We got the mount disassembled today before he had to go into work. There is residue everywhere, including on the coax. We are going to do a full replacement later this year, and by we I mean me.
I think the coax is 18' long, however it was installed and run before I had anything to do with it so I am not 100% sure. We will be putting a new one in, and I will have control over the length, not that that matters much as this analyzer can calibrate out any length of coax and I can create a custom calibration file for his car before the coax gets permanently mounted behind that plate again.
I agree that the trunk is a compromise location, but that is where he wants it and he won't budge on that, and it is his car. I did tell him that rf bonding the trunk to the rest of the vehicle would help and rf bonding the whole vehicle would help more. He is considering it.
I am in agreement with your thought on losses, and now I know the cause of them.
Unfortunately I have not had a chance to look at a VA1 directly. Looks like a descent analyzer on paper.
Actually, its not so bad. Think about when someone posts several specific frequencies and the results from an MFJ or other similar meter that actively gives you one frequency of information at a time, then put those along with all other nearby frequencies on a graph. I have used MFJ's in the past, but once you have used one of these a few times it is definitely easier to evaluate what is happening with antennas. You see patterns that you would normally miss with an MFJ one frequency at a time style meter.
Coax is part of the problem here, as is the rest of the mount. I'm still debating if I want to clean it all up and reuse it and seal it better or if I just want to go with a new mount for him. He isn't picky but isn't exactly rich either... He just wants something that will work and not fail on him in a few years.
The DB
