[TowerTalk] [Force 12 Talk] Force 12 80M Sigma vertical problem

[JBaumgarte at aol.com]

Steve,
 
I have had one of these for several years now and it's worked nicely.   I 
recall having a problem at first while using a F12 balun.  I removed that  balun 
and used a simple coax choke balun, and things worked well.  Also, I  had to 
make a larger hairpin (same prox diameter, but one more turn) to get the  match 
down to a flat 1:1.  I later added the "Tornado" which has been  exceptional. 
 Another trick I used (from Tom) was to just lay  out a bunch of wire of 
various lengths on the ground around the base--not  attached to anything.  It 
seemed to help and I did make my final contacts  for 5BWAZ with the antenna.
 
Good luck.
 
John, N0IJ