Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Antenna Woe

I upgraded the AA6E antenna installation just before SuperStorm Sandy.  We pinned the beam to the mast and the mast to the rotator to prevent the slippage that occurred in Irene.  We also put up a Joel Hallas W1ZR style dual band skeleton sleeve-coupled dipole for 80 and 30 M, made from 450 ohm ladder line. (QST May and Oct 2011) All seemed well after Sandy's 60+ mph winds.

I haven't been on the air much since Sandy, while there have been a few biggish wind events and some snow and freezing.  When I went to work 80 and 30 on SKN on New Year's, I found SWRs of 7 and 8 to one.  The antenna is defunct.  But why?  I took photos from the ground, and no problem is yet visible.  (It is most likely an open or a short in the connection to the balun.)

The tower is hard for me to access (20 ft above a 20 ft roof), and I'd like to have a better idea of what has gone wrong before I bring in the work crew.








1 comment:

Jeff Davis, KE9V said...

I feel your pain Martin. Newly installed CF-Zepp went down in the day after Christmas blizzard here and I'm QRT until we hit at least 32F again.

I hope you find your problem quickly and repairs can be made simply.

73, Jeff KE9V