[TowerTalk] Interpreting symptoms

[w4lde]

Mike,

Sorry to hear about all, I would think that you should see almost a zero 
reading, maybe you have a long run of coax.  There was a strong 
recommendation on this reflector by many that the "N" style connector 
was the way to go.

Is it possible that the coax is at fault and opens when you raise the 
antenna?  Is the weight of the coax pulling on the connector?

You'll find it don't give up.

73 de
Ron W4LDE



On 5/6/2011 1:56 PM, Mike wrote:
> Thanks Ron -
>
> The motor on the driven works fine, at least it did on the ground. One other anomaly
> is that on the ground an analyzer showed a dip at around 6.5 Mhz with the antenna set
> at 7.150 Mhz,  which SteppIR said was what to expect. In the air, the analyzer
> doesn't read a dip anywhere.
>
> The beginning of the problem was that the tapes had jumped the reels and one of the
> holes in the tape had snagged on a wire joint on the balun. So I replaced the motor,
> and the jumper from the motor to the turning loop. I think it's that piece of coax,
> specifically the connector at the motor. The driven reads about 3 ohms at the radio
> end of the coax.
>
> There are 2 bad driver chips in the controller, but the driven is OK. I have a board
> at SteppIR getting new chips.
>
> At the rate cranes and climbers go for, minor it's not. 2 trips so far, looking at 2
> more; :-$
>
> 73, Mike
>
> On 5/6/2011 9:13 AM, w4lde wrote:
>> Mike,
>>
>> When I connect only the center pin of any coax fed antenna I usually get
>> more noise since the cox becomes an antenna and this includes the SteppIR.
>>
>> Since its a new motor and balum did you do a test of the wiring
>> including running the element tape out a few inches per the test
>> recommendations by SteppIR and confirm the element is wired and working
>> correctly?.
>>
>> Did this just happen (high SWR) or did it occur after the new motor and
>> balum installation?.  What resistive readings are you getting on the
>> driven element?  Can you read voltage changes on the output from the
>> controller when you command the change at the controller?
>>
>> It's hard to give a WAG without some additional info.  Hope it's a minor
>> problem to fix.
>>
>> 73 de
>> Ron W4LDE
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 5/5/2011 6:37 PM, Mike wrote:
>>> Thanks, John -
>>>
>>> I'm going with the coax theory for now. It's a new motor and balun, so hopefully
>>> that's OK.
>>>
>>> 73, Mike NF4L
>>>
>>> On 5/5/2011 5:52 PM, john at kk9a.com wrote:
>>>> It sounds like your coax is not connected to the driven element.  It could
>>>> be a dead balan, bad connection or that the DE is fully retracted (if that's
>>>> possible with a SteppIR).
>>>>
>>>> GL
>>>> John KK9A
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> To: towertalk reflector<towertalk at contesting.com>
>>>> Subject: [TowerTalk] Interpreting symptoms
>>>> From: Mike<nf4l at nf4l.com>
>>>>
>>>> My SteppIR is exhibiting high SWR at all frequencies. Varying the length of
>>>> the
>>>> driven element does not affect it.
>>>>
>>>> If I plug only the center conductor of the coax into the rig the noise level
>>>> is
>>>> much
>>>> higher than when the shield makes contact. Any SWAG's as to what this means
>>>> the
>>>> problem likely is?
>>>>
>>>> 73, Mike NF4L
>>>>
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