Finishing touches to the minimalist EFRW

Last weekend, when I put the little EFRW together, I searched the radio room for the assorted heatshrink tubing collection and came up with nothing. I’m sure it will turn up one of these days …

Twelve dollars and three days later, I had a new box of clear, glue-lined tubing, and I was ready for the final step: covering the 3 mm connectors I attached to the leads of the transformer.

Lighters leave smoke marks on the tubing, and can actually set it on fire. The hot wind of a heat gun can easily blow little bits of tubing around. These days, my preferred method of heat-shrinking employs the radiant heat of the electric stove in the kitchen.

Speaking of heat resistance, the next time I build one of these (and there will be a next one!), I think I will substitute silicone-covered wire for the PolyStealth that K6ARA includes in the kit. Nothing wrong with the PolyStealth, it’s good wire, but the insulation didn’t seem to like the heat of shrinking the tubing.

I am omitting a photograph of the cooktop glowing a dull red; and the actual procedure of shrinking requires two hands, so there are no pictures, and you will just have to use your imagination for this part.

I like to squish the tubing with long-nose pliers while it’s still hot, to be certain that the glue lining gets a good bond to the wire.

I always try for an inch or more over length when I’m cutting wire, it’s so much easier to deal with than accidentally cutting it a bit too short!

So an inch and a half too long on one end, two and a quarter over on the other; I will see if that is a problem when I tune it up in the field and trim as needed.

When I took the tape off of the wires to lay out the antenna they immediately tangled up, so I knew I would have to come up with something to wind them up on. I found a little thing that was meant to hold a pair of earbuds …

Thanks for visiting driftlessqrp!