Author |
Message |
Allagator
Advanced Member Username: Allagator
Post Number: 585 Registered: 9-2002
| Posted on Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 5:02 pm: |
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when i had my A99 5 foot off the ground and stuck between the steps of my tower and i had a 1.2 on swr now its 48 foot in the air and now its at a 3 ????? any ideas whats happened ?? buy the way sold the Imax cause it was hitting the tree limbs ! Thanks Allagator |
Crackerjack
Intermediate Member Username: Crackerjack
Post Number: 380 Registered: 7-2004
| Posted on Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 7:34 pm: |
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Do you have the Groundplane kit? If not, that should cure the problem. I think. I had a whip that was normally NO SWR, and placed it on a 30 foot pole. One side of the "EFFECTIVE" Vertical Dipole was 8 feet and the other was 30 feet. I replaced the mount with a groundplane kit and had a SWR that was dificult to measure. That said, I am not familiar with the A99 GP KIT -but the theory of the whip/mast is the same. |
Bigbob
Senior Member Username: Bigbob
Post Number: 1841 Registered: 12-2001
| Posted on Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 7:55 pm: |
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Sounds like a bad solder connection inside the antenna,Lon can direct you to the info here,I can't remember the exact location.Bigbob |
Kd4amg
Intermediate Member Username: Kd4amg
Post Number: 172 Registered: 6-2003
| Posted on Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 11:05 pm: |
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double check your coax check rings to be sure they are in MIDDLE & tight ( not loose ) check to be sure all 3 sections are TIGHTLY screwed into each other ( but not too tight ) simple things you may not have checked...I have missed the OBVIOUS so many times it aint funny. GOOD LUCK |
Road_warrior
Advanced Member Username: Road_warrior
Post Number: 520 Registered: 7-2004
| Posted on Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 11:28 pm: |
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Since the Swrs were good when mounted 5 ft off ground, it should of been good at 40 ft, in less something happened to the coax or connector or the antenna took a hard bump or its reflecting off something... I have also seen a A-99 that was mounted beside a pine tree and SWRs went crazy. Moved antenna away and SWR came down to normal. JIM/ PA/ CEF 375 |
Yankee
Intermediate Member Username: Yankee
Post Number: 488 Registered: 7-2003
| Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 2:09 am: |
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I agree with checking the coax and the tuning rings. Also someplace on some website I remember that a vertical ground plane type of antenna reverses and makes a second image of the actual antenna, directly below the antenna. Therefore I tend to believe that coax length and height may have something to do with your SWR. Remembering that coax length and antenna height are measured in multipals of 9 feet, measureing from the ground to the tip of the antenna. Also making sure you have a good ground field. Just my thoughts after 42 years on the air and keeping a good SWR. Hope this is of some help. Carl CEF-357 |
Bigbob
Senior Member Username: Bigbob
Post Number: 1847 Registered: 12-2001
| Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 6:29 am: |
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Some of the newer a99s had poor construction internally in product reviews there's a cut away photo showing this,and because of ground reflections 5 ft. may have masked this problem,or it may be something as simple as a broken solder connection at one of the coax connectors.My brother in law left his coax dangle at just 12 feet and it ripped out the bottom connector and all the guts,what a disgusting mess that was,there's alot of simple things to check and it's probably one of those,but a couple of years ago this guy had intermittant swr problems and it led to a bad solder joint inside on the tapped inductor,so he threw it away and bought a new one.Bigbob |
Road_warrior
Advanced Member Username: Road_warrior
Post Number: 524 Registered: 7-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 8:57 am: |
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I've had 3 A-99s,but, the older models. I mounted each one to my mailbox pole to make sure they worked before putting higher. About 1:3-1:4 while close to ground. After installing in the air, SWRS fell to 1:1-1:2. One of them accidentally got bumped hard and suffered what BigBob is talking about. As the bad solder joint made it impossible to get a good match. Actually, if a bad solder joint exists it can go bad at anytime without the antenna being bumped hard. But, i would check all the easy stuff first like is mentioned above in other posts. JIM/ PA/ CEF 375 |
Road_warrior
Advanced Member Username: Road_warrior
Post Number: 525 Registered: 7-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 9:29 am: |
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I read some of those reviews you were talking about Bigbob. I see what you mean. I never owned a new one, but, never had to much trouble wih the older ones. My friend has a newer one, so, far its working good. Been up for about 8 months. JIM/ PA/ CEF 375
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Timebomb
Junior Member Username: Timebomb
Post Number: 41 Registered: 2-2005
| Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 3:04 pm: |
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I bought my A-99 from Copper ten years ago. My match is 1:2 to 1:5 across the band, with it 40 ft. in pine tree. My rings are a tad off. No biggie. Sounds like a coax problem to me. You didn't move the rings did ya? Is it still grounded OK? Hopefully it's not internal. Good luck. |
Allagator
Advanced Member Username: Allagator
Post Number: 586 Registered: 9-2002
| Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 4:51 pm: |
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well i found the problem !!!! THANKS GUYS !!!! dummy me forgot to tighten the coax and it was loose as a goose just hanging on the switch box !!!! LOL talking about dumb things to do !!! LOL that would almost rate number 1 in my book !!!
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Road_warrior
Advanced Member Username: Road_warrior
Post Number: 527 Registered: 7-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 10:47 pm: |
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At least its fixed, thats all that counts. LOL.. JIM/ PA/ CEF 375 |
Bigbob
Senior Member Username: Bigbob
Post Number: 1848 Registered: 12-2001
| Posted on Saturday, April 30, 2005 - 10:18 pm: |
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Dx431
Senior Member Username: Dx431
Post Number: 1027 Registered: 2-2002
| Posted on Saturday, April 30, 2005 - 11:12 pm: |
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Don't feel bad Jason, we've all been there done that. |
Dogfacedsoldier
Member Username: Dogfacedsoldier
Post Number: 55 Registered: 10-2004
| Posted on Sunday, May 01, 2005 - 12:24 am: |
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i encountered the same prob turns out the higher up i went higher swr just had to re-tune it. |