Hi folks....need to pick your brains please as mine are sozzled after trying to figure this out.


Strung up my Western Hf 10 today....I'd say it's about 20' or so off the ground. I'm using a run of 45m of RG 223 into an Mfj 949D. Fired up my Ft1200.....Keyed up on 20m......Not a flicker.....zilch........nothing from the metre of the Mfj tuner.....tried every inductor setting.....and Nowt absolutely nothing......I have stations coming through so I know that it's picking something up but as I said when I key the mic there is no movement at all......The needle on the meter on the radio takes a nose dive to 0 and the PO for power illuminates in red........Any ideas ??......Bad connector ??......if tried different leads from tuner to radio but still nothing....The only connectors I haven't changed are the ones on the main run of coax

Many thx

Mark

Could be , try the system with a dummy load and work your way through it ..

It's sooooooo frustrating......I'm using Amphenol connectors which by design are a bloody tight fit....I'm fairly sure they have been fitted as they should !?.....I've already messages Fred Western and he reckons 18-20 feet is ok ........why no movement though on the Mfj meter ??.....I'm wondering now if it's knackered......I'll take the top off tomorrow to see if any arcing has occurred .......Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr............

AS ABOVE,
Have you tried a dummy load to the rig,
Radio's finals might have shuffled of it's mortal coil.....

Mark,

First step is to do what Billy suggested - put a dummy load in place of the antenna and see what the meters read. That'll tell you whether the fault lies with the feeder/antenna or somewhere else.

Steve G3TXQ

No.....I haven't........first time radio has been bloooomin turned on .....so better not of done....only a quick key of the mic !?!?

Yep.....I'll do that......many thx ;-)

P.s.....got needle movement on AM......but with high SWR ??

Forget the tuner for a while, put the dummy load directly onto the radio antenna socket, ie a known 50 ohm load.
Then see what it will talk on SSB, and give in the way of carrier on AM/FM or CW etc.
Then at least you know the radio is fine!
If connecting the dummy load on the output side of the tuner, put it in bypass mode, if it has one, you don't need to "tune" a 50 ohm load!

Ok....ta folks ;-)

Sussed it !!....Radio is fine.....turned out to be a dodgy soldered connector at antenna end......I'm the culprit, I think I need more practice soldering !!

Cheers fellas !

Job done

How are you getting on with the western HF 10 i was thinking of purchasing one. What made you decide on the HF 10?

Hi....yes the antenna is now fine and works a treat........really good materials used and fantastic build quality. I've strung mine up between a tree in our garden and a stand off bracket with a small stainless marine pulley. The whole antenna can be easily lowered by the para cord that I have tied off on the insulator. I'd guess it's about 20' off the ground or so. It does as I said work a treat and seems to have good coverage of the bands.........my main reason for buying it was the length of the antenna and the excellent user reports.

Thx
Mark