Well, I found a solution to the problem. I had been using my old MFJ manual tuner simply for its balun and antenna switch (tuning circuitry bypassed). It appears at some point there was a failure in the metering circuit. While trying things I noticed a burned resistor smell and when I opened the box found several burned out parts on the sensor board. I removed the board and just ran a bypass where it had been and the problem is now gone. Had a long rag chew on 40m at 500w at the end of the day and no issues at all.
I know antennas are often a compromise, but I've been using this one for years and made lots of contacts on it (also have a triband yagi for 20/15/10). I'm the opposite of you, I spend most of my available time operating rather than worrying about a better antenna. There's no one solution that works for everyone. 73 Nels K1UR On 5/15/2011 10:48 PM, Mike WA8BXN wrote: > > If a tuner gets you to a good match at low power where there is a balun > involved, but you run into problems at high power, I would first suspect > that the balun is getting saturated. Using a balun between an antenna and > the tuner many times is not a good thing to do. Using a balanced line tuner > is really the best thing to do. Changing the length of feedline from antenna > to balun does change the impedance that the balun or tuner has to deal with. > And that chance can help at a specific frequency that has problems. > > Using a single antenna on multiple bands is very attractive. Unfortunately > it is sometimes not an easy thing to do efficiently. In most cases antennas > are always a tradeoff. There are so many constraints we deal with. Lot sizes > deed restrictions, supports available, how much we can spend. You want a > great antenna system and unlimited budget? I'm sure someone can sell you the > land needed, someone can clear it, someone can put up multiple support > structures and good antennas for the bands of interest. > > Most often what we wind up with is a compromise in one way or another. In > many cases that compromise, with careful study and understanding, can result > in a quite respectable antenna. The other trade off to consider is the time > spent in getting the best antenna versus getting on the air a lot with a > variety of antennas (or maybe just one). > > I must confess that I probably spend more time brooding over what could be a > better antenna than getting on the air and making contacts with the fairly > decent antennas that I do have here. > > 73 - Mike WA8BXN > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
