[K3PZN-List] My HF Station

[Philip Karras]

Kyle,
I concur with Curt, DO NOT MEASURE power between the tuner and antenna. All power readings should be taken between the radio and tuner. Tune the antenna/tuner with lowest power possible, then increase it and tune again. Now take the power measurement at the power output you intend to use.

Also, you should tune using CW setting so you can see the true output power.
When shortening the antenna there are two ways to do it. One is to cut the ends off, the other is to strip the ends & fold them over clamp & solder (DO NOT tie the wire together, yet). Once the best length is found then tie & solder for real or just cut it to that length. With the fold over method if you make it too short you can undo it & try a smaller change. This does take longer to do but you ALWAYS get much closer to the best length this way. With the cutting method we sometimes cut too much off & either have to settle for that or try to fix it with soldering more wire back on with a good tie point.

If you need to see what the antenna is doing, without the tuner, over the entire band of interest we can use my MFJ graphic antenna analyzer. Call me on my cell 301-471-2596 when you're free & would like me to stop by with the analyzer, if you want. Also, I've got appointments till late Wednesday the 11th & probably won't be able to stop by till sometime Thursday and/or later.
 73 de KE3FL,
Phil

     Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2017 03:07:15 +0000 (UTC)
From: Curt Milton <wb8yyy at yahoo.com>
To: Carroll County Amateur Radio Club <k3pzn-list at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [K3PZN-List] My HF Station

Kyle
I am thinking that your meter on the outside of the tuner may be reading high because of the higher SWR at that end. The power meter is most accurate when It experiences a match close to 50 ohms. It would be worthwhile to improve your antenna swr. Likely your antenna is too long. See if SWR gets better as you tune lower in frequency! As this will confirm antenna is long. Often its the case when ends are close to ground. No worry, just shorten wire about 6 inches at a time, and watch it improve. Even with a nice tuner its best to reduce antenna swr.

Yes, you are not creating power in the antenna, it's not possible.
Curt
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Frm: Kyle Thornton<mailto:kyle.3599 at outlook.com>

All,

I was noticing tonight that ive got a weird output power with my 891. If got my power meter (Yaesu YS-60) connected to the antenna side of the system so I can see what the tuner is seeing SWR rise and so I can see reflected power from the antenna and output power out of the tuner. It was kinda weird. I was doing PSK31 and had the radio set to 30watts output. The power output out of the radio according to the power meter was right about 30 watts with peaks of 50 watts. On the antenna side how ever its showing about 50 watts output with peaks of 75 watts and a reflected power of about 30-50 watts with an SWR of 2-2.5:1 on the antenna side. The radios SWR meter is showing about a 1.5:1 going into the tuner which should be correct. Whats going on here? Why is there so much power amplification going on inside the tuner? My antenna is cut right for 40m 33ft each side and is up about 20ft in an inverted vee. Im worried about the radio and cooking the insides. This was tested using P
SK31 so I?m not sure if that?s a factor of it.

Thanks
Kyle
KC3FMP