|
Hello,
New to the group and to the FC-40. I have owned an 857D for a few
years now running barefoot into a homebrew OCF. Within the last few
days I purchased the FC-40 and have strung up about 90' of wire. After
looking over the FC-40 I found it a little odd that they supply you
with 8X or larger coax but the connection into the unit is RG-58
sized. Internally the output wire which connects to the ceramic
insulator seems a little small, sized 12 guage wire. Not trying to
sound negative here, the unit works great. The only bands I cannot
tune now is 80 and 30 meters. I have never been able to tune 160 on
my OCf which is exciting for me. I do need to find a way to get at
least 75/80 back into the mix. Anyways wondering if anyone has
upgraded the input connection cable and the internal output wire size?
If so was any improvement noted? I believe that the benefits would
not outway the time, effort and risk but I could be wrong. Any hints
on gaining 75/80 meters back would be appreciated. Thanks and 73
JR
K7GFH
|
--- In YaesuTuner@..., "jay_hendershott" <jrcomp@...> wrote: . I do need to find a way to get at least 75/80 back into the mix. Anyways wondering if anyone has
upgraded the input connection cable and the internal output wire size?
If so was any improvement noted? I believe that the benefits would
not outway the time, effort and risk but I could be wrong. Any hints
on gaining 75/80 meters back would be appreciated. Thanks and 73
JR
K7GFH Hi JR, You shouldn't have to do anything to the tuner. This tuner, or more accurately, antenna coupler, is a great tuner when used correctly (similar to Icom's AH-4. and SCG couplers). We need more info on your antenna. You said you're have about 90'of wire, but how is it set up, i.e. long wire, inverted L, etc.) and most importantly, what are you using for a counterpoise? And the coax is fine. The SWR from the tuner to your radio will (almost) always be around 1.5 to 1 so loss should low, even with longer lengths. I will also e-mail a PDF on antenna's from the SCG company. It's very good reading. I use an AH-4 with a vertical loop, about 200' of wire. Keep asking questions and we'll help. 73, Jeff/wb0m
|
Thanks for the replies. The antenna starts off at the corner of my
fence which is about 5' up from the ground. It then runs straight to
the top peak of my house which is about 30'+ high. This run is about
65'. The wire passes through a ceramic insulator then it comes down
to the left corner of my house were it is looped in a ceramic
insulator. It then passes through the wall to the tuner which is
inside the crawl space. The tail from the insulator to the tuner is
about 14 inches long. I have buried a 4' long piece of rebar into the
moist dirt of the crawl space. I attached a ground rod lug and a
piece of 12 guage wire from the tuner to the lug. One question I have
, does distance from ground rod to tuner matter? After some testing
last night I confirmed again that I cannot tune 80 or 30 meters. I
have also picked up rfi in one tv and the surround sound of another.
This was not a problem with my OCF. Hope this helps, I will be
experimenting more today. Thanks again.
73
JR
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi JR,
You shouldn't have to do anything to the tuner. This tuner, or more
accurately, antenna coupler, is a great tuner when used correctly
(similar to Icom's AH-4. and SCG couplers).
We need more info on your antenna. You said you're have about 90'of
wire, but how is it set up, i.e. long wire, inverted L, etc.) and most
importantly, what are you using for a counterpoise?
And the coax is fine. The SWR from the tuner to your radio will
(almost) always be around 1.5 to 1 so loss should low, even with
longer lengths.
I will also e-mail a PDF on antenna's from the SCG company. It's very
good reading. I use an AH-4 with a vertical loop, about 200' of wire.
Keep asking questions and we'll help. 73, Jeff/wb0m
|
i am interrested in this pdf file too .... so put
it in the file area
tnx
dg9bfc
sigi
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 3:46
PM
Subject: [YaesuTuner] Re: Coax and output
wire size + 80 meters
--- In YaesuTuner@yahoogroups.com,
"jay_hendershott" wrote:
. I do need to find a way to
get at
> least 75/80 back into the mix. Anyways wondering if anyone
has
> upgraded the input connection cable and the internal output wire
size?
