After my three days of torment & expense building a 2m J-Pole, and finally getting the SWR's down to a respectable level, I did a little horse trading yesterday and came away with a used Cushcraft AR2B Ringo Ranger II.
When it was removed from it's previous location, two of the ground plane radials got broken off, I had to drill & tap new mounting holes, screwed them back on, and mounted the antenna in place of the J-Pole.
Since I no longer needed a choke coil, I was able to straighten out the coax and get this arrangement a few feet farther up than the J-Pole. The result is being able to bring in more distant repeaters with a much stronger signal, which should also result in better simplex operation.
Now for the down side.....
My SWR's are back up..... ...... Not as high as the first J-Pole, but not as low as the second reconfigured J-Pole. Once this present cold snap subsides, I'll have to lower this AR2B down to where I can safely reach the tuning ring, and try to get the SWR's down.
I'm beginning to think that my neighbor's tree is just too close, and anything I put up there is reflecting signal back into the antenna. I believe it's also time to do a little tree trimming.....(after they leave for work)...
Anyway, this Ringo Ranger II is kicking out a strong signal, and bringing in signals from police and fire dept's in the next state like they're across the street.
I also got an old AR2 Ringo in the deal, and I will be taking that to work with me. We have a radio tower out back that's right outside the window of my work shop. A couple of lengths of uni-strut, some "U" bolts, a short piece of 1" pipe, and a coil of coax, and I'll be able to plug my VX-170 into this arrangement and keep up with the area nets while at work......
The first J-Pole will be scraped, the second I'll keep for now, if the AR2B blows down I'll have an instant back up, if I ever get a 6m rig, I'll modify it into a 6m antenna......
When it was removed from it's previous location, two of the ground plane radials got broken off, I had to drill & tap new mounting holes, screwed them back on, and mounted the antenna in place of the J-Pole.
Since I no longer needed a choke coil, I was able to straighten out the coax and get this arrangement a few feet farther up than the J-Pole. The result is being able to bring in more distant repeaters with a much stronger signal, which should also result in better simplex operation.
Now for the down side.....
My SWR's are back up..... ...... Not as high as the first J-Pole, but not as low as the second reconfigured J-Pole. Once this present cold snap subsides, I'll have to lower this AR2B down to where I can safely reach the tuning ring, and try to get the SWR's down.
I'm beginning to think that my neighbor's tree is just too close, and anything I put up there is reflecting signal back into the antenna. I believe it's also time to do a little tree trimming.....(after they leave for work)...
Anyway, this Ringo Ranger II is kicking out a strong signal, and bringing in signals from police and fire dept's in the next state like they're across the street.
I also got an old AR2 Ringo in the deal, and I will be taking that to work with me. We have a radio tower out back that's right outside the window of my work shop. A couple of lengths of uni-strut, some "U" bolts, a short piece of 1" pipe, and a coil of coax, and I'll be able to plug my VX-170 into this arrangement and keep up with the area nets while at work......
The first J-Pole will be scraped, the second I'll keep for now, if the AR2B blows down I'll have an instant back up, if I ever get a 6m rig, I'll modify it into a 6m antenna......