Now you need to go to the middle of 40 meters and check your SWR. Record that and then
go to 80 meters and do the same. Your standing wave should be below 1.5 on both bands.
If it is below 1.5 on both bands no adjusting is needed on the matching coil. However, if the
SWR is above 1.5 on 40 meters and low on 80 meters this means there is too much
inductance from the matching coil. This can easily be corrected by simply spreading the
matching coil (Example 7) a very small amount until a low SWR is attained on 40 and 80
meters. If you have spread the coil approximately 2 inches wide and the SWR has not
dropped on 40 meters then there is most likely a ground issue. However, keep in mind if
you had to go to this extreme to tune, your ground path is most likely
too far away or you have other antennas too close to this antenna.
If properly installed this antenna will have a standing wave below 1.5
from 3.5 to 30 MHz (coverage depends on whip length). We know
that every
antenna
installation
is
unique
and
it
is
impossible to describe all the scenarios in this manual.
However, if you are having problems with this initial tuning please call.
With everything working and your ready to button this system up, then you need to put
a small dab of dielectric compound or petroleum jelly (Vaseline) in the molex connector
at the antenna and also in the PL-259 at the antenna. Wipe off any excess and then seal
the molex plug and coax connector with Coax Seal or tape. We’ve seen this technique
used for years on installs in the northern states where a lot of salt is used on the roads
in the wintertime and when dissembled they look as clean and shiny as the day they
were installed.
Operation
Remember that when the coil is all the way in it's resonant on the high bands and all the
way out on the low bands. It will take a little time to get use to this style of antenna,
some mark the antenna with tape to mark the approximate location of the bands, some
just listen to the noise level increase on the radio's receive when it's close to resonant.
When you fine tune you need to transmit a low carrier (AM, FM, CW) at 5 to 10 watts
and watch the SWR meter until the dip. There are also several types of controllers on
the market, most are good in their own unique way.
Example 7
IMPORTANT:
Don’t make any adjustments to the
matching coil until you read and understand the next
paragraph.
NOTE:
Don’t use the Dielectric Compound or Coax Seal
until all testing has been done.
