Hi Eric, It appears that a faulty installation of the jumper at the sidearm is the beginning of the problems, and eliminating all the adaptors you can is the other component. Regarding repairing the antenna: is it feasible to make your own jumper pig tail (perhaps from super flex) and permanently solder one end to the antenna feed point? That would eliminate connectors that are inaccessible at the antenna. Make the jumper long enough to reach the tower, and ensure it is well attached to the stand off bracket. If the radials are what I recall, they're easy if you have the dimensions. IIRC, they're simple flat stock stainless or aluminum pieces with rounded edges, kind of resembling metal tongue depressors with a sharp angle bend in one end. I could fab them for you if you'd like.
At 06:06 PM 9/7/2007, you wrote: >I called RFS this afternoon. Sad times, indeed. First of all no one >there could identify the connector/adapter part. Second of all, they >claim "no spare parts available" for Stationmaster antennas. I even >tried to buy a set of radials for a PD455 that has lost them, and >they don't even offer them separately! > >Anyone have a bad UHF Super StationMaster that they want to sell off >the radials or coaxial connector/adapter from? > >To top matters, the antennas aren't even built in the states anymore, >and are contracted out to a non-RFS company. One more nail in our >industrial coffin! > >One another note - has anyone run a PD455 with and without the >radials, and noted the difference in performance? > >Eric >KE2D > > >--- In [email protected], "kk2ed" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Good Evening, > > > > I have a PD455 Super Stationmaster that is about 12 years old. I > > recently replaced it due to and SWR issue. I suspected a jumper > > issue. But since it is so high up on a tower, I didn't want to take > > any chances while having the climbers rig the tower, and pay twice, > > so I went ahead and replaced the antenna as well as the jumper. > > > > Well, come to find out, the problem was that the LDF4-50 jumper >came > > loose from the side arm, and the stress pulled the center pin in on > > the N connector, thus causing an arc condition inside the N female > > connector at the bottom of the antenna. To make matters worse, the > > actual N Female termination was half unscrewed from the bottom of >the > > antenna. > > > > Once on the ground, I decided to unscrew it out completely. To my > > suprise, it looks like the antenna is actually terminated into > > something resembling a UHF male connector embedded into the end of > > the inner assembly, and a UHF female to N female adapter is screwed > > in at the factory, providing the N female termination as ordered >I'm > > guessing that if some other termination (DIN or UHF) is ordered, a > > different adapter is screwed in. > > > > Anyone familiar with this adapter, or know where I can obtain said > > replacement adapter? I have some standard UHF female - N female > > barrel adapters, but they are much shorter and not of the quality > > like the Celwave unit. I don't want to trust a cheap adapter at >500ft > > in the air! > > > > I'll call RFS when I get a chance, but based on recent >correspondence > > with them, I don't hold much hope getting any support from them. >Sad > > part is their old factory in Marboro NJ was a mile from my office - > > in the early 90's telecom boom days I used to drive my truck there > > and pick 30 Statiomasters up at a clip, no cardboard tubes needed! > > Now their old office and testing grounds is a strip mall, and the > > factory land has been surrounded by million dollar homes! > > > > > > Eric > > KE2D > > > > > > > > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > Thanks, Robin Midgett K4IDC VHF+ Glutton EM66se
