[600MRG] XSH/20 SWR fun

[WE0H-Mike]

An auto tuner like Ralph uses might be an option ;)

Mike
WE0H
WD2XGI



Rudy wrote:
> As some of you may have noticed, I've been QRT the last couple of
> nights. I'm having an interesting time with my SWR.  As usual we had a
> long dry summer.  While digging the holes for the guy anchors for my new
> 160m vertical I found my soil bone dry and hard as a rock at least two
> feet down. Digging required a large crowbar to break up the soil.  My
> 630m antenna was adjusted in mid summer, SWR=1.1 @ 476 kHz the minimum
> SWR frequency.
>
> Two days ago the drought broke and we got two inches of rain over 24
> hours. The morning after the rain I noticed my transmit power was down.
> A quick check showed my SWR @ 476 kHz was 1.9 and the minimum SWR point
> had moved down to 469 kHz.  During the day as the sun dried out the
> ground the SWR minimum moved steady upward but then we had more rain and
> it shifted down again!
>
> Rather than run back and forth retuning I'm just going to wait a few
> days until things stabilize.  Last winter the SWR was very stable once
> the soil got soaked.  I was a bit surprised my tuning was so sensitive
> to soil moisture.  I have 128 150' radials which extend beyond the
> top-hat.  I thought that would immunize me but not so.  This may explain
> in part why the pro's often use several hundred radials under short
> top-loaded verticals. These radials systems typically have a radius
> somewhat greater than the top-loading radius.
>
> Will be back on shortly.  73, Rudy