Tom, Better read some articles in QST that discuss SWR. Within limits, as long as your rig sees a decent match, you will have no noticeable degradation in signal. However, I think an external tuner will give you less insertion loss than what you'll experience in an internal tuner. Since the G5RV is by nature a compromise antenna, I'm not surprised that you are seeing a higher SWR than you might normally expect. Steve, K8SP ----- Original Message ----- From: "T Behler" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 10:05 PM Subject: Re: more G5RV stuff So, John, you're saying that I should feel safe in using the antenna, so long as I tune it with the rig's auto-tuner? What do the others think? I know the G5RV is a compromise antenna at best, so maybe the high-sounding SWR readings aren't a problem, as long at the auto-tuner can still make the radio happy. Am I correct here? 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Miller" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 9:45 PM Subject: Re: more G5RV stuff > Mine isn't much better, I'd say that's pretty typical. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "T Behler" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 9:09 PM > Subject: more G5RV stuff > > >> Hi, all. >> >> Can someone tell me what an acceptable SWR picture would be for a >> 102-foot >> G5RV antenna? >> >> I re-oriented my G5RV antenna today, by making the ladder-line run pretty >> much vertically from the antenna feed-point at the top of my 35-foot >> tower, >> to the coax that then goes into my shack from the base of the tower. I >> checked the connections between the ladder-line and the coax feedline, >> and >> they still seem to be good. >> >> My SWR's are a bit better, and the auto-tuners on both my IC746 and >> Kenwood >> TS480 now tune the antenna on 40 meters (which I couldn't say before), >> but >> the SWR's still seem quite high to me. >> >> On 40 meters, I get an SWR anywhere from about 5 to 1 down to about 4 to >> 1. >> >> The antenna has its best SWR readings on 20 meters, which you'd expect, >> but >> even here, I can't get the SWR to go much below about 1.8 to 1 in the >> center >> of the band. >> >> Again, at least now, the auto-tuners in both of my HF rigs will tune the >> antenna, but I'm wondering whether it's even safe or wise to use the >> antenna >> under these conditions. >> >> 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ >> > >