[TowerTalk] Cold question from the white South

[Joe - WDØM]

Hi Jamie,

In a word, "yes".  Having lived in Alaska for many years, and seen -82 F on 
the thermometer (not wind chill - that was off the charts at well over -100 
F), I can say with a bit of authority that cold does strange things.  Metal 
shrinks, connectors pull apart, plastic cracks....you name it.  Love those 
Jack London stories of the northland........

Good luck on the VU4 - I logged them yesterday on 20 SSB on 20M, from sunny 
and warm Colorado, high up in the Rockies!

73,
Joe
WDØM


At 01:22 PM 12/24/2004, James C. Hall, M.D. wrote:

>Hello and Merry Christmas y'all !
>
>Here in NW TN we have 4-6" of snow on top of 1-2" ice under blue skies and
>14 degrees ... uh, Fahrenheit ! It has been MANY years since we have had a
>white Christmas and we asked for it. Brother, did we get it !!
>
>Now the radio question and a request for advice from you Norther's.
>Apparently, cold does strange things to cable connectors, etc. outside. I
>was about to pounce on the VU4 this early AM - everything ready to go, amp
>on, Mark V set, hearing her about as well as I'm going to. Antenna turned
>(groaned) to long path, MUF in that direction about 14. Then as I set the
>amp to operate and began to key the mic, everything went to crap. SWR off
>the scale. Quick check, yep, antenna switch is correct and switching. But no
>apparent contact with the antenna - any antenna on that switch.  Static
>drain problem? Secondary antenna, no problem. So, out with the antenna
>analyzer and found a N-UHF adapter on the LMR600 cable not making adequate
>contact. Wow ... worked all yesterday without trouble. After tightening
>things, all appears well. Except ... noticed that many band resonances are
>shifted down a bit, not much but noticeable. The shunt fed tower is acting
>like it needs the extra capacitor of an omega match when it was 1:1 with a
>straight gamma match. What gives ? I can use my tuner of course, but does
>the cold do all these things ?
>
>73, Jamie
>WB4YDL
>
>
>
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>
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>Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with 
>any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
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