Tuesday & Wednesday were spent up in the NC mountains, at the weekend getaway QTH of K0COP. David wanted a more-or-less low profile installation, so we’ve gone with 40-feet of unguyed Rohn 55G, supporting a simple Force 12 C-3 up top. We put up the tower yesterday, then laid out, measured, and cut the cable, then inventoried and began assembling the Yagi. That quickly slowed to a crawl, as I found myself having to re-drill (or at minimum, “touch up”) the existing element mount holes. A total PITA as the text folks say it. We finished the beam assembly today, raised it up a bit, and hooked up the analyzer. Totally dead–no dips anywhere. After inspecting the cable, we tested the balun, and found that it was totally open–no connection whatsoever from the center pin to the corresponding lead. Reaching for a Budwig connector (allowing an easy connection to the coax jumper), proved the antenna to be working just fine. So, a couple of strikes against the Texas antenna folks, alas….
These simple tests were carried out in sprinkling rain, and just about the time we got our tools and assorted hardware under cover, the skies opened up. After 30 minutes , with no apparent let up in sight (the radar showed rainfall extending beyond Hendersonville), we simply headed home to Charlotte. Tomorrow’s another day.
stay tuned…
