[Towertalk] Hy-Gain balun question

[Don Havlicek]

One other problem with the BN-86 balun is its tendency to 'short
circuit' across the windings!  
This happened to me back in the 80's when I FIRST fired up my 15m yagi
in the 'xmas tree' stack .. never was able to use that yagi for years,
due to a short in the BN-86!
The 20m and 10m yagis worked fine .. but had a 5-element 15m lightning
rod .. that wouldn't work!
If you decide to 'rebuild' the BN-86, use DIFFERENT wire .. check with
Press, W8UG [the wireman] for his 'extra special enameled wire that he
supplies with his balun kits .. it's better than the HyGain stuff.
Don - N8DE

Mark wrote:
> 
> Hello, Ditzian ...
> re: BN 86   --- very susceptible to spider webs, smog, insect nests, and
> DE-SOLDERING at the coil joints .. I would not hesitate to take apart, check
> it out, clean it out, check solder joints ..  and have some good "glue" on
> hand to put it back together ... it does not come apart prettily!  And ... I
> for one would not EVEN consider using both ... to what end?
> I have a BN 86 up on my chimney mounted mast that holds multiple droopy
> dipoles, for 40 thru 10 .. Its been there now for 9 years, giving me some
> erratic readings, time to dismantle .. it was given to me, because it did
> not work for the former owner, .but having been there done that before,
> "fixed" it .. this one had de-soldered connections.
> 73 ... Mark  AA6DX
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <ditzian@alltel.net>
> To: <Towertalk@contesting.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 3:37 PM
> Subject: [Towertalk] Hy-Gain balun question
> 
> > I have a TH6DXX that suddenly went bad. I found a problem with a
> > barrel connector and replaced it, while the coax seemed to be OK.
> > However, after using the coax for ten years, I decided to replace it
> > with a single run, and I have some Davis RF 9914F on order.
> >
> > The BN-86 balun, however, is a question. I hate to butcher it to open
> > it, but it is in question. I put things back together with a new
> > barrel connector but the SWR is now higher than it used to be. It
> > could be that the tower is at 20 feet instead of 60 feet. It could be
> > that the old coax is at fault (I just ordered the 9914F), and it
> > could be that there is a balun problem.
> >
> > (1) Can the BN-86 voltage balun be replaced with a W2DU-style current-
> > choke balun?
> > (2) Is there an advantage in using both?
> 
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