I have used the Ameritron RCS-4 to switch antennas on my tower for probably
19-20 years with zero issues. I recently re-worked my single tower stack and
while we were doing that, replaced the RCS-4 switch components. My stack is
on QRZ so I won?t describe it here. In the past few days I have a S9+60dB
noise level on 40m that is pretty much constant. The noise on my SteppIR,
20m tune, starts off about the same but settles down to maybe S2 or less,
about what I would expect for conditions.
My 2 el 40m Yagi loads up fine and plays with a 1.1:1 SWR at the low end
which is where it is tuned. I am suspicious that I have a problem with the
relay box at the top of the tower that is causing the extreme noise. (makes
40m completely useless) I?ve swapped out shack consoles for the RCS-4 with a
spare. If I leave it on the 40m position for an hour or so, it will
eventually blow the 1A fuse in the console with the +60dB noise level.
I feed the tower with a buried ½? hard line to the tower and low loss LMR400
up to the switch. I also have VHF and UHF Yagi?s on the stack that are fed
with separate hard lines and nothing has changed with those feeds.
If anyone has any ideas I would sure appreciate the input. I am suspicious
that the relay may be hanging up and putting the AC switching voltage back
onto the feed line somehow.
I?ve had Pacific Gas and Electric, our power provider, out here and he took
a ?picture? of the noise and agreed it was horrible. They are still looking
for problems and have found a very noisy pole maybe a mile away. They have
been great with their response and support in looking for the problem. I?m
out of ideas! :-(
Regards,
Jon-K6EL
k6el@comcast.net
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