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somethings not right
Topic Started: Tuesday, 11. August 2009, 14:03 (1,952 Views)
Marsh Phantom
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26 Charlie Tango 112

i have continuity between my main wire and shroud wire on my coax going to my antenna.

now i know its not the lot i put up there as i tested it.

should i have continuity between my shroud and main wire when its attached to the antron 99??


also have continuity between the shroud and the main on the hf side of my swr meter, the vhf/uhf side is fine but just the hf side.

so up to ml and s tomorrow for that to be looked at and the radio for any hidden damage.

the main question is, should i be getting continuity between the two wires in my coax at the radio end, bearing in mind its connected to the antron
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Offplanet
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26 Charlie Tango 104

Mine is the same - there's some coils and components in the base of the Antron which probably give the reading you see on the meter.

If there was a problem, the SWR reading would be high or off-the-scale.

Cheers
Gary
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Marsh Phantom
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26 Charlie Tango 112

in a way thats good, as its not my coax lol so i dont have to climb about on the roof,

on the other hand its a fault with the icom/swr meter :doh: :headband:

trip to martin lynch tomorrow for me then
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Offplanet
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26 Charlie Tango 104

One of my SWR meters shows continuity on the antenna side - it works fine, so a reading across a capacitor or something showing up on the meter.

Have you something playing-up there Ed?

Cheers
Gary
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Marsh Phantom
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26 Charlie Tango 112

yer,

my icoms rx is very up and down, when someone is talking on ssb its going from 4 lbs then nothing then back again.

even the interferance i get that holds a steady 7 lbs on some frequencies is doing the same.

on my swr/power meter avair 601, with nothing conected im getting continity between the swr in and swr out, for example swr in (center connection) swr out (shroud, outer connector)

on the other set of connectors the vhf/uhf side this does not happen so surely thats not right
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Marsh Phantom
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26 Charlie Tango 112

any one esle got continuity on the radio end of the coax while its connected to their antron??

hmm just tried with the lincoln and getting the same thing with the rx, must be the antenna system somewhere.

thats with the swr meter not attached, so rig direct to antenna,
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Offplanet
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26 Charlie Tango 104

Is the SWR Ok, or does it vary? - also was it windy while it was doing it? Perhaps something in the A99 is a bit loose.

I would have thought that if the antenna or coax has a short, the SWR would be off-the-scale.

Does the SWR vary with the signal variation? Is there a way you can check the SWR at the antenna end of the coax?

I can see you taking a trip up the ladder again mate :o

Cheers
Gary
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Marsh Phantom
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26 Charlie Tango 112

the swr is fine mate, but i really should check it antenna end as its quite a long run of coax.

we did go up yesterday evening, unplugged the double s0259 socket checked there was no continuity on the coax running back into the house, all is well there,

dark started to set in so we rejoined and re amalgi taped and i ran it for about 3 hours last night and not one problem, so im going to do the same again run and test today.

it could be the double so259 as i have notice the connectors from ML and S are not the best quality, i now know why when i ordered 5 they sent 2 free

so like i said test today and fingers crossed
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Firetrap
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26CT100

Good luck Ed! :)

Let us know how it goes!

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VoG
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Marsh Phantom
Aug 11 2009, 06:35 PM
any one esle got continuity on the radio end of the coax while its connected to their antron??

YES ! (Loudly)

Whenever I make up an antenna lead, or a patch lead, I always put my trusty multimeter to it to check [a] that I HAVE continuity between the two ends and that I DON'T have continuity between the core and braid sides of the plug.

I forget to test one connection until I'd connected it to the Antron so did my usual test anyway and was horrified to see continuity between the braid and core side of the plug. Disconnected and took down, (assuming a bolixed job of fitting plug) tested again and the lead was fine. Reconnected and, yup, there's continuity again.

As Gary has said, there are weird and wonderful coils and whatnot in the base of an Antron, so somewhere along the line it IS cross-connected. But as the antenna works anyway and has a SWR of 1.3:1, I can only assume it is meant to be that way.



