ARROW Communications Association

Actually, I can't answer that question, except to suggest that far-too-often Murphy is with us. (A curse I thought of in college, and a particularly bad one IMHO, is to wish someone "May Murphy be with you.") In any case, as the winter weather hit hard-hard-hard over the past 6-8 weeks, not only did my tribander driven element (tied vertically to a tree branch at least 60 feet up) finally reach complete deafness, but, suddenly, my HF9v multiband vertical (ground mounted) went deaf, too. At the same time, one end of my 20/40/80 fan dipole was twisted up by the wind - just the 40 and 80 wires, fortunately, in between the last 2 spacers - and, though it still hears very well (the best antenna I have, I think) the SWRs on 40 and 80 jumped up from their usual 1.1+ into the 2.5 - 3.5:1 range. For some reason, the 20m tuning on the fan dipole also jumped to 1.9:1 and worse, depending on frequency, even though it isn't involved in the twist - interaction, apparently.

Strangely, the vertical 40m delta loop made of 18 gauge magnet wire has survived. I thought, when I put it up, that it would snap during the first wind storm (and we've had some FIERCE windstorms this winter), but it is hanging on and tuning up well with the Z-11 autotuner and TV twinlead feed. It still doesn't hear as well as the fan dipole, anywhere, but it's height is only 7-8 feet at the bottom and about 25 feet at the top.

So ... I guess it's time to brave the bitter cold this weekend, lower the triband vertical down and replace the feedline - I think it's probably full of water, since performance went away over a 3 month period. I will also lower the fan dipole through the snaggly tree branches (you need three hands or to use your teeth to do this very well), untwist it, remove the 3' wire and heavy sinker I had HOPED would keep it from twisting up again, and add at least one more set of spacers in the part of it that likes to twist. Hopefully that will put a stop to the problem. I have no idea what's wrong with the HF9v, but maybe it's just completely iced up ... the parts are pretty much all on the outside and easy to inspect.

One question in my mind is how to prevent water incursion from recurring. The coax is open at the end where the shield and center conductor connect to the antenna (the triband dipole AND the HF9v). I sprayed each with a couple of coats of clear-coat paint, but that probably degraded in the sun's UV, turned brittle, and broke away. I have thought of seeing if some cyanoacrylate glue would wick into the shield and prevent water from getting in that way, but it might also turn the dielectric to goo or something. I thought about putting a few drops of silicone oil on the shield, as that would soak down into the coax and reject water, but ... it wouldn't stop there. I'd probably notice the connector on the other end, probably 90' away, feeling slippery within a few days or weeks, and I worry it would change the dielectric characteristics of the coax and/or make it lossy. (Water does this - permeates the shield and makes the cable very lossy.) The on-line experts all recommend some kind of goo (like electricians use to seal conduit ends and things) be mashed around the open end of the coax, but I hate working with that messy crap. I could do as I did in the old days, though, and just make a waterproof ball of silicone sealant or bathtub caulk around the end of the coax, but I'd still worry about water getting in via capillary action through the shield. I may experiment with some superglue and see if it degrades a sample piece of cable ...

Hopefully I will have all my antennas back in good shape (and my fingers will thaw) before the ARRL International DX Phone contest on 3/1-2.
BTW, I was busy with other hobbies and things (my musical pursuits have risen in prominence in the past 6 months) during the ARRL DX CW test, but I operated about 2 hours and made about 53 Qs, 50 on 20m, using the compromised fan dipole. Contacts included KH6LC in Hawaii on 15m _and_ 40m, running my 5 watts as always. It's amazing what 5 watts will do!
Best rx & keep on jammin'! - Tim , KT8K

Post-note ---
As it turned out, the triband vertical was not performing well because both the center conductor AND shield were snapped off at the antenna - I was trying to transmit into an open ended piece of coax. Hooking it back up made for a BIG improvement, though it was still outperformed by the 20/40/80 inverted vee at the same height. More later on antenna comparisons.