SOLARCON IMAX 2000 RESULTS! "FINALLY"
Hello LC,
Ya know, I think I will leave the Delrin off for now. As you said, it is debatable.
I personally don't think it will matter much in my application. But in the spring time I may try it.
As for the transformer, Sorry, but I forgot to inform everyone that there is no transformer in my back yard. It is just a Cable television service box. Quite large actually as AT&T and Comcast both use it to hook & unhook people to & from their services.
That brings me back to the theory of the neighbor woman having some kind of house security system. In which leads me to finally reveal all my results on my IMAX 2000 for everyone.
Well, I'm sorry to inform everyone that all my hard work has just about amounted to a hill of beans. The RF Choke Balun, from what I can tell has not changed anything. I still get the same level of ground floor noise through a lot of channels. However, there are a few channels in the lower 30's or so that has only .5 db of ground floor noise, as compared to channel 6 which has a total of 2.5 to 3.0 db's of floor noise.
However my friends, I have GAINED TWO FULL WATTS on the TX!
Now my radio is tweaked. So I'm not going to say how many watts I push, but there has been a definite increase of 2 full watts! and in my case, that is a huge improvement. But that was all the improvement I got.
I was able to pull in B.C. Canada today, but the skip was rolling at 2pm or earlier today in spite of the cloudy weather.
Sorry guys, but the home made Balun Choke was a Joke. But hey, it may work for someone else in a different scenario, but for me it was zilch. But I'm leaving it up there anyways for what it's worth.
OK, moving right along, so I'm happy to say here that the bigger LMR-400 coax (in my setup & situation) has actually given me two more full watts of TX power!
I'm a firm believer that the thicker & more braid & insulation, bigger core wire, etc, is always better. And it has given me two more watts on the TX.
Now if I ever get my ham license and a more powerful radio, I may be able to tell you without a doubt if there was any other kind of a difference or not. But right now I cannot except the wattage being greater on the TX
As for the GPK, the so called (Ground Plane Kit), I can tell you right now, it is a piece of cow pie. A total & huge waste of hard earned cash. It don't do a D_mn thing as far as I'm concerned. As I heard another person say on here, & I will agree with him, the bracket is a flimsy piece of crap along with the rest of the kit, radials and all is CRAP! I wished I never bought it.
Funny eh? how I can attest to all the zeroes. I for one was pretty upset knowing that all my efforts did not amount to anything substantial. Has anyone else come up with Zero? Nada? Zilch? but just a few hundred bucks for nothing?
Now I'm not saying everyone has found no results, But I have not seen any kind of improvement except the two watt gain on TX.
After all, my Imax is a cool 60' total height in the air so I probably did not really need much anyways.
As for that Light sabre sound coming through my radio, I still believe it is the old woman next door with some kind of house security system or a car alarm down the block. As I was saying, She is definitely the type of person to have a house alarm as she is very snoopy, and nosy, living on her own, etc...
So, I'm back to where I started. I even have the 60 Hz noise still, but it has diminished some. That is the only positive result I have been given. The only thing I am going to do, is adjust my SWR and try to bring it down from 1.4 to 1.1. That will be a miracle in itself. The big lake is Lake Michigan. Part of the Great Lakes. That picture in my profile is in Zion, IL just 45 miles or so north of Chicago.
I'm in the very north east part of Illinois. My house is about 6 miles from that picture due west in Zion. The building in the background is the old Com Ed Zion Nuclear plant. The spent fuel rods have been cooling down now for about 15 to 20 yrs now. They closed it down due to the foundation getting old. And to prevent a Nuclear fall-out from a possible disaster.
So there you have it, the truth & nothing but the truth and my honest results. Check out my pics on my profile, my antenna, the home brew Balun Choke, the GPK, etc. I have done the best that I can do in workmanship. Perhaps in the spring time I can continue my quest for better results, quieter floor noise, better TX & RX, etc, etc....
Thank you everyone for all your help. And a big TY TO LC for being so patient & dedicated to my problems. Being there for support & being a friend.
And that alone my friends, is what it is all about.
Thank you.
James
