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How To Get Low VSWR From 102 Inch Whip
The 102" whip in a general 1/4 wave length antenna designed for placement on top of a ground-plane.
Whenever the antenna is mounted in such a way that this ground-plane or its effect is not perfect
in relations to the 102" length of the antenna, the result of being out of resonance start to
appear in high SWR and transmit-receive efficiency drops rapidly.
Very rare is the antenna electrically too short for most applications, thus DO NOT CUT IT.
Listed below this guide are some common errors which CREATE VSWR.
Ensure that the common errors do not apply to your installation. Once this is done, you will need to
start adjusting the antenna and compensate for the error in its ground-plane surrounding.
You will need two or three small nylon cable ties and a length of clean metal rod about 10 to 15 inches
long and the thickness of the whip near the end before the BALL. The BALL is a safety device to prevent
the end of the antenna rod from poking holes in things like your eyes, etc. and
of course it is designed as the Corona Balls;
used to eliminate the appearance of "fire" or "light"
shooting off your antenna. This is caused by the discharge of corona off the
ends of the elements ball that prevents arcing degeneration of the end of the
antenna.
Over lap this new length of clean metal rod to the whip as if you were extending the
length of the antenna. About 6 or 7 inches over-lap is a good start. Temporarily secure this added
length in place using the 2 small nylon ties.
Always use the low power of the radio alone to do your basic adjustments. Take an SWR reading with this
new added length to your 102" whip which should look like it is now about 108 or so inches long. Shorten
and/lengthen this extended tip under you reach the lowest VSWR you can get with your configuration.
Once the VSWR is determined to be the lowest, measure the ADDED length to the solid 102" whip. This is
the length you will need to extend the whip.
This extension needs to be added to the bottom of the whip to act as an extender. The attempt to just
add the length of wire to the end of the antenna will prove to be fruitless as these cannot be wrapped
with ties, taped, wire-wrapped, welded or bonded. All these will fail.
Instead; have someone make a 1/2" thick of solid rod the length you need and drill/tap both ends
with a 3/8"fine thread (8x24) and stud one end to go into the base mount and your original 102" whip screwed into the other
threaded end. It too is best not to use thread-all or tubing as these will break or collapse.
* * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
COMMON ERRORS WHICH CREATE SWR PROBLEMS
A. Broken, shorted, pinched, curled, melted, or kinked coax.
B. Low grade coaxial cable.
C. Poor, or no chassis ground on the antenna mount. Reflective ground too far beneath the antenna. (This holds true with vehicles which have a fiber-glass body).
D. Short or open connections at the mount.
E. Wrong coax type. Single antennas use 50 or 52 ohm impedance coax (RG-58C/U,
RG-58(F),RG-8A/U,RG-213/U,RG-8(F),RG-17A/U,RG-218/U). Dual antennas use 72, 73 or 75 ohm impedance coax (co-phased/balanced),
(RG-59B/U, RG-59(F), RG-11A/U).
F. Excess cable wound into a small coil (12" or less) can create a choke effect and create a magnetic field which will cause undesirable SWR.
G. Improper cable length. To calculate as close as possible what length should be used, formula 468 divided by the frequency (in MHz) will give 1/2 of a wave length (in feet); thus as an example, 468 divided by 27.205MHz (chan 20) gives 17.2 feet for a 1/2 wave length of coax. (Divide again by 2 for 1/4 wave length).
H. Antenna tuned without the tip cover installed and later the cover replaced.
I. Antenna tuned with tip installed and later the tip removed or lost.
J. Tuning the antenna in a garage, under car-port, touching tree limb, and other areas that confine the antenna's radiated field.
K. Taking measurements with doors open, hood up, trunk lid open and someone standing near the antenna. (clear at least 1/4 wave-length).
L. Faulty equipment for measurements.
M. Loose antenna, mount, mounting stud, and/or connectors/reducing sleeves.
N. Amplifiers installed out of phase.
O. Ropes, strings, chains, tennis-balls, garden-hoses, and other junk holding
- touching the antenna in place. (If items like these are needed, make sure they are all in place when the SWR is checked and calculated, otherwise they will influence the readings.
P. The shorter the antenna is physically, the more sensitive it is to adjustments. [Electrical length compensated by a coil, reflecting rods/arms].
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