Hi all..this is probably the best place to air this one....I took down a KLM
4 el 40m linear-loaded antenna today to repair the reflector that had been
damaged in last winter's ice storm...when I got it to the ground I noticed
that the aluminum strapping that is used to feed the front driven element to
the rear driven element showed signs of some sort of heating in the middle
12 inches...before some one says I am using too much power...the antenna has
never been driven with more than 1500 watts...I replaced the original KLM
4:1 balun with one made of coax a few years ago...has anyone else seen the
heating in the crossover strap as I am seeing? This has really gotten my
curiosity up to say the least...we have problems here with buzzards sitting
on the antennas from time to time, but I didn't find one dead at the base of
the tower...unless of course his buddies carried him off after he was
sufficiently warmed up!
So warm buzzard? Heat from unknown source? Some sort of chemical reaction?
Could the phasing straps have shorted out and caused the heating??
I await the replies..de Rick NQ4I
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