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Marsh Phantom
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26 Charlie Tango 112

well i have tried 3 rigs on the setup all with and without the swr meter and getting the same thing.

so im going to lower the antenna, disconnect the home built bits reconnect the coax and try with just the antenna to rig no balun, if i get the problem still, i guess moving the antron has done something to it.

if i dont then its my home built balun i will re test plugs etc,

the new built balun etc all plugs were tested before going up which makes me think it could be the original pl259 that was already on the antenna, and when it was moved maybe the coax was damaged,

so i think thursday afternoon weather permiting we will get the ladders out and try again.

no radio tonight for me lol watch the skip roll in

cheers guys
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VoG
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I really (Really!) suggest you simply disconnect the antenna-end of the cable from the bottom of the A99 then put the continuity meter onto both sides of the plug at the transceiver end. I'd be willing to bet that there's no continuity.

Then reconnect the antenna end to the Antron and test the two sides of the transceiver-end PL259 again: again I'd bet that there IS continuity.

I have two separate Antrons here, on separate masts, separate sides of the property, and they both do the same.


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Marsh Phantom
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26 Charlie Tango 112

im happy there should be continuity their when connected to the antron,

there is still a fault in my system somewhere, as my radio is recieving fine one second then its not then it is and so on.

like someone is temporarily disconnecting the braid and taking away the ground,

so maybe the antenna has a fault and as the wind is moving it around im loosing my ground.

i will get up and have a look tomorrow give it a good shake and see what happens, some is not right


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163CT112 - Near Brecon

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Marsh Phantom
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26 Charlie Tango 112

with the aid of some rather long window cleaning poles and me manning the radio while my bro pokes the 4 diferent connectors i have narrowed it down to.....

a pl259 going into the 1;1 balun the coax looks a little tight where its been taped to the pole and the balun has about 3/4inch stand off so possilbly the connection was not that great.

so i know what it is now for sure, just get the ladders out tomorrow as the weather is ment to be better and re do the plug
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110CT112 - West Coast
163CT112 - Near Brecon

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Offplanet
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26 Charlie Tango 104

If you've a Joey connection, I can't understand why the SWR is stable. Perhaps try it without the 1:1 balun in case that's playing tricks on the SWR meter reading somehow.

I just have the Ugly Balun on mine - that seemed to do the trick RFI-wise without needing anything else.

If the plugs prove Ok, perhaps try the setup in it's simplest form - coax plugged directly into the Antron, if that's Ok, install the Ugly Balun back inline and test again. If that's Ok, then suspect the 1:1 balun.

Still worth checking the SWR at the antenna end of the cable though mate.


Cheers
Gary
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Marsh Phantom
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26 Charlie Tango 112

im pretty sure its going to be the dodgy connector, as the fault is only every so often, i have not tested the swr when the fault is on going.

im going to test the swr at the antenna end as well tomorrow, radio side of the balun and antenna side to see what the diference is.

im pretty sure its just the plug thats at fault though. coax looks tight so may have broke its connection but its just touching and when the wind blows it pulls a bit more and connection is lost.

like i said the plugs aint the best in the world either, not what i expected from a ham radio shop

should be back in the game tommorow
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26CT112 - Kent, Herefordshire and mobile in between
110CT112 - West Coast
163CT112 - Near Brecon

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Offplanet
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26 Charlie Tango 104

It's a job to buy quality stuff like that these days - I've had some shocking troubles with PL259 patch cables (cost me the finals on one rig :@ ).

Let us know how you get on mate.

Cheers
Gary
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Offplanet
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26 Charlie Tango 104

Did you get it sorted in the end?

Cheers
Gary
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Marsh Phantom
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26 Charlie Tango 112

yer gary all is good now,

i didnt want to curse it by talking too soon so i thought i would leave it a day or two, all seems good now though.

might not be long till there is a beam addidtion to the roof, in the form of a skypper, but that is only on paper at the moment

the antron is as health as a antron can be though so its all good
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110CT112 - West Coast
163CT112 - Near Brecon

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VoG
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Did you make up an "Ugly Balun" afterwards Ed? And, if so, did you see any benefit from it?
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