tuned RF output goes to the backstay. I has
no business going to the backstay.

The wire from the tuner's high voltage post to the backstay shouldn't
be coax, either. Coax has LOTS of capacitance to the shield and if
some idiot grounds it it will decouple the RF off to ground at the
higher impedances.... A heavy wire should hook the tuner to the
backstay as it's just part of the antenna.



On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 23:32:57 GMT, "Gordon Wedman"
wrote:


The other day I was wandering around one of our marinas trying to steal
ideas from other boats and I came across an aluminum pilot-house sloop that
may have come over from Europe. I noticed that the SSB coax was held away

from the backstay turnbuckle and wire by ~1 inch plastic spacers. I've

never seen this before and the previous owner didn't do it on my boat. I've
been thinking of upgrading the ancient SSB system on my boat and was
wondering if these standoffs were something recommended.
Anyone know about these? Thanks
Gord





Larry W4CSC

"Very funny, Scotty! Now, BEAM ME MY CLOTHES! KIRK OUT!"


--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 09:29:20 -0500, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

It was probably GTO-15. I would hope that who ever went to the trouble
of adding the standoffs would know the difference. GTO is hard to tell
from RG59 from a distance. Neon sign suppliers even have it in
decorator colors.

What the hell is GTO-15, some West Marine $20/ft trick? This isn't a
neon sign with 40KV of 60 Hz on it....IT'S RF! All the insulation in
the world isn't going stop the RF from leaking out, like it's 'spozed
ta. Lionheart's tuner is hooked to its backstay with a stainless
strap in a gentle curve held on with a stainless hose clamp.

Now that we got the damned steel cable holdin' the boom up replaced
with something that DOESN'T suck off the HF signal into the mainmast,
it works much better......well, at least until the sun exploded wiping
out the ionosphere....

73 DE W4CSC

NNNN

AR

GTO-15 is 15KV insulated wire and fairly standard for tuner to backstay
leads. More for safety than efficiency. The whole idea of elevated
lower insulator on the backstay is to prevent some dumb crew member from
grabbing a hot lead and getting an RF burn. The GTO limits that
possibility. The stainless strap approaching at an angle is probably
more efficient and neater looking but gives no protection. West Moron
dropped it from the Catalog this year but used to sell it for $1/ft. It
is standard material in neon shops for $.50/ft and from HVAC dealers as
spark igniter wire for $.25/ft.

Larry W4CSC wrote:

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 09:29:20 -0500, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:


It was probably GTO-15. I would hope that who ever went to the trouble
of adding the standoffs would know the difference. GTO is hard to tell

from RG59 from a distance. Neon sign suppliers even have it in

decorator colors.


What the hell is GTO-15, some West Marine $20/ft trick? This isn't a
neon sign with 40KV of 60 Hz on it....IT'S RF! All the insulation in
the world isn't going stop the RF from leaking out, like it's 'spozed
ta. Lionheart's tuner is hooked to its backstay with a stainless
strap in a gentle curve held on with a stainless hose clamp.

Now that we got the damned steel cable holdin' the boom up replaced
with something that DOESN'T suck off the HF signal into the mainmast,
it works much better......well, at least until the sun exploded wiping
out the ionosphere....

73 DE W4CSC

NNNN

AR


--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

In article ,
(Larry W4CSC) wrote:

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 09:29:20 -0500, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

It was probably GTO-15. I would hope that who ever went to the trouble
of adding the standoffs would know the difference. GTO is hard to tell
from RG59 from a distance. Neon sign suppliers even have it in
decorator colors.

What the hell is GTO-15, some West Marine $20/ft trick? This isn't a
neon sign with 40KV of 60 Hz on it....IT'S RF! All the insulation in
the world isn't going stop the RF from leaking out, like it's 'spozed
ta. Lionheart's tuner is hooked to its backstay with a stainless
strap in a gentle curve held on with a stainless hose clamp.

Now that we got the damned steel cable holdin' the boom up replaced
with something that DOESN'T suck off the HF signal into the mainmast,
it works much better......well, at least until the sun exploded wiping
out the ionosphere....

73 DE W4CSC

NNNN

AR


It isn't the RF leaking out that GTO-15 is used for.....

Real Marine Radiomen use PhospherBronze Antenna Wire and GTO-15
as short jumpers where human contact is possible.......

GTO-15 is, highly insulated stranded copper wire, used to connect
antenna tuners to antennas in the marine enviorment. It has 15000V
insulation to prevent flashovers and arc's to ground, from the high
voltage companents of the voltage feed longwire antennas. The 1"
insulators are designed to move the RF antenna away from the Grounded
Backstay and reduce the RF coupling between these two components.
1" isn't enough to really do the job. 6" would be much better considering
the length of the two components, and their parallel coupling.

