[TowerTalk] Strange happening with 10 Meter Beam

[Tom Frenaye]

I had a 20 year old HyGain 204BA that needed new rubber pieces. I found it necessary to replace 
the element end caps plus the insulators on the inner end of the driven element.  A couple of end
caps were missing and the exposed portion of the insulator was quite pitted from long exposure to the 
sun, I presumed.  Or maybe flashover from lightning?  In any case, it was an easy way to make it 
like news again.   I didn't polish the elements though.   As I recall, they also offered a rubber parts
kit for a TH6 that needed similar repairs.

        -- Tom/K1KI

At 09:21 PM 10/28/2015, Jim Thomson wrote:
>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. 
>
>J

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Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444