> If so was any improvement noted? I believe that the benefits
would
> not outway the time, effort and risk but I could be wrong. Any
hints
> on gaining 75/80 meters back would be appreciated. Thanks and
73
>
> JR
> K7GFH
Hi JR,
You shouldn't have to
do anything to the tuner. This tuner, or more
accurately, antenna coupler,
is a great tuner when used correctly
(similar to Icom's AH-4. and SCG
couplers).
We need more info on your antenna. You said you're have about
90'of
wire, but how is it set up, i.e. long wire, inverted L, etc.) and
most
importantly, what are you using for a counterpoise?
And the coax is
fine. The SWR from the tuner to your radio will
(almost) always be around
1.5 to 1 so loss should low, even with
longer lengths.
I will also
e-mail a PDF on antenna's from the SCG company. It's very
good reading. I
use an AH-4 with a vertical loop, about 200' of wire.
Keep asking questions
and we'll help. 73, Jeff/wb0m
|
the ground wire should be VERY short ... so put the
tuner near or AT the ground will be the best
try out to lenghten the antenna ..... try to put
your tuner nearer to ground
then the tuner has easier work
my tuner is the fc1000 and it tunes almost anything
to a low swr
with half or fullwave lenght it doesn?t work but
there is a capacitor on the output that can be added with a wire connection and
the tuner works with this lenght also
you can try to ad a capacitor parallel to tuner
output or a coil in series with the output
and then try to tune your wire with it
good luck
cu on the bands .... 73?s
dg9bfc
?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 4:32
PM
Subject: [YaesuTuner] Re: Coax and output
wire size + 80 meters
Thanks for the replies. The antenna starts off at the corner of my
fence
which is about 5' up from the ground. It then runs straight to
the top peak
of my house which is about 30'+ high. This run is about
65'. The wire
passes through a ceramic insulator then it comes down
to the left corner of
my house were it is looped in a ceramic
insulator. It then passes through
the wall to the tuner which is
inside the crawl space. The tail from the
insulator to the tuner is
about 14 inches long. I have buried a 4' long
piece of rebar into the
moist dirt of the crawl space. I attached a ground
rod lug and a
piece of 12 guage wire from the tuner to the lug. One
question I have
, does distance from ground rod to tuner matter? After some
testing
last night I confirmed again that I cannot tune 80 or 30 meters.
I
have also picked up rfi in one tv and the surround sound of another.
This was not a problem with my OCF. Hope this helps, I will
be
experimenting more today. Thanks again.
73
JR
>
Hi JR,
> You shouldn't have to do anything to the tuner. This tuner, or
more
> accurately, antenna coupler, is a great tuner when used
correctly
> (similar to Icom's AH-4. and SCG couplers).
> We need
more info on your antenna. You said you're have about 90'of
> wire, but
how is it set up, i.e. long wire, inverted L, etc.) and most
>
importantly, what are you using for a counterpoise?
> And the coax is
fine. The SWR from the tuner to your radio will
> (almost) always be
around 1.5 to 1 so loss should low, even with
> longer lengths.
>
I will also e-mail a PDF on antenna's from the SCG company. It's very
>
good reading. I use an AH-4 with a vertical loop, about 200' of wire.
>
Keep asking questions and we'll help. 73, Jeff/wb0m
>
|
--- In YaesuTuner@..., "Siegfried Jackstien" <siegfried.jackstien@...> wrote: I am interested in this pdf file too .... so put it in the file area<< Since all the info is from SGC and their property, I don't feel right about loading into the files area. However, here's the link to their page - this is much better since they is a lot more info on antenna and couplers there. The same principles of the SGC couplers applies to the FC-40 (and similar tuners). Best of the holidays and Happy New Year. 73, Jeff/wb0m
|
Is there anyway to move the coupler outside the house? Your antenna
starts at the coupler, which means you are probably getting RFI and
such from a couple of thing: your antenna is radiating next to all the
wires in the house and your ground my not be sufficient. Is the ground
rod driven into the dirt? And copper will work better than rebar.
