Topband: K9AY Antenna

[w2pm at aol.com]

 For some reason my K9AY lost it's directivity, seems to receiver well in 
> all directions.
>
> Bill
> WA4FKI
> _______________________________________________

>There are other problems that can cause a pattern that doesn't change.  Some 
>of these include burned out terminating resistors due to nearby lightning or 
>transmitted RF, a corroded or broken connection from the loop to relays or 
>to the ground rod, or a failure somewhere in the control wiring that keeps 
>the relays from switching.

>73, Gary
>K9AY
 
Those corrosion/poor connection issues can be subtle too - i.e. barrel connectors
splicing 2 lines together have been a source of problems for me. In fact the corrosion can be
tentative- in my case I've noticed an problem, but the MFJ analyzer on the line and note the
SWR quickly jumps DOWN to normal from a higher state. Then when I recon the antenna to the rig all 
is OK.  Seems the small signal from the analyzer is enough to "burn" thru the corrosion but it
would come back in a week. I had a poorly assembled PL259 - even taped it would develop this
problem over time until I replaced the connectors properly attaching them to the lines. But the point 
should be well taken that connection quality will drastically hit the feedline performance which is
critical to RX antennas.   Pete W2PM
________________________________________________________________________
Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. Always Free.