Leave it to a Psychologist to come up with a great suggestion like that!
I think that's what you are, right?
If not, I apologize for the error.
I'm just used to giving Psychologists a hard time at my University, since
I'm a Sociologist.
Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of howard kaufman
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2015 2:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Interesting Problem With Alpha Delta DXCC Antenna Out Here At
The RV Camp Site
If it were me, I'd tie up the Grandchildren with the coax, and then I'd have
time to think.
-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Steve Forst
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2015 12:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Interesting Problem With Alpha Delta DXCC Antenna Out Here At
The RV Camp Site
Well he is out at the RV and apparently doesn't have things needed to do the
job, but he does seem to have extra coax and barrel connectors.
So going longer may be his only option at this time.
If it were me, I would start with swr curves on all the bands and see
just what is going on. I know there are lists online for good and
bad coax lengths. Most of us just make it long enough to go from point A to
point B, but sometimes a bad length can give problems.
Even though his antenna tunes via the autotuner, it should be resonant on
some big chunks of it's bands of operation and really shouldn't need the
tuner.
73, Steve KW3A
On 6/26/2015 12:32 PM, John Miller wrote:
> I really think less coax is the way to go. I don't have any more than
> a foot or so extra for any of my runs. Even at the EOC I volunteer in,
> we had one radio that didn't work as well as it should. I found a huge
> coil of coax behind the desk, probably a 50 foot run where 10 would
> have been plenty. I cut it to about that 10 feet, put a new connector
> on it and was told that sector's setup never sounded so good. I told
> them I understood why after that. I had a similar problem to yours
> when I first got started in ham radio doing the same thing, again get
> it to the right length, the problem went away. I've seen and heard of
> it
other places as well.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Forst" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, June 26, 2015 9:34 AM
> Subject: Re: Interesting Problem With Alpha Delta DXCC Antenna Out
> Here At The RV Camp Site
>
>
>> Tom,
>>
>> Just press the "5" key on the number pad to cycle through the meter
>> settings: power, swr, alc. Maybe not in that order, but it should be
>> easy for her to figure out.
>>
>> Maybe adding more coax would make the tuner happy, but more coax means
>> less power getting to the antenna. Probably not a big deal, but you
>> also run the risk of gaining one band and losing another.
>>
>> Nice you could work into Europe last night on 40.
>>
>> Good luck, Steve KW3A
>>
>> On 6/25/2015 10:26 PM, Tom Behler wrote:
>>> Steve:
>>>
>>> In the rush to get out here today, I forgot to grab my TW1, so don't
>>> know for sure about SWR.
>>>
>>> What I do know is that the antenna does not tune across the 20-meter
>>> band via the TS480 internal auto tuner.
>>>
>>> I think the auto-tuner in the TS480 is a bit more unforgiving than
>>> the one in the TS590, but memory tells me that the threshhold for
>>> the TS480 tuner is approximately 3 to 1.
>>>
>>> If I can figure out how to do it, I may have my XYL look at the
>>> visual SWR meter in the TS480 on 20 meters within the next day or
>>> so.
>>>
>>> If not, 20 meters will be off limits for me, at least for Field Day.
>>>
>>> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: For blind ham radio operators
>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>> On Behalf Of Steve Forst
>>> Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2015 10:03 PM
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: Interesting Problem With Alpha Delta DXCC Antenna Out
>>> Here At The RV Camp Site
>>>
>>> Tom,
>>>
>>> Have you checked SWR at the bottom, top, and middle of the band?
>>>
>>>
>>> I know it took a long time to get the antenna up. Did you install
>>> it in such a way that it can be lowered for adjustment if need be?
>>>
>>> 73, Steve KW3A
>>> On 6/25/2015 9:40 PM, John Miller wrote:
>>>> I'd bet it's the coil of extra coax. Any time I ever dealt with
>>>> a coil of extra coax, it's caused some sort of similar problem
>>>> unless it's the 10 turns at the feed point to the antenna some
>>>> antennas
like.
>>>> Other than that, I've seen more than one coil of extra coax, and
>>>> not once has it ever led to anything good..
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2015 9:16 PM
>>>> Subject: Interesting Problem With Alpha Delta DXCC Antenna Out Here
>>>> At The RV Camp Site
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Hello, again, all.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Well, my Alpha Delta DX CC antenna is finally up out here at the
>>>>> RV camp site.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> It is up a good 30 feet in the trees, with the center and ends
>>>>> being at about the same height.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I have done some preliminary testing of the antenna, and all looks
>>>>> good, with one exception.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Specifically, the antenna tunes with the TS480 internal auto-tuner
>>>>> across the 10, 15, and 40-meter bands. It even tunes across much
>>>>> of
>>>>> 80 meters, from about 3600 to about 3900 KHZ.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> However, I cannot get it to tune at all on 20 meters, once again,
>>>>> using the
>>>>> TS480 internal auto tuner. I even put my MFJ auto-tuner extender
>>>>> in line, with no luck.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> This is a bit disappointing to me, since 20 meters is one of my
>>>>> favorite field day operating bands.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> As I am scratching my head here to try to determine what might be
>>>>> going on, I have two theories. First, it has to be understood
>>>>> that I am limited to keeping the antenna within my lot space, and
>>>>> have to work with the available trees. This means that the legs
>>>>> of the antenna are probably only about at a 60-degree or so angle
>>>>> from the center. In other words, the antenna is kind of like a
>>>>> folded dipole in some ways. I wonder if this could be de-tuning
>>>>> the antenna on 20, although I'm not sure why it also would not bbe
>>>>> de-tuning it on the other bands I mentioned.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> My second theory has to do with my coax feed line. It turns out
>>>>> that I probably have about 40 extra feet of coax that I have
>>>>> coiled up underneath my station operating area. I wonder too if
>>>>> this might have something to do with the strange 20-meter behavior.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Obviously, I'm happy that the antenna is usable on 10, 15, 40, and
>>>>> 80, so I'm sure I'll have a good Field Day exxperience. But, the
>>>>> 20-meter problem does puzzle me.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Does anyone have any thoughts, or suggestions that I might try to
>>>>> get things working on 20 meters?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>
>
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