Your long wire antenna sounds fine in length, but you still need a
counterpoise of some sort. Also, there my be high voltage at the end
of the antenna so if anyone can come in contact with it, you might
move it up out of the way. - Jeff/wb0m
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
--- In YaesuTuner@..., "jay_hendershott" <jrcomp@...> wrote: The antenna starts off at the corner of my fence which is about 5' up from the ground. It then runs straight to
the top peak of my house which is about 30'+ high. This run is about
65'. The wire passes through a ceramic insulator then it comes down
to the left corner of my house were it is looped in a ceramic
insulator. It then passes through the wall to the tuner which is
inside the crawl space. The tail from the insulator to the tuner is
about 14 inches long. I have buried a 4' long piece of rebar into the
moist dirt of the crawl space. I attached a ground rod lug and a
piece of 12 guage wire from the tuner to the lug. One question I have
, does distance from ground rod to tuner matter? After some testing
last night I confirmed again that I cannot tune 80 or 30 meters. I
have also picked up rfi in one tv and the surround sound of another.
This was not a problem with my OCF. Hope this helps, I will be
experimenting more today. Thanks again.
73
JR
Hi JR,
You shouldn't have to do anything to the tuner. This tuner, or more
accurately, antenna coupler, is a great tuner when used correctly
(similar to Icom's AH-4. and SCG couplers).
We need more info on your antenna. You said you're have about 90'of
wire, but how is it set up, i.e. long wire, inverted L, etc.) and most
importantly, what are you using for a counterpoise?
And the coax is fine. The SWR from the tuner to your radio will
(almost) always be around 1.5 to 1 so loss should low, even with
longer lengths.
I will also e-mail a PDF on antenna's from the SCG company. It's very
good reading. I use an AH-4 with a vertical loop, about 200' of wire.
Keep asking questions and we'll help. 73, Jeff/wb0m
|
Thanks for all the helpful information. I have found a combination that works pretty well although I still cannot tune 75/80 meters. I am really baffled though about the current ground setup. The ground I have in plave is the original 4' long rebar. It is approximately 15 feet away from the tuner with a 12 guage wire running from the tuner to the rebat. I am able to tune 160, 40, 20 up to 6 meters. I can not tune 80 or 30 meters. I thought the rebar was to far from the tuner so I drove a 5 foot chunk of copper pipe into the ground right below the tuner. Testing afterward showed that I could only tune 20 meters through 6 meters. I am baffled by this. Clearly the copper tube and shorter ground wire should function better that the rebar and 15 feet of wire or is the long ground wire to the rebar acting like a counterpoise? I tried running counterpoises with the copper pipe but they seemed to make no difference. I am limited on counterpoise because the tuner is located in my crawl space. It would not be easy for me to move the tuner outside. I made a few contacts over the weekend, one being a station in Tokyo, Japan so I cannot complain but I would like to get 75/80 meters back. One poster noted the addition of a capacitior in series with the output wire. How should I determine size and rating of the capacitior? Again thanks for the help, it has been a learning experience so far. --- In YaesuTuner@..., "wb0m" <wb0m@...> wrote:
Is there anyway to move the coupler outside the house? Your antenna
starts at the coupler, which means you are probably getting RFI and
such from a couple of thing: your antenna is radiating next to all
the wires in the house and your ground my not be sufficient. Is the ground rod driven into the dirt? And copper will work better than rebar.
Your long wire antenna sounds fine in length, but you still need a
counterpoise of some sort. Also, there my be high voltage at the end
of the antenna so if anyone can come in contact with it, you might
move it up out of the way. - Jeff/wb0m
--- In YaesuTuner@..., "jay_hendershott" <jrcomp@> wrote: The antenna starts off at the corner of my
fence which is about 5' up from the ground. It then runs straight to the top peak of my house which is about 30'+ high. This run is
about 65'. The wire passes through a ceramic insulator then it comes
down to the left corner of my house were it is looped in a ceramic
insulator. It then passes through the wall to the tuner which is
inside the crawl space. The tail from the insulator to the tuner
is about 14 inches long. I have buried a 4' long piece of rebar
into the moist dirt of the crawl space. I attached a ground rod lug and a
piece of 12 guage wire from the tuner to the lug. One question I
have , does distance from ground rod to tuner matter? After some
testing last night I confirmed again that I cannot tune 80 or 30 meters.
