My station has been working great for quite some time now. Both the Anytone Q5N2 and Radioddity QT-60 Pro are great, as is the Carl Built 200HD, as is (was) both the M104C and the V58. SWR is nearly flat on both.
Then recently I noticed I was just not able to make the contacts on the beam I used to do with no issues. Hmmm, thought I. So I took a listen to my QT-60 signal on the Q5N2 and it sound like crap but only on the beam and only when the 200HD is turned on. Same happened when transmitting on the Q5N2 and listening on the QT-60. But everything was perfect into the dummy load too.
It has all the earmarks of an RF feedback problem on the beam. But all of the bonding and grounding is still in place. The Palomar Engineering chokes are still installed. Swapping patch cables and bypassing antenna/radio switches did not help.
To me that left the coax. This spring we had an issue with the fekkin squirrels chewing through a brand new garden hose when my daughter did not reel it back in one night. I took that experience and traced the coax from both antennae where it comes down off the mast and over to the surge/lightning suppressors. Sure enough, the fekkin squirrels have been gnawing on the coax at multiple spots. One is much more damaged than the other, but both need to be replaced. Which means taking down the mast. This should still be doable by me with just a cordless drill given the pulley system in place. That's all it took for me to put it up. Oh yeah, I also need to disconnect all 7 guy wires too.
I am just hoping this will resolve the problem. I had a heck of a time getting things working well when I first setup this new station.
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