[TowerTalk] 4-Square Owners & Experts...

[W7NN]

<< Bill Fisher, W4AN wrote:
 > 
 > I did some reconfiguration on my 80M 4-square this past month and after
 > hooking it back up I noticed that I now have a high SWR on the bottom end
 > of 80M in the NE position.  Yes, high SWR to the Comtek box but only when
 > the NE position is selected.  All other positions have little to no SWR
 > across the entire band.  The NE position has 2:1 SWR at 3500Khz and 1:1 SWR
 > at 4Mhz.
 > 
 > I have checked everything out today.  The relays in the box look fine.  The
 > measurements at the antennas look mostly OK.  The dumped power in to the
 > dummy load looks normal in all positions.
 > 
 > I have summarized my investigation at
 > http://www.contesting.com/w4an/newpage13.htm
 > 
 > Any ideas would be appreciated.  Also any comments on my readings would be
 > appreciated.
  >>

I have had my 80 meter 4 square up for 4 years and have seen similar problems
on numerous occasions.

Each and every time, the problem has been traced to a broken center conductor
or braid on the feed lines, caused by either wind vibration ov the antennas or
the Llamas stumbling over the feedlines.

For a picture of the solution, check out the web page at
http://members.aol.com/w7nn

73

Ron
HamStuff by W7NN
QSL Systems and Contest Aids

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