[Lowfer] WC2XSR/13 status

[Ralph Hartwell]

> Yes, it is.  It seems a though the total loss resistance of the
antenna
> system went from about 58 Ohms down to about 26 Ohms.  That equates to
> roughly a 3.5 dB signal gain. Unlikely, but possible.  I have to drag
> my spare RF ammeter out and see what it reads.

<snip>

> Maybe your strong signal is drying out the trees??? I guess you'll
know in
> the spring if the leaves don't come back!!! Hi Hi...
>
> Mike>WE0H
> http://www.we0h.us/lf

<snip>

Now this is REALLY strange!  I have been monitoring the signal today
while at work with my CE-21 SLM, and watched with interest as the signal
slowly dropped down several dB starting about late morning.  I arrived
home about 2PM and quickly checked the antenna current and found that it
was now reading about 3.4 amps which was down from the 3.9 amps it was
reading yesterday.  Hmm...

Anyway, I shut down and patched my calibrated RF ammeter I use for
broadcast work into the antenna line, and fired up the transmitter.
This would allow me to verify the calibration of my homemade torroid RF
ammeter.

After shutting down the transmitter and putting out the fire where the
RF flamed through the ammeter case to ground, I moved the meter to a
better insulated spot and tried again.  I found that the RF amps read
the same on both the torroid meter and the standard thermocouple RF
ammeter.  So, It looks as though the reading of the torroid meter was
correct.

But now I noted that the antenna current reading was only about 3.3
amps, and it was slowly dropping. What gives??

I left everything as set up and watched for another hour, and the RF
current gradually dropped back all the way to about 2.9 amps, not too
far from the "normal" reading that I have been seeing for some months.
Meanwhile, the transmitter loading stayed about the same, with only a
slight drop in output power and a slight VSWR change.  As I write this,
it's after dark, and the antenna current reading is slowly rising just a
bit to about 3 amps.

(WAG here.)>  The only thing I can think of is that since the trash
trees have been chopped down, the effects of the remaining large oak and
pecan trees closest to the antenna are more easily observable than
previously.  The temperature seems to affect the tree loss drastically.
Yesterday, when the antenna current was highest, it was overcast and
quite cold (for us, anyway!) It started out cloudy and cold this
morning, and then about noon, cleared up and warmed up. The trees, now
essentially leafless, were exposed to the warm afternoon sun and rapidly
warming temperatures.  It was about 20 degrees F warmer this afternoon
than it was this morning.  It'll be interesting to see what the antenna
current does later this winter when we get some of those really cold
spells.  There are fewer leaves on the trees around here than I have
seen in about 10 years, so this should be a good test.

73,

Ralph   W5JGV / WC2XSR / 13

The current On-The-Air status of WC2XSR/13 is available at:
http://home.att.net/~shmrg/wc2xsr-13_log.htm

My 600 Meter Research Group files are at:
http://home.att.net/~shmrg

My Home Page is at:
http://home.att.net/~ralph.hartwell
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