If it's any restitution, the Ameritron AL-80B I had arced between the plates of it's final caps also. I use the Hercules-2 now and love it. -- FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/tentecfaq.html Submissions: tentec@contesting.com Administrative requests: tentec-REQUEST@contesting.com Problems: w9tw@contesting.com Sponsored by: Akorn Access, Inc & KM9P