VHF SWR results...

[JoeWhite]

To the best of my knowledge, the antenna itself needs to be tuned. There is a set screw at the base of the antenna. It should be loosened and the whip portion pulled out or in then test the the transmission. Does your antenna have this adjusting set screw?

 

[BAD ORCA]

To the best of my knowledge, the antenna itself needs to be tuned. There is a set screw at the base of the antenna. It should be loosened and the whip portion pulled out or in then test the the transmission. Does your antenna have this adjusting set screw?

Thanks, no, no way to tune as far as i can tell from brochure and data sheet. The antenna base was one big sealed unit. I dont remember seeing anything like that and no mention of it in the sparse documentation.

 

[BAD ORCA]

Yeah, it is a bear to correctly solder the shield of LMR400 without damaging the foam dialectric. I only use crimp/solder connectors for this. Actually I solely use them now for everything because I've never produced a bad one, or had one go bad in use.

Do you have a dummy load? One is very useful for troubleshooting, as you can just walk the system backward until you find the problem.

One thing you can do is disconnect the coax from the radio, go up the mast and disconnect from the antenna and check for a short up there. If you have a break in the coax before going up the mast, then also check there.

If you need to replace the connector up the mast and are having problems soldering the center connector, there are center pin crimp connectors that don't require soldering. I'd choose the crimp/solder connector over that for more robustness, but it will work better than a bad solder job.

Mark

This is good to know. I may need to resort to one of those type of connectors at the masthead. I just hope I can pull enough slack cable to redo the end connector at the mast head. Thats my biggest worry. I dont think that LMR is going to budge. Its in a narrow conduit with another 12gauge wire going to the mast top. May need to lower the antenna and mount it a little lower.

 

[BAD ORCA]

Yeah, it is a bear to correctly solder the shield of LMR400 without damaging the foam dialectric. I only use crimp/solder connectors for this. Actually I solely use them now for everything because I've never produced a bad one, or had one go bad in use.

Do you have a dummy load? One is very useful for troubleshooting, as you can just walk the system backward until you find the problem.

One thing you can do is disconnect the coax from the radio, go up the mast and disconnect from the antenna and check for a short up there. If you have a break in the coax before going up the mast, then also check there.

If you need to replace the connector up the mast and are having problems soldering the center connector, there are center pin crimp connectors that don't require soldering. I'd choose the crimp/solder connector over that for more robustness, but it will work better than a bad solder job.

Mark

No, no dummy load. I should probably get one but dont really understand how they work yet.