Hello again!
So, everything was going fine on my setup until this afternoon. After two full days of drenching rain, I turned on my RCI-2995DX with very low receive. I immediately suspected something was awry so I checked SWR. I had previously been running a consistent 1:1 but now, all of the sudden I’m between 3 and 4. So, I checked and triple checked with two other meters. Same results.
Next, I pull out the Fluke 87 and check continuity between center pin and shield. Hmmmmm??? 480 kOhm??? Seems like an odd number but what do I know. So, off I go checking connectors, grounds, etc. Found no water anywhere. Found no cuts, crimps, or kinks. So, I gotta drop the antenna and check the connector at the base. Antenna on the ground, same thing. No water or other problems. With the antenna on the ground, I go ahead and replace both ends of the coax.
Out of curiosity, I checked continuity between the center and shield on the antenna. 2 Ohms. Again, I have no idea what it should be but I wanted to capture the datapoint to share here.
So now, I know the coax is rock solid. I’m getting a consistent OL on the coax.
That said, can anyone tell me what I should be seeing on the antenna? Any ideas as to what might be causing the 480 kOhm before dropping the antenna. Could there be water in the antenna? Any other ideas???
Related…I also have a discone antenna on a lateral of the same mast for a Radio Shack Pro-197. I checked the top radials against the bottom radials with the Fluke and again saw OL. That’s kinda what I expected to see but again, I have no idea.
Thanks for any feedback!
So, everything was going fine on my setup until this afternoon. After two full days of drenching rain, I turned on my RCI-2995DX with very low receive. I immediately suspected something was awry so I checked SWR. I had previously been running a consistent 1:1 but now, all of the sudden I’m between 3 and 4. So, I checked and triple checked with two other meters. Same results.
Next, I pull out the Fluke 87 and check continuity between center pin and shield. Hmmmmm??? 480 kOhm??? Seems like an odd number but what do I know. So, off I go checking connectors, grounds, etc. Found no water anywhere. Found no cuts, crimps, or kinks. So, I gotta drop the antenna and check the connector at the base. Antenna on the ground, same thing. No water or other problems. With the antenna on the ground, I go ahead and replace both ends of the coax.
Out of curiosity, I checked continuity between the center and shield on the antenna. 2 Ohms. Again, I have no idea what it should be but I wanted to capture the datapoint to share here.
So now, I know the coax is rock solid. I’m getting a consistent OL on the coax.
That said, can anyone tell me what I should be seeing on the antenna? Any ideas as to what might be causing the 480 kOhm before dropping the antenna. Could there be water in the antenna? Any other ideas???
Related…I also have a discone antenna on a lateral of the same mast for a Radio Shack Pro-197. I checked the top radials against the bottom radials with the Fluke and again saw OL. That’s kinda what I expected to see but again, I have no idea.
Thanks for any feedback!
