[ICOM] IC-718 antenna tuning and SWR - Progress

Fri Jun 25 22:59:09 EDT 2010

Patrick,

Well thats good news however it should have worked through the tri 
plexors too. I have run my IC-706MKII through a duplexor to separate out 
HF and 6 meter quite successfully.
There was a repeater installed in the Vancouver , WA area that used a 
single feedline for both a VHF and UHF repeater at the same site. They 
had Larsen diplexors at each end feeding separate antennas and of course 
separate repeaters. I am unsure if it still installed but it worked fine.

Anyway I am Glad you are making some headway. Get your basic 
configuration working them try adding your tri plexors back in if its 
not hard. You might also utilize a dummy load at the antenna end for HF 
and see if the problem changes.

gary K8IZ

On 6/25/2010 7:08 PM, kb8rtz at oh.rr.com wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> Took many words of wisdom, took a few deep breaths and hit the antenna. Turns out the "soft" adjustments weren't working so dove into "coarse" adjusting the cans. What a world of difference! Now I have 10, 15, and 20m tuned. Have 30, 40, and 75/80m to tune. Also found part of the problem is my arrangement:
>
> Tx<->  diamond triplexer (inside the house)<->  diamond triplexer (outside the house)<->  Hustler 6BTV, Cushcraft Ringo Ranger II 2m and Cushcraft 70cm antennas.
>
> There may be losses incurred by using two triplexers sparing the door another hole solely for HF. The run of coax between the two triplexers might also be unsuitable (RG8U or RG8X from Radio Shack - not that RS sells all bad stuff).
>
> What I did to tune the antenna was bypass both triplexers and plugged the coax directly between the antenna and Tx.
>
> Very very much appreciate everyone's help.
>
> 73...Patrick...KB8RTZ...
>
> ---- Hal WD4MDA<wd4mda at comcast.net>  wrote:
>
> =============
> Sorry,
> I meant "Transmitt" not "Tune" button.
>
> 73,
> Hal
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gary P. Fiber"<gfiber at comcast.net>
> To: "ICOM Reflector"<icom at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 9:07 AM
> Subject: Re: [ICOM] IC-718 antenna tuning and SWR
>
>
>    
>> The IC-718 does not have FM and the Tune button does nothing unless an
>> Icom or similar tuner is attached.
>> He needs to use CW mode with a CW key and BK-IN enabled, AM mode and
>> press the PTT on the mic, RTTY mode and press the PTT to send a carried
>> to check SWR.
>>
>> Gary K8IZ
>>
>>
>> On 6/25/2010 12:55 AM, Hal WD4MDA wrote:
>>      
>>> Patrick,
>>> I meant to include.
>>> If you set the rig in rtty or fm and hit the tune button you should get a
>>> swr reading.  I use foot switches here but it is all the same except for
>>> Cw
>>> mode.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>> Harold "Hal"  Stang / WD4MDA
>>> wd4mda at comcast.net
>>> wd4mda at yahoo.com
>>> Yahoo IM @ wd4mda
>>> Field Hell - #2599
>>> 30mdg - #3772
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From:<kb8rtz at oh.rr.com>
>>> To: "ICOM Reflector"<icom at mailman.qth.net>
>>> Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 9:53 PM
>>> Subject: [ICOM] IC-718 antenna tuning and SWR
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>        
>>>> Good evening,
>>>>
>>>> I have an IC-718 and am attempting to narrow an SWR issue with a new
>>>> Hustler 6BTV. The last few days have been frustrating to say the least.
>>>> The instructions in the Tx manual say to set the power above 30W, set
>>>> the
>>>> operating mode to either CW or RTTY, set the display to show SWR; tune
>>>> to
>>>> a frequency and push the PTT button. Realized that I didn't follow the
>>>> PTT
>>>> instruction and have instead been pushing the DIT command on the
>>>> electronic microphone keyer to check SWR.
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, on 10m the SWR seemed just fine using the CW DIT command. On all
>>>> bands (10-15-20-40 check so far) while in CW mode and pushing PTT the
>>>> SWR
>>>> reads 1:1 or less. While in RTTY mode the SWR on 10m slopes upward from
>>>> 1.75:1 at the low end to 2.5:1 at the high end. The SWR in CW mode and
>>>> pushing the DIT command the SWR was even higher.
>>>>
>>>> My questions are:
>>>> Why when pushing PTT in CW mode there is no SWR reading?
>>>> Why when pushing PTT in RTTY mode there is SWR?
>>>> Why when pushing DIT command on the electronic microphone keyer there is
>>>> SWR?
>>>> The last question comes from the manual stating to set to either CW or
>>>> RTTY then push PTT to read the SWR.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks much.
>>>>
>>>> 73...Patrick...KB8RTZ...
>>>> ----
>>>> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC: icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
>>>> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
>>>> Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
>>>> To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>>>
>>>>          
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>>> ----
>>> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC: icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
>>> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
>>> Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
>>> To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>>
>>>
>>>        
>> ----
>> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC: icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
>> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
>> Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
>> To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>      
>
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> ----
> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC: icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
> Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
> ----
> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC: icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
> Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> To support QSL/QTH.net: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>    