[TowerTalk] A3WS

[Ron D. Rossi]

Elliott,

There is no connection at the far end of the trap. That is the open end of the 
capacitor. The element, coil, and cap all connect together at the inside end 
of the trap. If you go to http://www.qsl.net/kk1l/a3s_trap.html you can view 
pictures of the remains of the trap off the 40m add-on of my A3S. Based on 
comments I received after referring to this page in my CQWW Phone writeup it 
is not all that uncommon an occurrence. The band width of the 40m add-on is 
not all that large and operating a little out of tune at max power could 
create too high a voltage gradient from the can to the element toward the tip. 
How well in tune is your antenna?

-- 
73 es God Bless de KK1L...ron (kk1l@arrl.net) <><
QTH: Jericho, Vermont
My page: http://www.qsl.net/kk1l

>>>Elliott Lawrence said:
> In the past few months I have been having problems with the traps on my
> A3WS. After 2 years, both the 12M and 17M traps on one side of the
> driven element developed a defect. They arc over at high power but will
> take power at the 200 watt level. The plastic end cap melts so I believe
> that theire is a high reistance connection at the outer end of the trap.
> A closer look at the specs on the antenna show 2000w PEP or 1000w CW
> maximum. So, I guess it didn't like the 1500w from my Aplha 87A! (No, I
> didn't not run over the legal limit.)
> 
> I replaced the traps, kept the cw power at 1000w and now one of the new
> 17m traps has the same problem! Replaced it again and will see what
> happens. If it happens again I probably need to look into a different
> antenna.
> 
> Has anyone else had a similar experience?
> 
> Thanks,
> Elliott WA6TLA
> 
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> 




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