Tom Gardner wrote:
Why would conductive paint hurt it? It shouldn't change the wave length.
Assume nothing shorted with the paint.



If it's a fixed antenna like a J-pole then painting it with something
nonconductive would probably help in the long term.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com


RF current flow is confined primarily to the outer edge of a conductor
("skin effect"). So you can have the highest-conductivity material in
the world for the antenna, but if you use conductive paint your RF power
will be flowing through -- and being consumed by -- the paint.

So unless the paint has a higher bulk conductivity than the metal, use
nonconductive paint.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com