[Lowfer] Definitely did something wrong !! But fixed it.

[Andy - KU4XR]

Hey lowFERs:

I'm posting this just for " this is what happened sake "
I put a paperbacked book about 3" thick on top of the 
variometer bucket. and I could then lay my hand on the book
and the tuning would change only slightly. Remove the book,
and place a hand within 3" from the top side ( hot end of coil ,
or within 5" above the top, and the tuning changed dramatically.
And just to see what would happen; I placed a sheet of aluminum
foil over the bucket, and the output droped to ZERO, and could 
not be tuned with the variometer.
I am not an antenna specialist, nor a coil guru, so I'm not
really sure that this is a higher " Q " issue or not. My thought
would be that if the coil " Q " went up, then my tuning would
become very sharp, and critical. After removing the bottom from
the bucket, the tuning sharpness didn't increase nor did the
output change when peaked. The increased proximity effect around
the variometer was the only thing noticable.

Still having fun; 73 to all ::


Andy - KU4XR - EM75xr - Friendsville, TN.
LOWfer Beacon " XR " @ 184.322 KHz ( QRSS-60 )
Coordinates:  N:  35* 43' 54" - W:  84* 3' 16"
http://www.myspace.com/beaconxr


--- On Tue, 9/15/09, Peter Barick <pbarick at niu.edu> wrote:

> Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 1:08 PM
> Hi Mike, Andy,
> 
> Interesting on that bottom cutout, and surprised me. If the
> pvc bucket is thought to be nearly RF inert then why that
> effect? As described, it appears the Q has risen greately
> for such effect. Mike talks to this too.
> 
> I believe Mitch (MP) spoke of it also, causing the need for
> an extension rod with which to adj. the vair coil.
> 
> High Q is usually thought to be the goal (or bragging
> point) and causes reactions as above. But too much can lead
> to wx affected untuning and demands for attention to keep it
> spot on. Ha, Teslas we are Not!
> 
> Just some observations -- Peter