[TowerTalk] Help, Antenna modeling people.

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

We had the same thing happen in V47 on our 160/80 inverted V's. We would 
be cooking along and then boom the SWR would go up.  Go outside in the 
dark and find the dipole end on the ground.  I don't think I have ever 
seen this in Dry Colorado but on the beach with salt and water rope 
didn't last too long.  We were also sparking in the palms at the end 
enough so that the security guy was concerned and pointed it out to us.

W0MU


On 11/29/2016 12:26 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> Yes. I first ran into this nearly ten years ago with the first 160/80 
> dipole that I rigged between trees. Like a dummy, I failed to use an 
> insulator between the ends of the dipole and the 5/16-in rope. When it 
> got wet, the rope melted and the dipole was on the ground.
>
> The ends of any wire are a high voltage point, and should be treated 
> as such. This is also true of radials!
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
> On Tue,11/29/2016 9:23 AM, Jeff DePolo wrote:
>> In high-power broadcast, we regularly see burn-outs caused by 
>> weather-worn
>> fiberglass insulators that start to wick up water when it rains.  
>> What used
>> to be mostly RF-transparent when dry becomes lossy when wet, with 
>> airborne
>> contaminants, rust/oxidation, and whatever else aggravating the 
>> condition
>> over time, ultimately leading to arc-over and/or mechanical failure.
>
>
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