[Towertalk] Cushcraft X9 .. Bad trap?

[ac7nj@bentonrea.com]

Tony,
If you find the answer let me know I have a x9 I just purchased used and
it is not up yet. I'm also thinking of finding a 40M kit for it

Randy
AC7NJ


-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-admin@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-admin@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Tony Wanschura
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 9:29 AM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [Towertalk] Cushcraft X9 .. Bad trap?

Immediately after putting up my Cushcraft X9 (with 40 meter add-on)
about 3 years ago, I noted that the SWR on 15 and 20 meters was not as
it should be. 10 meters was pretty much okay, but 15 and 20 were way out
of range. On 15, SWR ranged from 2:1 at the bottom of the band to 5:1 at
the top. On 20, the range was 3:1 at the bottom of the band and 2:1 at
the top. A Minnesota winter was closing in, I operate almost entirely
CW, and my rig's autotuner could deal with it. So I let the problem go
until the following spring.

Working on the assumption that I must have made a mistake in element
dimensions, I took down the antenna and re-measured every dimension
twice, finding a couple of 1/8 inch errors here and there. I put the
antenna back up and, of course, nothing had changed. Discouraged, I
walked away from the problem for nearly a year.

This summer, I took the antenna down again, re-checked all measurements,
removed the 40-meter element, and put the antenna back up. No
improvement.  All of this was a lot of work, since I have a guyed tower,
with wire antennas hanging from it, and a 6-meter beam stacked above.  I
removed the wire antennas and the 6-meter beam. Still no improvement.

I replaced the coax.  No change.

I am certain that all of the antenna dimensions are okay. The tower is
50 feet tall, with nothing around it that might cause an SWR problem.
This leaves the traps as the cause of the problem. I suspect an outer
(15/20 meter) trap on the first director.

My questions are:
Does the behavior described above suggest a trap problem?
Has anyone else had a similar problem with the X7 or X9?

Thanks,
Tony
KM0O




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