I have also picked up rfi in one tv and the surround sound of
another. This was not a problem with my OCF. Hope this helps, I will be
experimenting more today. Thanks again.
73
JR
Hi JR,
You shouldn't have to do anything to the tuner. This tuner,
or more accurately, antenna coupler, is a great tuner when used
correctly (similar to Icom's AH-4. and SCG couplers).
We need more info on your antenna. You said you're have about
90'of wire, but how is it set up, i.e. long wire, inverted L, etc.)
and most importantly, what are you using for a counterpoise?
And the coax is fine. The SWR from the tuner to your radio
will (almost) always be around 1.5 to 1 so loss should low, even with
longer lengths.
I will also e-mail a PDF on antenna's from the SCG company.
It's very good reading. I use an AH-4 with a vertical loop, about 200' of
wire. Keep asking questions and we'll help. 73, Jeff/wb0m
|
JR, I have also run the FC-40 as well as SGCs' and SEA couplers. One thing I have noticed is that the couplers sometimes have a problem with 1/2 wavelength wires. I would either take off about 10' of wire or add about 10' of wire on the radiating element. I have run the FC- 40 with a 9' whip and also with 48' of wire with pretty good success. Let us know how it works out. Thanks, Mike-KB5OZE --- In YaesuTuner@..., "jay_hendershott" <jrcomp@...> wrote:
Thanks for all the helpful information. I have found a combination
that works pretty well although I still cannot tune 75/80 meters.
I am really baffled though about the current ground setup. The ground I have in plave is the original 4' long rebar. It is approximately
15 feet away from the tuner with a 12 guage wire running from the
tuner to the rebat. I am able to tune 160, 40, 20 up to 6 meters. I can not tune 80 or 30 meters. I thought the rebar was to far from
the tuner so I drove a 5 foot chunk of copper pipe into the ground
right below the tuner. Testing afterward showed that I could only
tune 20 meters through 6 meters. I am baffled by this. Clearly the copper tube and shorter ground wire should function better that the
rebar and 15 feet of wire or is the long ground wire to the rebar
acting like a counterpoise? I tried running counterpoises with the
copper pipe but they seemed to make no difference. I am limited on
counterpoise because the tuner is located in my crawl space. It
would not be easy for me to move the tuner outside. I made a few
contacts over the weekend, one being a station in Tokyo, Japan so I
cannot complain but I would like to get 75/80 meters back. One
poster noted the addition of a capacitior in series with the output
wire. How should I determine size and rating of the capacitior?
Again thanks for the help, it has been a learning experience so far.
--- In YaesuTuner@..., "wb0m" <wb0m@> wrote:
Is there anyway to move the coupler outside the house? Your
antenna starts at the coupler, which means you are probably getting RFI
and such from a couple of thing: your antenna is radiating next to
all the
wires in the house and your ground my not be sufficient. Is the ground
rod driven into the dirt? And copper will work better than rebar.
Your long wire antenna sounds fine in length, but you still need a
counterpoise of some sort. Also, there my be high voltage at the end of the antenna so if anyone can come in contact with it, you might
move it up out of the way. - Jeff/wb0m
--- In YaesuTuner@..., "jay_hendershott" <jrcomp@> wrote:
The antenna starts off at the corner of my
fence which is about 5' up from the ground. It then runs straight to
the top peak of my house which is about 30'+ high. This run is
about
65'. The wire passes through a ceramic insulator then it comes
down
to the left corner of my house were it is looped in a ceramic
insulator. It then passes through the wall to the tuner which
is inside the crawl space. The tail from the insulator to the
tuner is
about 14 inches long. I have buried a 4' long piece of rebar
into the
moist dirt of the crawl space. I attached a ground rod lug and
a piece of 12 guage wire from the tuner to the lug. One question
I have
, does distance from ground rod to tuner matter? After some
testing
last night I confirmed again that I cannot tune 80 or 30
meters. I
have also picked up rfi in one tv and the surround sound of
another.
