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system. When you see this problem, you may assume that a ground rod without a
radial system is not enough. Vertical antennas require a good radial wire system.
Symptom: Resonant point changes during wet or icy weather.
Look for:
Normal condition.
Symptom: Insulation arcs over between 80 meter and 40 meter coils damaging fiberglass.
Look for:
Operation at high power levels in areas where salt or pollution deposits have built up
on the insulators. The cure is to keep insulators clean through routine maintenance.
Symptom: Intermittent operation. SWR jumps up and down suddenly, and reception is also
intermittent.
Look for:
Loose connections in the feedline or matching line (if used). Bad relay in rig. Bad
antenna switch or connecting cable. Broken or corroded connections at the feedpoint.
Bad radial/ground connection. Radial or antenna contacting metal when wind blows.
Loose hardware on the antenna. Check and secure all connections.
Symptom: Antenna displays generally degraded performance after long period of time.
Look for:
Lack of routine maintenance. Coax may be waterlogged or damaged. Buildup of salt or
pollution deposits on insulators and capacitors. Radial system corroded or rotted away.
Owner must do routine maintenance at intervals, according to local conditions.
Symptom: SWR is OK on 75 meters, but goes up gradually when high power is applied. This is
accompanied by heating of 200 pF capacitor.
Look for:
Bad ceramic capacitor. Replace.
Symptom: Antenna doesn't tune 80 meters even though radials are in place and of proper length.
Look for:
Antenna far out of tune; operator has not followed systematic tuning procedure. Start
with suggested settings in instructions. Make an SWR chart to determine point of
resonance. Adjust coils
carefully!
Remember, tuning, is
sharp
on these bands, so it is
easy to pass the resonant point, then assume erroneously that the antenna isn't tuning.
BEFORE you call Butternut for help, please double check your installation, including
all connections and dimensions. Tune carefully and systematically. Have SWR curves
available. Be prepared to describe your installation in detail.