Maybe connect the wire with a zip tie instead of rapping it.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2012 6:00 PM
Subject: Re: About Tom's G5RV


>    Mike:
>
> This is a home brew G5RV, that does not contain a balun.
>
> And, I'm now thinking like you:  I may just have to totally replace the
> PL259 pig tail, and see if that makes a difference.
>
> Finally, there will be no more wrapping a leg of the antenna around any
> porch railing.  It was one of those situations where I knew better, but 
> the
> manager was trying to be nice and helpful.  Obviously, not a good decision
> on my part, although my biggest problem probably still is the apparent 
> short
> across the PL259.
>
> 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike Duke, K5XU" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2012 4:51 PM
> Subject: About Tom's G5RV
>
>
>> One of my thoughts has already been covered pretty well. wrapping a
>> leg of any antenna around anything, be it metal or otherwise, is a big
>> no-no. When you do that, you are unbalancing, and thus un-tuning the
>> antenna. If whatever it is wrapped around is an insulator, even one or
>> two turns will mean that you have added a loading coil to that side of
>> the antenna, thereby changing the effective length of that leg.
>>
>> So, get that coil out of there.
>>
>> Now, as for the shorted condition, does your G5RV contain a balun? I
>> think you said earlier that it does not. If that is the case, then the
>> suspect is the point where the ladder line is connected to the coax
>> pigtail. The only way to fix that is to cut that pigtail off, and
>> install a new one, or attach the feedline directly at that point,
>> eliminating the pigtail altogether.
>>
>> If, however, it does include a factory supplied balun, you need to
>> determine the type of balun. The problem is that certain baluns, such
>> as the traditional W2AU type baluns, will indeed show a DC short
>> across the coax. This short does not affect RF, but I have observed
>> more than one person pull their hair out thinking they had a problem
>> when they in fact did not.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Mike Duke, K5XU
>> American Council of Blind Radio Amateurs
>>