Beetle, always the stickler for perfection and that's why we love you, without you I'd still be saying swr's and 5/4th's and 3nd's.
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Moved my antenna up yesterday!
- Thread starter nat19
- Start date
Beetle, always the stickler for perfection and that's why we love you, without you I'd still be saying swr's and 5/4th's and 3nd's.
Sory about that.
Alright now what the heck is going on!! This morning I got up and checked my swr again, same radio meter and everything I didn't even turn my radio off last night. On channel 1 and 40 I have the same 1.5:1, but now on 20 I have a 1.1:1. Which is what the antenna was tuned for before I put it up. The only difference between today and yesterday is that it's raing, could that have anything to do with it? As long as it stays like it is I am happy.
I had the antenna assembled for about a year and a half at 16 feet to the feed point. Yesterday I raised it up to 40 feet. I just took the antenna down put it on the new mast and raised it up i didn't change anything that I know of. I am stumped too
No! Antennas can respond badly when they're raised up. If you tuned at 16' feet then it should be fine, but when you tune too close to the ground the Earth losses can make the antenna appear to match better than is really is. How the tune thing responds for you when low to the Earth really depends a lot on the stuff around the antenna.
Did you change your feed line when you raised it up?
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No I didn't change my feed line. Did you read my previous post about what the swr is this morning, could someone explain that?
After I posted above, I noticed your new info about the rain.
The V58 has an exposed SO239 that is vertically positioned at the antenna feed point. These type connectors are not water tight and can allow water to get into the feed line. Over time this is not good for the copper shield inside the coax and it may also change the apparent match of the antenna temporally until you start to experience increased line losses.
This may go away in a day or two if water is getting into your feed line. The only real way to check is to remove the feed line and hang it upside down and see if water comes out. If you wait too long to check you may not find water however, and then you won't know for sure. If your antenna is high then you have to invert the coax all the way or do the check at the radio end of the line. I have seen feed line situations where the water ran out of the radio or an inline meter after a rain.
Again, did you change your feed line when you raised the antenna?
The V58 has an exposed SO239 that is vertically positioned at the antenna feed point. These type connectors are not water tight and can allow water to get into the feed line. Over time this is not good for the copper shield inside the coax and it may also change the apparent match of the antenna temporally until you start to experience increased line losses.
This may go away in a day or two if water is getting into your feed line. The only real way to check is to remove the feed line and hang it upside down and see if water comes out. If you wait too long to check you may not find water however, and then you won't know for sure. If your antenna is high then you have to invert the coax all the way or do the check at the radio end of the line. I have seen feed line situations where the water ran out of the radio or an inline meter after a rain.
Again, did you change your feed line when you raised the antenna?
No I didn't change my feedline. I hope the swr stays like it is, but maybe the rain has something to do with it. I want to thank you for the help. I don't have time to check my coax right now but if I get time I will post some pics of the antenna. Whenever it quits raining and drys out I will check my swr again and see if it's the same.
Just checked my swr. 1.1:1 on channel 1, 1.8:1 on 20, and 1.9:1 on channel 40. Why the heck is it changing so much????? I am so confused what is the problem? Its only been a couple a hours since it was pefect now it's messed up again.
Check your connectors also, there may be a bad solder joint where the ground is swinging. That said however, I would guess that condition would be worse than 1.9:1 unless your meter will not read much worse than about 2.0:1 SWR.
You know I have a maco 5/8 and it has been great for like 10 years. I do know what you are saying as mine changes slightly when it rains, not enough to worry though. I did use silicon sealant and put a big glob on the top of the connector where the copper wire goes into it. I sealed it real good in fact over kill but that is the way I do things lol. Then seal the connector all around the coax and connector where it screws together.
I would make sure there is no water in the coax as Marconi said to then seal all as I said.
I would make sure there is no water in the coax as Marconi said to then seal all as I said.
I think I will try the sealant as soon as time permits to take my antenna back down. Hopefully this will fix the problem as it is a great antenna other than the swr changing problem.
Airplane, if the coax connects from the bottom of an SO239 I don't recommend sealing the coax and the connector unless you use something that removes easily. You loose the utility of the connector even if there is a slim chance that water can get inside in that position. Seal all you want on the top of the SO239 connector, but leave the working parts of the connectors free. A friend of mine used the tar based tape that came with his JoGunn antenna and when he removed the tape he found water and rust and the feed line had water all the way back to the radio.
I use a product that does not harden and goes inside the connector. It sheds water when the fitting is full of "STUF" a non corrosive silicone paste. Do a search for Stuf @ AES Supply.
I use a product that does not harden and goes inside the connector. It sheds water when the fitting is full of "STUF" a non corrosive silicone paste. Do a search for Stuf @ AES Supply.
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Looks to me to be what has happened to me before, either a loose connection in the antenna components, or there is a lot of CMC with the coax. Some antennas can be greatly affected by coax movement in some circumstances. Raising the antenna led to movement of the coax. I may have overlooked something, but I believe the very first thing to be done is make a choke of 5 - 6 wraps of coax around a 4" - 4.25" form such as a piece of PVC, or anything non-conductive, as close to the coax connector on the antenna as you can get it. Do not allow the choke to touch the metal mast. This should isolate the antenna from the coax in terms of what is actually radiating RF. Provided there is no water in your coax as has been suggested you should check for, the readings for SWR ought to be what is going on with the antenna and not both the antenna and the coax. You should then be able to adjust for proper SWR and it stay put.
I have gotten what seemed an excellent SWR without a choke in line only to hVE disastrous SWR when I put the choke in place.
Only a suggestion.
I have gotten what seemed an excellent SWR without a choke in line only to hVE disastrous SWR when I put the choke in place.
Only a suggestion.
Ok the swr has finally stayed put for a few days now, and it is higher on channel 1 than 40. This weekend I am going to take my antenna down and lenghten it to adjust the swr. Also going to seal the connecter, and hopefully this will fix the problem. I will let you guys know how it goes.
the overall length of this antenna is not critical!however 238 inches should be about perfect length for factory specs.you can adjust the length all week long at be disappointed if your not moving the tap point!the tap point will determine where your dip is and is very easy to move.i have owned one of these antennas for a few years now and ALL i repeat ALL change in the rain.you can silicon it but probably wont do much,i had a rubber boot over mine and sealed all the elements and still did not make much difference.TAP POINT IS KEY.good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Yea, tap point is the final adjustment to get ot right on. I tuned mine on 40 using the length to get the best swr and then used the tap for the fine tuning. I set mine to ch40 because I use mine on 10 meter as well as 11.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.