VHF antenna?

[GSPHunter]

Hey Guys,

I was curious, can you paint a vhf antenna? Will it mess with the transmisson or reception? Will paint even stick well enough to the antenna?

I have a black boat and was thinkin of painting my new white 8' whip antenna to match my boat. I know you can buy a few of them in black but i was hopin to save a few bucks and just paint it if possible. I thought about tryin to use the krylon plastic paint that is made for plastic patio furniture. Any ideas or info would be appreciated!!!

Thanks,

Jeremy

[Bucket-Back]

I have sealed white ones with clear polyurethane to keep the fibers from poking out,don't think it hurt anything,but I'm not an electrican .

[ih772]

Yes you can paint it, as long as the paint isn't metallic or has a lot of carbon content like some black paints do.

[Lindsey]

Another option is to jacket the antenna with a length of black heat shrink tubing

[GSPHunter]

Thanks guys!

I never thought of the shrink tubing. Where can you buy 8 feet of tubing? Will the tubing shrink down enough on the tapered tip? I know shrink tubing does shrink some but usually there is a limit to how much it will shrink.

I would just like to spray paint it if possible, but i don't want to mess up the transmission and reception of the antenna in the process. I would be painting it black, so if the carbon thing is an issue with the paint than maybe i'm just better off leavin things as they are.

Thanks for the input guys, i will keep searchin!

Jeremy:D

[Lindsey]

I'm not sure where you would buy heat shrink tube locally. I buy it in 3' lengths at radio swaps. You might call some of the electrical contractor supply houses.
Try a web search for shrink tube. I found several web businesses that sell heat shrink by the foot, up to several hundred continuous length. They offer several different plastics and shrink ratios from 2:1 to 6:1 in a rainbow of colors. Here is one that I found http://cableorganizer.com/heat-shrink/ I've never dealt with this business but they appear to have a good selection.
Good luck.

[GSPHunter]

Lindsey,

Thanks a lot for the website. I am going to give them a call and tell them what i want to do. Hopefully i can get one piece that will shrink around the whole thing. The tip is quite a bit smaller than the base obviously, so hopefully the tubing will fit snuggly along the whole length once shrunk down.

Thanks again Lindsey!!:D

Jeremy