[TowerTalk] Strange happening with 10 Meter Beam

[Jim Thomson]

Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2015 13:43:36 -0400
From: Herbert Schoenbohm <herbert.schoenbohm at gmail.com>
To: W5GN <w5gn at mxg.com>, towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Strange happening with 10 Meter Beam

Thanks Barry for the suggestions....I took the beam down and replace the 
deteriorating cup insulators that seems to have turned into a carbon 
resistor.  This is what gave me the low VSWR but also acted like a dummy 
load, thus low signals but good VSWR.  I did not know that the cup 
insulators could turn to carbon resistors but apparently they 
did.....but the beam was bought in the states near an industrial zone 
and I guess anything could happen as it did.

##  are you talking about those....black booties that hy gain used on the
inboard ends of the DE ??   How the heck can they turn to charcoal ?
They were pretty thick walled on my old hy gain 204-BA.  Guess
folks should stick a DVM  from each inboard ele to the boom.Should
read infinite.  Can you clean the old ones, or are they completely 
trashed ?   If that was the case, I can see where a lot of various 
yagis are not performing up to snuff. 

Jim   VE7RF