Antenna repairs

 

After the 13 colonies special event was over I decided to finish the fix on the Butternut HF6V antenna. I first needed to clean up the base because of the weeds and junk that had grown around the area where it was too close to use the gas lawn trimmer for fear of cutting ground wires and feedline. After manually cleaning this area up I started on the Heliax to RG-11 transition by first totally disconnecting the matching stub and taking it to the shack to solder and fix both coax and antenna connections. I reconnected both ends and covered antenna ring lugs and bolt connections with Sanchem no-ox grease to help keep connections from rusting . I also recoated over the vinyl tape around the  lugs with liquid electrical tape and then turned My attention to the coax transition. I first used mastic tape to keep the vinyl tape glue from direct contact with the connectors and then covered that with first super 88 vinyl,then coax seal tape and then coated entire area with liquid elcetrical tape and let dry. After it was dry I taped entire area to a coffee can to keep it off the ground.                                                     

I should mention i also went inside the shack and tested each of these steps to make sure the antenna connections were still good. Would be no fun to finish and need to cut into tape and seal to fix. I also took this opportunity to refurbish the guys and poles used to attach the guys. After this I went through each band and tested and recorded results using the MFJ antenna analyzer. All bands look good!

I also needed to work on My 260' dipole and replace rope at both ends and at one end it needed to be anchored higher.I'm not so young any more so I enlisted the aid of My wife to hold extension ladder and by My ground assist person. That job also went well and antenna tested good. I should be ready for the upcoming winter months with two reliable antennas!!

Tim

13 Colonies special Event 2021

 

 This event started July 1st at 8:00 am CST and continued until July 7th at 11:00 pm CST so plenty of time to participate. The 13 colony states are typically on air from morning till late evening using voice, CW and digital modes. Three extra stations are also part of this event-WM3PEN in Philadelphia, GB13COL from Great Britain and a new one this year--TM13COL from France. The two European stations will be difficult for my little station because of my limitation of voice only. No digital connectivity to my win10 pc yet and I'm not a CW guy as a poor 5 wpm is not doable for this type of participation.

 My first successful contact was with K2M from Pennsylvania at 18:52 July 1st on 20 meters and I managed several more the first day. This pattern continued for several days as I added more of the 13 colonies to the log but had no luck with the three bonus stations. Truthfully I hardly saw the WM3PEN station on the air as often as the others although it might have been on when I wasn't in the shack. The weather outside was nice so time in the shack was between yard work and other chores.

 By the last 24 hours I only needed K2I- New Jersey for a cleen sweep of the 13 colonies. Early morning of the 7th I was on the local simplex net when I saw K2I spotted on 40m so after last round on the net I tuned to 40m and K2I was not strong but also not too busy. I transmitted my call and He came back with "who is the N0?" and I completed the QSO and He was in the log. Clean Sweep!!

 In conclusion I'm very glad I spent the time to fix even temporarily my vertical antenna- most contacts were on this antenna except for a short 10m opening when I switched to my mono bander. As usual the operators were patient and superb and it seemed even the pile ups were not too unruly. My check for the certificate is already in the mail after another fun, successful special event!

Tim

 

Butternut HF6v antenna trouble

 I struggled with this ground mounted vertical having an intermittent problem over the last winter until it finally totally failed. The upcoming 13 colony special event was just ahead so I decided to fix this issue. My original installation was over 10 years ago and it had lasted very reliably until recently. I used Andrews LDF-50a heliax  run on the ground to the  RG-11 matching stub and at that connection I had weatherproofed  it with first mastic tape and then scotch 88 and finally coax seal. This connection I taped to a coffee can to keep it off the ground.  

  The coax transition is where I assumed the problem is so this is where I carefully cut through the coax seal and tape to reveal a nice shiny female "N" connector and brass heliax "N" connector. The RG-11 "N" connector came apart with a gentle tug. Problem found !! With a little patience I was able to temporarily put this connection back together to test. The center pin solder had failed for some reason--maybe not good to begin with?? This RG-11 had this connector on before I used it so who knows!

  The temperature outside was getting very uncomfortable so I decided to leave this temporary until later and just tape a bag around it for now. It tested very good with the antenna analyzer and when i hooked it back up to the radio the signals where great. I believe I'm now ready for 13 colony special event. I will do a write up of my endeavours!

  Tim 

 This was written in June!