[Elecraft] Update on my progress - Now General RF Issue WAS 160m loop experiment a big failure

[Ian White GM3SEK]

Don wrote:

...]
>
>1) fixed green wire problem
>2) unearthed coax and it is laying on the ground on the top of the 
>grass
>3) build choke with 31 mix at antenna out on the tuner
>4) moved PC
>
>I am on the air.
>
>To do when the order shows up from UPS.
>
>Install new coax, I assume the one I have is not happy anymore and test 
>the system to see if I can remove the choke at the tuner.
>
> From my perspective I am on the air, but I do not have a robust 
>installation being on the 2nd floor.  I probally can survive this 
>winter this way with the simple antenna shield grounding outside as I 
>did last winter as there is no lightning normally.  However, I have to 
>determine the best way to redo the installation and am considering 
>moving the shack to the basement where then it will be signficantly 
>eaiser to have the shack properly grounded for safety and then bonded.
>
>Again thanks for the help, as I am on the air but not convinced that I 
>have it fully cured.  So there may be more questions in the future when 
>I find stuff starts to not work again.

Well done - you made some real progress.

While you're waiting for the brown van, how about building a simple 
clamp-on RF current meter? It is the most useful tool for this kind of 
RFI investigation, because it lets you *see* where the stray currents 
are. Once you've tried one, you'll wonder how you ever managed without 
it.

The simplest 'Mousetrap' version only takes a half-hour to build:
<http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek/clamp-on/clamp-on.htm>

In a review of commercial meters for 'Radcom' (RSGB), the MFJ-854 
performed well but I found the MFJ-805 very poor:
<www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek/clamp-on/mfj-reviews.pdf>



-- 

73 from Ian GM3SEK
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek