[TowerTalk] Loaded Boom, Didn't tune on 40

[Arsk0jn@aol.com]

Well. Mike, it's kind of hard to know where to start to try to help you. 
Probably the easiest question to address is the difference in swr reading. 
The coax is not a 1/2 wave multiple for the frequency you are checking. It, 
therefore, acts like a transformer changing the reactance of the matching 
point at the antenna. You could probably "trim" to coax to a length that 
would give you a 1:1 swr at the transmitter end. However, that won't do 
anything regarding effective coupling between the transmission line and the 
antenna feed point which is your real concern. I assume the MFJ 259 is not a 
"B" model. See if you can borrow a "B" model and measure the resistance and 
reactance at the antenna feed point--not the input to the matching box. 
Determine if it is capacitive or inductive and give us the readings. How 
effective the antenna will be is difficult to tell as it involves many 
factors such as height, mutual coupling with the surroundings, ground 
conductivity, etc. You can best determine that by making some contacts on the 
air after you get the matching problem solved.
Hope this helps gets you started in the right direction,
Joe, K0JN   

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