[TowerTalk] ice on beams

[Stone, Gary R.]

Greetings,

 

Well, this is the first little ice storm I have endured since putting up
new beams.  I have noticed that my Opti Beam (OB17-4) is effected on 40
meters (suspect the 'air coils' have ice on them) and my Force 12 is
effected all bands (there is a harpin match on that antenna - now with
ice).  The other elements on the Optibeam are full size with no coils or
traps.

 

What I have found is that the resonance has lowered.  On 40 meters
(Optibeam) it is now 1-1 about 9880 khz (instead of 7.025 before - it is
cut for the CW portion) and about the same on the Force 12  about 250
300 khz lower in resonance.  On 30 meters there is a linear loading
scheme and on 17 meters full size elements but both go thru the hairpin
match.

 

They seem to load fine with a tuner (built in and/or external).  Any
problems with using a tuner and continuing to operate?  (we hope to see
a little sunshine today). I am in Texas by the way and this is our ice
storm we get about once every several years!

 

Thanks,

 

Gary, N5PHT