GTO-15 is fancy sparkplug wire....

Bruce in alaska
--
add a 2 before @

I guess you must have forgotten about your numerous posts
a long time ago (1 year +) where you expoused the use of
GTO-15 when feeding your entire rig. Must have been a
senior moment.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 09:29:20 -0500, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

It was probably GTO-15. I would hope that who ever went to the trouble
of adding the standoffs would know the difference. GTO is hard to tell
from RG59 from a distance. Neon sign suppliers even have it in
decorator colors.

What the hell is GTO-15, some West Marine $20/ft trick? This isn't a
neon sign with 40KV of 60 Hz on it....IT'S RF! All the insulation in
the world isn't going stop the RF from leaking out, like it's 'spozed
ta. Lionheart's tuner is hooked to its backstay with a stainless
strap in a gentle curve held on with a stainless hose clamp.

Now that we got the damned steel cable holdin' the boom up replaced
with something that DOESN'T suck off the HF signal into the mainmast,
it works much better......well, at least until the sun exploded wiping
out the ionosphere....

73 DE W4CSC

NNNN

AR

Doug,

Holding those of us on the senior circuit to what we said in the past is
simply not fare.

Regards, Ron (I think?)

Wasn't me. I never heard of GTO-15 before.....??????


On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 23:24:08 -0500, "Doug Dotson"
wrote:

I guess you must have forgotten about your numerous posts
a long time ago (1 year +) where you expoused the use of
GTO-15 when feeding your entire rig. Must have been a
senior moment.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 09:29:20 -0500, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

It was probably GTO-15. I would hope that who ever went to the trouble
of adding the standoffs would know the difference. GTO is hard to tell
from RG59 from a distance. Neon sign suppliers even have it in
decorator colors.

What the hell is GTO-15, some West Marine $20/ft trick? This isn't a
neon sign with 40KV of 60 Hz on it....IT'S RF! All the insulation in
the world isn't going stop the RF from leaking out, like it's 'spozed
ta. Lionheart's tuner is hooked to its backstay with a stainless
strap in a gentle curve held on with a stainless hose clamp.

Now that we got the damned steel cable holdin' the boom up replaced
with something that DOESN'T suck off the HF signal into the mainmast,
it works much better......well, at least until the sun exploded wiping
out the ionosphere....

73 DE W4CSC

NNNN

AR





Larry W4CSC

"Very funny, Scotty! Now, BEAM ME MY CLOTHES! KIRK OUT!"

Larry W4CSC wrote:

Wasn't me. I never heard of GTO-15 before.....??????


On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 23:24:08 -0500, "Doug Dotson"
wrote:

I guess you must have forgotten about your numerous posts
a long time ago (1 year +) where you expoused the use of
GTO-15 when feeding your entire rig. Must have been a
senior moment.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 09:29:20 -0500, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

It was probably GTO-15. I would hope that who ever went to the trouble
of adding the standoffs would know the difference. GTO is hard to tell
from RG59 from a distance. Neon sign suppliers even have it in
decorator colors.

What the hell is GTO-15, some West Marine $20/ft trick? This isn't a
neon sign with 40KV of 60 Hz on it....IT'S RF! All the insulation in
the world isn't going stop the RF from leaking out, like it's 'spozed
ta. Lionheart's tuner is hooked to its backstay with a stainless
strap in a gentle curve held on with a stainless hose clamp.

Now that we got the damned steel cable holdin' the boom up replaced
with something that DOESN'T suck off the HF signal into the mainmast,
it works much better......well, at least until the sun exploded wiping
out the ionosphere....

73 DE W4CSC

NNNN

AR





Larry W4CSC

"Very funny, Scotty! Now, BEAM ME MY CLOTHES! KIRK OUT!"


You'll find a lot of GTO-15 at neon sign shops. It's heavy voltage cable.

--
Email sent to is never read.

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
Wasn't me. I never heard of GTO-15 before.....??????

Must have been a pre-senior moment.

ta. Lionheart's tuner is hooked to its backstay with a stainless
strap in a gentle curve held on with a stainless hose clamp.

I thought you were feeding your entire rig as an antenna?

Now that we got the damned steel cable holdin' the boom ...

We sailors call that a topping lift

73 DE W4CSC

NNNN

AR





Larry W4CSC

"Very funny, Scotty! Now, BEAM ME MY CLOTHES! KIRK OUT!"