The Complaint That Wasn’t

The Society recently received a complaint from a new member that another LPFM Station was swamping his signal. A visit by a Society member revealed a different story. The Society member reported back:

• The problem is in your antenna/coax
• Impedance was 24 ohms. should be 50
• SWR 2.1:1. should be 1.5: max. (But  better if closer to 1.1:1)
• Z=10. Z should be as close to 0 as possible but certainly below 3 or  4
• The coax RG58 is 6 years + old and looks a bit suspect.
• the connections to the JPole appear to be perished and probably letting water into the cable..
• I would remake the RF choke with 4 turns at 100 mm dia rather than the 2 turns as at present.

It has been reported that the station is now back on air. Another great result from the Society.