Here is my guess. The stationmaster is a phased collinear array antenna. If there is a break or loose connection between the phased elements, the pattern of the antenna can be changed. It may have gain, but somewhere up off the horizon. So, someone who was line-of-site to the primary lobe of a properly working stationmaster might be under the new lobe of a defective one that has it's lobe up in the air. This may explain the large changes in signal strength.
I also have found that a stationmaster with a bad connection does not always show a large change in VSWR. It does change, but not to a great degree. The big symptom seems to be crackling noises in the receiver when the repeater is transmitting. 73, Joe, K1ike Kevin Custer wrote: > I think we need to look at the original context posted: > > /Distance users that could get in with 5 watts or less with a 5-9 > signal can't key up the Rpt with 50 watts in a 30 mile radius. We > Have SWR of 1.8 across the 2meter band. Was 1.3 when checked in years > past. Local users ( less than 5 miles line of sight) have noticed RX > signal changes. > > /They have users at less than 5 miles out - line-of-sight. This is > hardly going to encompass users that are "just above the noise level". > > I think we can all agree that his problem is not the added loss of > changing out of the feed line. Now, if the connectors were not > installed correctly or the replacement cable is bad (adding more like > 10 dB of difference to the equation), than that's a different story....
