Metallic paint's effects on internal antennas

On the older Glasair kits like mine, it's covered with the dark gray
gelcoat that contains 2% carbon black for UV resistance. I wonder if
the carbon interferes with radio reception? I've read that cabon fiber
structures block signals, but how much carbon it takes to do that I
don't know. But for the Glasair folks to say the radios worked so much
better when the moved the antennas outside, makes me think some part
of the structure was blocking radio signals..

On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:29:38 -0400, "Peter Dohm"
wrote:


DuPont is an excellent source, and will also be able to point you to a
distributor for their aviation products.

The only thing that I remember about the radome paint/coating is that it was
very slightly conductive--even at the surface. But the bulkhead was another
matter, since the metal bulkhead was a pretty good barrier in its own right
and I believe that there was a fairly substantial energy absorbing blanket
ahead of the bulkhead for those old C-band Sperry radars. Purely as an
aside, I have no idea why they continued to only display 90 degrees of arc
long after larger and brighter displays could have easily provided a
reliable display of more than 200 degrees--since the only limitation would
have been blanketing by the engines and wing tips.

Peter
.