How to connect antenna base to powder-coated steel?

Antenna with pigtail:
http://www.data-alliance.net/-strse-311/Antenna-5GHz-5.8GHz-802.11a/Detail.bok



That's a Yagi, that won't need RF-proof grounding. We only have a rubber
duck antenna, max allowed per FCC is 2dBi, plus no more space. This
needs (somewhat of) a ground plane, else the coax inside would become
part of the antenna and pick up stuff.

I only showed the antenna to display a pigtail.

So this box is going to be horizontal to act as a ground plane? I don't
know. Most places, the rail falls vertically. Generally a
rectangular box outdoors would be as vertical as possible to help it
drain. If the box is vertical, it isn't much of a ground plane.

I sure hope you are nicer to your dog than to people here.

--
Regards, Joerg

Gents,

Ran into a wee snag during a design. The metal enclosure is plain steel
that is powder-coated. The guys at the metal shop said that they cannot
provide a nice connection surface for a bulkhead connector like this:

http://www.l-com.com/item.aspx?id=5295

I was hoping they could provide a masked nickel-plated area but ...
nope. They can only provide a threaded stud like those safety ground
ones. Not so cool at several GHz. Ok, we could make a wide shunt strip
for that but that's yet another custom BOM item. Corrosion is also a
major concern here since this gets deployed in coastal regions. So
straight bolting onto bare steel is out.

Anyone know of a clever way to handle this? If someone knows of a
cheaper bulkhead SMA feedthrough connector that would also be nice. Four
bucks is a bit steep.

On Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:18:25 -0800, Joerg <invalid_at_invalid.invalid> wrote:

Gents,

Ran into a wee snag during a design. The metal enclosure is plain steel
that is powder-coated. The guys at the metal shop said that they cannot
provide a nice connection surface for a bulkhead connector like this:

http://www.l-com.com/item.aspx?id=5295

I was hoping they could provide a masked nickel-plated area but ...
nope. They can only provide a threaded stud like those safety ground
ones. Not so cool at several GHz. Ok, we could make a wide shunt strip
for that but that's yet another custom BOM item. Corrosion is also a
major concern here since this gets deployed in coastal regions. So
straight bolting onto bare steel is out.

Anyone know of a clever way to handle this? If someone knows of a
cheaper bulkhead SMA feedthrough connector that would also be nice. Four
bucks is a bit steep.

Is it powder coated both inside and out? Gasket on the outside, bare
metal (regalvanized) on the inside, a little grease around the nut on the
inside. Should be just fine.

On Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:53:37 -0800, Joerg <invalid_at_invalid.invalid
wrote:


I sure hope you are nicer to your dog than to people here.

--
Regards, Joerg

I have doubts even about that claim, coming from you.

Shithead, yes. "people", no.

Gents,

Ran into a wee snag during a design. The metal enclosure is plain steel
that is powder-coated. The guys at the metal shop said that they cannot
provide a nice connection surface for a bulkhead connector like this:

http://www.l-com.com/item.aspx?id=5295

I was hoping they could provide a masked nickel-plated area but ...
nope. They can only provide a threaded stud like those safety ground
ones. Not so cool at several GHz. Ok, we could make a wide shunt strip
for that but that's yet another custom BOM item. Corrosion is also a
major concern here since this gets deployed in coastal regions. So
straight bolting onto bare steel is out.

Anyone know of a clever way to handle this? If someone knows of a
cheaper bulkhead SMA feedthrough connector that would also be nice. Four
bucks is a bit steep.

My Name Is Tzu How Do You Do wrote:

You must have failed at it, since you are not still doing it.

Ever heard that companies can be _profitably_ sold?

Do you live in a cave?

Joerg wrote:
My Name Is Tzu How Do You Do wrote:
You must have failed at it, since you are not still doing it.
Ever heard that companies can be _profitably_ sold?

Do you live in a cave? :-)


Didn't you see him in those Geico commercials?

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
Joerg wrote:
My Name Is Tzu How Do You Do wrote:
You must have failed at it, since you are not still doing it.
Ever heard that companies can be _profitably_ sold?

Do you live in a cave? :-)


Didn't you see him in those Geico commercials?


No, that one has an Australian accent and does not change the name all
the time

Joerg wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
Joerg wrote:
My Name Is Tzu How Do You Do wrote:
You must have failed at it, since you are not still doing it.
Ever heard that companies can be _profitably_ sold?

Do you live in a cave? :-)

Didn't you see him in those Geico commercials?

No, that one has an Australian accent and does not change the name all
the time :-)


The Geico caveman never used a name in the commercials.