This was not a problem with my OCF. Hope this helps, I will be
experimenting more today. Thanks again.
73
JR
Hi JR,
You shouldn't have to do anything to the tuner. This tuner,
or more
accurately, antenna coupler, is a great tuner when used
correctly
(similar to Icom's AH-4. and SCG couplers).
We need more info on your antenna. You said you're have
about 90'of
wire, but how is it set up, i.e. long wire, inverted L, etc.)
and most
importantly, what are you using for a counterpoise?
And the coax is fine. The SWR from the tuner to your radio
will
(almost) always be around 1.5 to 1 so loss should low, even
with longer lengths.
I will also e-mail a PDF on antenna's from the SCG company.
It's very
good reading. I use an AH-4 with a vertical loop, about 200'
of wire.
Keep asking questions and we'll help. 73, Jeff/wb0m
|
15 feet from tuner to ground = 5m = quarterwave for
20 .....
so i think that is acting as an isolation for 20m
.... best is to use multiple wires with different lnght for the groundwires to a
proper ground if you can not put your tuner outside
?
what about a different lenght of your antenna .....
can you make it longer or shorter???
maybe you can tune it after that on your missig
bands
90feet = 30m = fullwave on 30m
that is the reason why it won?t work on 30m
.....
impedance on 30 is to high for the tuner
.....
you can probably ad some feet of wire on the far
end of the antenna
and then try again to tune it on 30 and
80
if this doesn?t work try to shorten the antenna a
few meters from 30 down to maybe 25-27m
you know that is experimental :-)
hopefully you will find a lenght that your tuner
can tune on every band
you can also try 50 - 100 pf parallel to tuner
output
i have a fc1000 tuner by yaesu and there is a 50pf
with a jumper on the output side
manual says to close the jumper if you have a
lenght that the tuner can?t tune
but the capacitor brings some losses on the higher
bands ....so it is better to take
a longer or shorter wire
best 73?s de dg9bfc
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 9:21
PM
Subject: [YaesuTuner] Re: Coax and output
wire size + 80 meters
Thanks for all the helpful information. I have found a combination
that
works pretty well although I still cannot tune 75/80 meters. I
am really
baffled though about the current ground setup. The ground
I have in plave
is the original 4' long rebar. It is approximately
15 feet away from the
tuner with a 12 guage wire running from the
tuner to the rebat. I am able
to tune 160, 40, 20 up to 6 meters. I
can not tune 80 or 30 meters. I
thought the rebar was to far from
the tuner so I drove a 5 foot chunk of
copper pipe into the ground
right below the tuner. Testing afterward
showed that I could only
tune 20 meters through 6 meters. I am baffled by
this. Clearly the
copper tube and shorter ground wire should function
better that the
rebar and 15 feet of wire or is the long ground wire to
the rebar
acting like a counterpoise? I tried running counterpoises with
the
copper pipe but they seemed to make no difference. I am limited on
counterpoise because the tuner is located in my crawl space. It
would
not be easy for me to move the tuner outside. I made a few
contacts over
the weekend, one being a station in Tokyo, Japan so I
cannot complain but
I would like to get 75/80 meters back. One
poster noted the addition of a
capacitior in series with the output
wire. How should I determine size and
rating of the capacitior?
Again thanks for the help, it has been a
learning experience so far.
--- In YaesuTuner@yahoogroups.com,
"wb0m" wrote:
>
> Is there anyway to move the
coupler outside the house? Your antenna
> starts at the coupler, which
means you are probably getting RFI and
> such from a couple of thing:
your antenna is radiating next to all
the
> wires in the house and
your ground my not be sufficient. Is the
ground
> rod driven into
the dirt? And copper will work better than rebar.
