[TowerTalk] SWR Problem Balun or lightning protection?

[Tony]

On 12/23/2011 10:52 AM, K7LXC at aol.com wrote:

Good advice Steve,

Thanks,

Tony
> >  This has become a real mystery folks. I checked the SWR on my 3 
> element
> Steppir today and found that it behaved the SAME as my 5 element 20M
> mono band Yagi, i.e., the SWR increases after keying down for a few
> minutes and returns to normal after waiting a few seconds. This happened
> with all bands on the SteppIR. The antennas are mounted on the same
> tower about 12ft apart so I always retract the Steppir elements when
> using the 20M mono bander to avoid interaction.
>     The first thing you should do is to measure the swr with an 
> antenna analyzer at the antenna feedpoint. Everything else is just 
> complicating your problem. Then work your way back to find where the 
> culprit is. With 2 antennas exhibiting similar problems, it probably 
> isn't the antenna that's the problem.
>     MOST "antenna" problems I've ever encountered were something other 
> than the antenna; e.g. bad jumper, bad switch, bad meter, etc. The 
> problems were cured  in the shack but the diagnosis started at the 
> feedpoint.
> Cheers,
> Steve     K7LXC
> TOWER TECH -
> Professional tower services for hams