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!
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