> Your long wire
antenna sounds fine in length, but you still need a
> counterpoise of
some sort. Also, there my be high voltage at the end
> of the antenna so
if anyone can come in contact with it, you might
> move it up out of the
way. - Jeff/wb0m
>
>
>
>
> --- In YaesuTuner@yahoogroups.com,
"jay_hendershott"
wrote:
> The antenna starts off at
the corner of my
> > fence which is about 5' up from the ground. It
then runs
straight to
> > the top peak of my house which is about
30'+ high. This run is
about
> > 65'. The wire passes through a
ceramic insulator then it comes
down
> > to the left corner of my
house were it is looped in a ceramic
> > insulator. It then passes
through the wall to the tuner which is
> > inside the crawl space.
The tail from the insulator to the tuner
is
> > about 14 inches
long. I have buried a 4' long piece of rebar
into the
> > moist
dirt of the crawl space. I attached a ground rod lug and a
> > piece
of 12 guage wire from the tuner to the lug. One question I
have
>
> , does distance from ground rod to tuner matter? After some
testing
> > last night I confirmed again that I cannot tune 80 or
30 meters.
I
> > have also picked up rfi in one tv and the
surround sound of
another.
> > This was not a problem with my
OCF. Hope this helps, I will be
> > experimenting more today. Thanks
again.
> >
> > 73
> >
> > JR
>
>
> >
> > > Hi JR,
> > > You shouldn't
have to do anything to the tuner. This tuner,
or more
> > >
accurately, antenna coupler, is a great tuner when used
correctly
>
> > (similar to Icom's AH-4. and SCG couplers).
> > > We
need more info on your antenna. You said you're have about
90'of
>
> > wire, but how is it set up, i.e. long wire, inverted L, etc.)
and most
> > > importantly, what are you using for a
counterpoise?
> > > And the coax is fine. The SWR from the tuner
to your radio
will
> > > (almost) always be around 1.5 to 1 so
loss should low, even with
> > > longer lengths.
> > >
I will also e-mail a PDF on antenna's from the SCG company.
It's
very
> > > good reading. I use an AH-4 with a vertical loop, about
200' of
wire.
> > > Keep asking questions and we'll help. 73,
Jeff/wb0m
> > >
> >
>
|
my fc1000 can tune 160 with a 3m
whip!!!!!
best 73?s
dg9bfc
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 12:47
PM
Subject: [YaesuTuner] Re: Coax and output
wire size + 80 meters
JR,
I have also run the FC-40 as well as SGCs' and SEA couplers. One
thing I have noticed is that the couplers sometimes have a problem
with 1/2 wavelength wires. I would either take off about 10' of wire
or add about 10' of wire on the radiating element. I have run the
FC-
40 with a 9' whip and also with 48' of wire with pretty good
success.
Let us know how it works
out.
Thanks,
Mike-KB5OZE
--- In YaesuTuner@yahoogroups.com,
"jay_hendershott"
wrote:
>
> Thanks for all
the helpful information. I have found a combination
> that works pretty
well although I still cannot tune 75/80 meters.
I
> am really
baffled though about the current ground setup. The
ground
> I have
in plave is the original 4' long rebar. It is approximately
> 15 feet
away from the tuner with a 12 guage wire running from the
> tuner to
the rebat. I am able to tune 160, 40, 20 up to 6 meters.
I
> can
not tune 80 or 30 meters. I thought the rebar was to far from
> the
tuner so I drove a 5 foot chunk of copper pipe into the ground
> right
below the tuner. Testing afterward showed that I could only
> tune 20
meters through 6 meters. I am baffled by this. Clearly
the
> copper
tube and shorter ground wire should function better that the
> rebar
and 15 feet of wire or is the long ground wire to the rebar
> acting
like a counterpoise? I tried running counterpoises with the
> copper
pipe but they seemed to make no difference. I am limited on
>
counterpoise because the tuner is located in my crawl space. It
> would
not be easy for me to move the tuner outside. I made a few
> contacts
over the weekend, one being a station in Tokyo, Japan so I
> cannot
complain but I would like to get 75/80 meters back. One
> poster noted
the addition of a capacitior in series with the output
> wire. How
should I determine size and rating of the capacitior?
