[TowerTalk] A3S 20 Meter troubles

[Bill Coleman]

On Jun 1, 2004, at 10:13 AM, jtuel at everestkc.net wrote:

> I think that's what I'm going to have to do... I climbed the tower 
> yesterday and pulled the driven element level to the ground (It was a 
> little off) and water came out of the traps...

Not good. Make sure the DE is installed with the drain holes from all 
traps pointing downward. If you put the drain holes pointing upward, 
the traps will fill with water and eventually the whole trap will 
corrode.

> That solved the SWR problmes however the RX on 20 is still about the 
> same as the dipole...  In messing with the driven element, I moved the 
> boom a little so now the reflector and director are not level with the 
> ground... So... I'll have to take it down to make the elemnts level 
> again...

So long as the elements are all within 5 degrees of each other, it will 
make little difference. My A3S has the DE and the director a bit out of 
kilter, but it doesn't affect the performance.

> Everything seemed very clean when I put the thing together... and now 
> that the SWR is flat on all three bands, I'm wondering why 20m is 
> still sounding only as good as the dipole...

SWR should not be "flat" it should have a definite curve as described 
in the manual. If it doesn't rise up a the ends, you may have a lossy 
connector or lossy coax.

The A3S at 40 feet should be a better performer than a dipole. I know 
mine definitely is.

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901