Painting GPS Antenna?
Wink
I know this subject has been covered before but I just have to ask
if anyone has actually painted their antenna. I want to install it
inside the windshield of our boat so that I can remove it and use the
GPS in the car also. It works very well where I plan to mount it but
the white antenna puts a very distracting image reflection on the
windshield. If I painted it flat black it would greatly improve the
reflection problem but would it damage the sensitivity of the antenna?
If you did paint your antenna, what brand of paint did you use? The
spray paint cans I've seen don't say whether they contain any metal
substances in their composition, they just describe propellants.
Thanks for your help!
Gary
William P.N. Smith
>the white antenna puts a very distracting image reflection on the
>windshield. If I painted it flat black it would greatly improve the
>reflection problem but would it damage the sensitivity of the antenna?
If the paint had any carbon, metal, or other conductive/reflective
materials in it you'd probably need a new antenna. I know you can
test radome materials in a microwave to see if they are absorbers, but
I dunno about paints.
try asking the GPS antenna mfr.
--
William Smith wp...@compusmiths.com N1...@amsat.org
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com
Keith
Carbon black. It's not necessarily a conductor, but could act that way
in a high enough concentration. Have you thought about just covering it
with a piece of black construction paper or maybe dull finish plastic?
At least you could move them if they degraded reception. Also remember
that black will soak up a lot of heat, possibly causing an earlier
failure of the antenna.
Wink wrote:
>
> Hi,
> I know this subject has been covered before but I just have to ask
> if anyone has actually painted their antenna. I want to install it
> inside the windshield of our boat so that I can remove it and use the
> GPS in the car also. It works very well where I plan to mount it but
> the white antenna puts a very distracting image reflection on the
> windshield. If I painted it flat black it would greatly improve the
> reflection problem but would it damage the sensitivity of the antenna?
Larry W4CSC
NEVER paint the radome of ANY electronic equipment with ANY kind of
paint. It wasn't made to be painted.
Larry
mdp...@my-deja.com
Wink <wi...@rpa.net> wrote:
> Hi,
> I know this subject has been covered before but I just have to ask
> if anyone has actually painted their antenna. I want to install it
> inside the windshield of our boat so that I can remove it and use the
> GPS in the car also. It works very well where I plan to mount it but
> the white antenna puts a very distracting image reflection on the
> windshield. If I painted it flat black it would greatly improve the
> reflection problem but would it damage the sensitivity of the antenna?
> If you did paint your antenna, what brand of paint did you use? The
> spray paint cans I've seen don't say whether they contain any metal
> substances in their composition, they just describe propellants.
>
> Thanks for your help!
>
> Gary
>
>
This will allow you to choose the best color of fabric to reduce glare
and not impeading the performance of the antenna.
Later,
Mike
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Gull Watcher
reflectors sticking up in the way on my boat and just swab a few paint
strokes of latex here and there. And almost all USCG drug interdiction
radomes are painted on the tax funded "war on drugs".
Larry W4CSC <W4...@lostonthe.net> wrote in message
news:346DF5BA03FBCE72.6860A009...@lp.airnews.net...
> Paint is made of metal......reflects RF
>
> NEVER paint the radome of ANY electronic equipment with ANY kind of
> paint. It wasn't made to be painted.
>
> Larry
>
>
Larry W4CSC
<wh...@antipasta8765.com> wrote:
>If "paint reflects RF" then I'll forget about all those in-the-way radar
>reflectors sticking up in the way on my boat and just swab a few paint
>strokes of latex here and there. And almost all USCG drug interdiction
>radomes are painted on the tax funded "war on drugs".
>
Go aboard any Navy ship, CG ship, Civilian ship. Climb the mast to
the antenna and look at every piece of fiberglass they're pumping a
million watts through on every radar, TACAN, ILS, UHF, etc., etc., and
you'll see the words "DO NOT PAINT" on all of them.
Wonder for yourself why it says that. S/V "Morning Dew" proves CG
isn't too smart. Think they might have made another stupid mistake?
Larry W4CSC.....DO NOT PAINT radio antenna or radar parts, please?
Art
Not entirely true Larry. In 1970 as a lowly radarman 3rd I took part
in painting the mast and radar antennas on the destroyer I was assigned
to. The paint used was a special brew made just for the antennas.
These were the large rotating antennas and were not made of fiberglass.
I would not paint a gps antenna on a small boat but to say antenna's
are never painted is not exactly true.
Art
Larry W4CSC
That brew is not available at Boat/US. Only the taxpayers could
afford it....(c;
Larry....we can't have that special submarine paint that kills
everything behind the boat, either....
Greg Page
wrote:
>On Thu, 20 Apr 2000 03:48:11 GMT, "Gull Watcher"
><wh...@antipasta8765.com> wrote:
>
>>If "paint reflects RF" then I'll forget about all those in-the-way radar
>>reflectors sticking up in the way on my boat and just swab a few paint
>>strokes of latex here and there. And almost all USCG drug interdiction
>>radomes are painted on the tax funded "war on drugs".
>>
>Go aboard any Navy ship, CG ship, Civilian ship. Climb the mast to
>the antenna and look at every piece of fiberglass they're pumping a
>million watts through on every radar, TACAN, ILS, UHF, etc., etc., and
>you'll see the words "DO NOT PAINT" on all of them.
>
>Wonder for yourself why it says that. S/V "Morning Dew" proves CG
>isn't too smart. Think they might have made another stupid mistake?
>
>Larry W4CSC.....DO NOT PAINT radio antenna or radar parts, please?
You can get paint that won't effect radar and other RF signals, you
just won't likely find it at your local stores. "Most" paints made
these days, (even latex house paints) have metals in them (notice the
words Titanium white base on most cans?), which are the problem.
-Greg
>