> Again thanks
for the help, it has been a learning experience so
far.
>
>
--- In YaesuTuner@yahoogroups.com,
"wb0m" wrote:
> >
> > Is there anyway to move
the coupler outside the house? Your
antenna
> > starts at the
coupler, which means you are probably getting RFI
and
> > such
from a couple of thing: your antenna is radiating next to
all
>
the
> > wires in the house and your ground my not be sufficient. Is
the
> ground
> > rod driven into the dirt? And copper will
work better than rebar.
> > Your long wire antenna sounds fine in
length, but you still need a
> > counterpoise of some sort. Also,
there my be high voltage at the
end
> > of the antenna so if
anyone can come in contact with it, you might
> > move it up out of
the way. - Jeff/wb0m
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In YaesuTuner@yahoogroups.com,
"jay_hendershott"
> wrote:
> > The antenna
starts off at the corner of my
> > > fence which is about 5' up
from the ground. It then runs
> straight to
> > > the top
peak of my house which is about 30'+ high. This run is
> about
>
> > 65'. The wire passes through a ceramic insulator then it comes
> down
> > > to the left corner of my house were it is
looped in a ceramic
> > > insulator. It then passes through the
wall to the tuner which
is
> > > inside the crawl space. The
tail from the insulator to the
tuner
> is
> > > about
14 inches long. I have buried a 4' long piece of rebar
> into
the
> > > moist dirt of the crawl space. I attached a ground rod
lug and
a
> > > piece of 12 guage wire from the tuner to the
lug. One question
I
> have
> > > , does distance from
ground rod to tuner matter? After some
> testing
> > > last
night I confirmed again that I cannot tune 80 or 30
meters.
>
I
> > > have also picked up rfi in one tv and the surround sound
of
> another.
> > > This was not a problem with my OCF.
Hope this helps, I will be
> > > experimenting more today. Thanks
again.
> > >
> > > 73
> > >
> >
> JR
> > >
> > >
> > > > Hi JR,
> > > > You shouldn't have to do anything to the tuner. This
tuner,
> or more
> > > > accurately, antenna coupler, is
a great tuner when used
> correctly
> > > > (similar to
Icom's AH-4. and SCG couplers).
> > > > We need more info on
your antenna. You said you're have
about
> 90'of
> > >
> wire, but how is it set up, i.e. long wire, inverted L, etc.)
>
and most
> > > > importantly, what are you using for a
counterpoise?
> > > > And the coax is fine. The SWR from the
tuner to your radio
> will
> > > > (almost) always be
around 1.5 to 1 so loss should low, even
with
> > > >
longer lengths.
> > > > I will also e-mail a PDF on antenna's
from the SCG company.
> It's very
> > > > good reading.
I use an AH-4 with a vertical loop, about 200'
of
> wire.
