[TenTec] OT: Openwire/Window Line and Bad Wx

[denton sprague]

I cut out a lot of the webbing in my 450 ohm feeders….decreases wet to dry tuning, plus it decreases the wind load and makes the ladder line a lot lighter. use good cutting shears or you gonna have a nice set of blisters!

On Aug 1, 2013, at 7:30 AM, Wade Staggs <tvman1954 at gmail.com> wrote:

> *After owning several Automatic Tuners, I have found the hard way that most
> of them just don't have the guts to do what I need. The MFJ-989C is the
> only High Power and Manual Tuner ever owned at this station. Not wanting to
> bad mouth Auto Tuners but, just my observation. The large Roller Inductor
> and Variable Caps of my Manual Tuner, give me a much broader tuning range
> and bandwidth. My 450 ohm feed line is several years old and I call the
> Tennessee Phone Net in the mornings sometimes. At 6:45 AM the Dew on the
> line causes me to need a re-tune every morning. My feed line is in the
> shadow of the house. Looking out the back window we have found that 5 to 7
> minutes after the weak morning sun hits the wire, I can go back to my pre
> set values.... Someone mentioned that trimming all the plastic possible
> from the window line will cure the problem, or make it better. Haven't
> tried that yet? There is no fancy test equipment here but, on air
> experience tells me that the Wet Line and Re-tuning does Not adversely
> effect my signal to any detectable level. I am saving now for the purchase
> of 100 feet of the True Ladder Line as found on the Internet. Re-tuning for
> rain is one thing but, the re-tune thingy every Friday morning is getting
> old. Also, every operator who has talked to me says that the 600 Ohm True
> Ladder Line ( Google it ) cures the problem. I guess that 12 year old
> Ladder Line has aged enough that water does not just run off of it. There
> should be no wetting agent needed here. The antenna here is an 134 foot
> Dipole at 67 feet each way. Sitting at about 30 feet high. Feed is 450 ohm
> window type. 80 thru 10 Meters with ONE Antenna. I know there are better
> antennas but, this is rental property and what I can get away with before
> the Land Lord gets upset. *
> *                                       73 de Wade/KJ4WS*
> 
> On Thu, Aug 1, 2013 at 8:39 AM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP <Rick at dj0ip.de> wrote:
> 
>> I'm not sure if you asked me or the group.
>> I have no clue, and I guess there are several types.
>> 
>> One thing I know for sure:  NOBODY coats their feedline with a wetting
>> agent
>> before it rains.
>> 
>> 
>> Another thing I know for sure:  how much difference 6dB makes in a contest.
>> It's like running barefoot or with a linear.
>> 
>> Running a linear means I work 90% of all the stations I call with just 1 or
>> 2 calls.
>> Running barefoot means I get about 30% with just one call.
>> 
>> So in a contest, 6dB means a lot more than 6dB measured in a lab.
>> I guess it is due to the competition.
>> On an un-crowded band, it would mean 1 S-Unit but in a contest it means a
>> lot.
>> 
>> My point:  I have run openwire (window line) countless times in contests
>> where it rained and if I had been losing 6dB all the time, I would have
>> noticed it in my score.  I did not.  I only noticed that I had to retune
>> the
>> matchbox.
>> 
>> I always use manually tuned matchboxes.  If you have an auto-tuner, then it
>> really doesn't matter much.
>> 
>> 73
>> Rick, DJ0IP
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Carter
>> 
>> Is the "wetting agent" conductive -- or at least more conductive than rain
>> water?
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> TenTec mailing list
>> TenTec at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> TenTec mailing list
>> TenTec at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>> 
> _______________________________________________
> TenTec mailing list
> TenTec at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>