Best Way to Attach GTO-15 Cable to Backstay Insulator

[IOPSailor]

I'm replacing the antenna cable from my antenna tuner to the backstay insulator for my SSB. The current setup has the antenna cable connected to the insulator with a simple SS hose clamp making he bond between the wire strand and the insulator. While the system seems to work fine, I was wondering if there was a better way to connect the antenna cable to the insulator.

Thanks,
Bob Menches
Southport NC
Catalina 380

[Suijin]

First of all I hope the cable is fastened to the wire above the insulator and not the insulator itself unless you have some special insulator.

I’ve used two hose clamps to fasten the wire to the back stay (rod in my case) and then wrapped well with rescue tape. Has worked fine.

Another option is a wire or “bulldog” clamp. Make sure you get a SS one.

I prefer the hose clamps as it gives me more contact area and is lower profile.

Wire clamp:

[IOPSailor]

My wire is attached to the top of the insulator.

[Paul Elliott]

I've used a hose clamp and rescue tape. It holds up quite well. Instead of clamping the bare wire directly to the backstay, I crimped a wire lug to the GTO wire (one of the lugs with the glue-filled heat-shrink), and clamp the lug. This makes it less likely that water will wick between the insulation and wire.

[IOPSailor]

Here’s my current setup in the attached photo.

[john2445]

The proper way is a Betts split bolt fastened above the insulator.
https://www.alliedelec.com/thomas-be...iABEgL9RvD_BwE

[Chuck Hawley]

Someone is bound to mention that you're better off not taping or tie-wrapping the GTO to the lower portion of the backstay. Use stand-offs, perhaps 3-4" long, to separate them. One way is to take a small piece of tubing and use a very long wire tie to go from the backstay, through the tubing, to the GTO, back through the tubing, and then cinch at the backstay.

Chuck

[Saltyhog]

How about just eliminating the lower insulator? Attach GTO to the back stay below deck. Make sure no one grabs back stay while transmitting. I believe this is a simpler and more elegant solution.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by john2445

The proper way is a Betts split bolt fastened above the insulator.

https://www.alliedelec.com/thomas-be...iABEgL9RvD_BwE

I have one of those but it’s either copper or bronze, never bothered to check. I’ve never seen them in stainless. My concern was galvanic corrosion although stainless and copper are relatively safe together.

[Ambler]

Originally Posted by Saltyhog

How about just eliminating the lower insulator? Attach GTO to the back stay below deck. Make sure no one grabs back stay while transmitting. I believe this is a simpler and more elegant solution.

I had never thought of that option. I assume you have a fibreglass or wooden boat. How does your transmission perform in a following sea when the deck is wet?
I think the safest option is to install an insulator above head height, such as the Sta-Lok one which has the horizontal drip grooves to shed splashes of water.

[a64pilot]

Based on the Gentleman’s advice at Dockside radio, I drilled and tapped one of the cable clamps as linked to for #10 screw and then of course use a terminal eye. Once installed, it seems that liquid electrical tape does a good job of keeping the corrosion at bay.

It’s corrosion that will I believe impair your connection and therefore signal.

You put the clamp on the wire between the insulators of course

[Dougtiff]

This set up has always been a bone of contention for me, all the different Rubegoldberg lash-ups, remember talking to a rep for High mod at a boat show year,s ago, when they first came out with there product,s as the product,s are a piece of jewelry, why couldn't it have a lug designed into it, to accept the ant. wire. For myself, after talking to a marine electronics teck. [ex Navy], i went with the ant. wire attached to the chain plate below deck, and a wet deck didn't make any difference, plus it saved the high cost of one more insulator, along with no corrosion at the connection.

[a64pilot]

One who replaced my rigging pretty much refused to only use one insulator, his belief and it may be valid was that a wet Bimini could still conduct enough RF to burn you if you touched the Bimini and or its frame, and of course if your leaking enough RF into the wet Sunbrella to hurt someone, it has to hurt with transmission and reception.

[sailboatboy]

I have used the following to connect tuner to backstay.

1) silver soldered a 6 inch piece of refrigeration copper capillary to GTO cable. Note that the heat will burn back the dielectric insulator, so a larger piece of heat shrink will be needed.

2)clamp the copper tube to the back stay with 2 burndy split-bolt connectors.

https://www.galco.com/techdoc/burn/ks27_cp.pdf)

3) use heatshrink wrap-around , which can be wrapped around and shrunk as opposed to slipped over the backstay.

https://www.samm.com/userfiles/produ...20Heads%20and%

4) black tyraps ( and short pieces of black plastic tube) to stand off and spiral warp the lead to the insulator. ( black are UV stable)

[evm1024]

A friend who is a ham and an electrical engineer routed his lead to the lower chain plate. His thoughts were like ours that this gets rid of 1 insulator and makes for an internal connection to the backstay.

What he observed during a 2 year Mexico cruise was that the salt crystals that ended up on his transom created a path to ground for RF from the backstay. He noted burn marks on his transom.

I do not know how severe the burns were but he did end up putting in a lower insulator.

FWIW