>
> > > Keep asking questions and we'll help. 73, Jeff/wb0m
>
> > >
> > >
> >
>
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I thought the rebar was to far from the tuner so I drove a 5 foot chunk of copper pipe into the ground
right below the tuner. Testing afterward showed that I could only
tune 20 meters through 6 meters. I am baffled by this. Clearly the
copper tube and shorter ground wire should function better that the
rebar and 15 feet of wire or is the long ground wire to the rebar
acting like a counterpoise? You have a good ground now, but a counterpoise is also needed. Add as much wire as possible in the crawl space, but a couple of wire as far apart as possible as long as possible in all directions of possible (check a counterpoise diagram for any vertical antenna and you'll get the idea). You will also need to add or subtract wire from your antenna. Here's some "favorable" wire lengths from the AH-4 reflector, with the range parenthesis. 40' (35-44) 58' (52-64) 76' (70-81) 73, Jeff/wb0m
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The tuner?(coupler)?should not need a counterpoise just? a good ground. That's why it is called a random wire length tuner.? The tuner should also be length insensitive (to a point - it won't tune a loop).? Before going to all this fuss with changing wire lengths and counterpoises... try pourning about 1 gallon of water mixed with as much road salt as will disolve into the water?onto both ground rods. Disconnect the rods from?gnd strap?before doing this just?to be safest.?? ? I have one of these FC40's and I'm not too impressed with it so far compared to the SG230. ? '73 JD VA7BTL
wb0m wrote:
I thought the rebar was to far from
> the tuner so I drove a 5 foot chunk of copper pipe into the ground
> right below the tuner. Testing afterward showed that I could only
> tune 20 meters through 6 meters. I am baffled by this. Clearly the
> copper tube and shorter ground wire should function better that the
> rebar and 15 feet of wire or is the long ground wire to the rebar
> acting like a counterpoise?
You have a good ground now, but a counterpoise is also needed. Add as
much wire as possible in the crawl space, but a couple of wire as far
apart as possible as long as possible in all directions of possible
(check a counterpoise diagram for any vertical antenna and you'll get
the idea).
You will also need to add or subtract wire from your
antenna. Here's some "favorable" wire lengths from the AH-4 reflector,
with the range parenthesis.
40' (35-44)
58' (52-64)
76' (70-81)
73, Jeff/wb0m
|
--- In YaesuTuner@..., JD Baillie <tisvcs@...> wrote: The tuner (coupler) should not need a counterpoise just a good
ground. That's why it is called a random wire length tuner. The tuner should also be length insensitive (to a point - it won't tune a loop). '73, JD, VA7BTL<<< That is true about the ground. A counterpoise, however, will help in antenna efficiency (an antenna in seawater is a whole different story). This is also mentioned in SGC's own website ". And, while the coupler (and all similar auto couplers) SHOULD be "length insensitive", they are not. That's why it JR should try adding or subtracting the length. BTW, the FC-40 and others will tune loops. I'm using a 205' hybrid delta loop right now with my AH-4 coupler (with no ground rod). 73, Jeff/wb0m
|
The suggestion for salt water was not a reference to what a sea water ground can do. It was a suggestion to improve the two existing grounds by doing something easy. Very often regardless of how good the station counterpoises were, not much radio comms happened until the gnd rods got pissed on. But as the gnds here are in a crawl space I figured there might be smell issues (wives hate that kind of thing)?with that method so suggested the road salt instead .. which usually has other minerals in it too. ? Happy new year all. ? 73 JD VA7BTL?
wb0m wrote:
--- In YaesuTuner@yahoogroups.com, JD Baillie wrote: >>> The tuner (coupler) should not need a counterpoise just a good ground. That's why it is called a random wire length tuner. The tuner should also be length insensitive (to a point - it won't tune a loop). '73, JD, VA7BTL<<< That is true about the ground. A counterpoise, however, will help in antenna efficiency (an antenna in seawater is a whole different story). This is also mentioned in SGC's own website "". And, while the coupler (and all similar auto couplers) SHOULD be "length insensitive" , they are not. That's why it JR should try
adding or subtracting the length. BTW, the FC-40 and others will tune loops. I'm using a 205' hybrid delta loop right now with my AH-4 coupler (with no ground rod). 73, Jeff/wb0m
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Well I believe I have the inadequate ground issue solved. I brought
home a 7' solid steel 7/8 rod and drove it into the ground below the
tuner. I felt like I was "working on the railroad". I connected it to
the tuner with 11/16 welder ground wire. I am still experiencing the
same issues + now since abandoning the rebar ground I have lost any
band below 20 meters. I will try counterpoises but in the mean time
decided to throw a wire up into one of my trees. The length of this
wire is 44'. I can tune 80, 75, 60, 20, up to 6 meters. I have lost
40 and 160 meters. I will keep trying, I am sure I will eventually
find a happy medium! Thanks All.
JR
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