You may be right, John.

Although, here's something interesting.

I just worked S53A from Slovenia on 40 meter CW.  Got in on the second try,
through a pileup of several other callers.

So, the antenna definitely works.

Not sure I can do anything about the excess coax right now, but maybe a bit
later once I get back home and see what other shorter runs I might have.

Tom Behler: KB8TYJ


-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of John Miller
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2015 9:41 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Interesting Problem With Alpha Delta DXCC Antenna Out Here At
The RV Camp Site

 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
>
>
>
>