[Mobile-Portable] Iron Horse 40m Ground?

[Art Clemons]

> I have no idea how old this spring might be.  Bill is 80+ years old and has
> been a ham for over 50.  When he got this antenna, he said he needed a
> spring for it, and I scrounged in his garage and found that one on the work
> bench.  It's galvanized (not chromed like the ones I see at truck stops and
> Radio Shack), so I'm betting it's been around a while.  It's also obviously
> been used (on another vehicle) at some point in the past.
> 
> I think I'll just pick up a new spring and swap them out.

I personally don't know why anyone bothers with springs on Amateur 
antennas, especially HF antennas.  They all too often seem to cause RF 
and electrical discontinuities as folks drive along.  You have to also 
consider that an eighth of an inch change in the length of an HF antenna 
on 40 meters can be quite a change and the spring probably will 
allow/cause that much movement as you drive along.

If you hit something hard enough to bend the spring, you've likely 
damaged your antenna anyway.  Frankly I'm waiting to hear just what a 
spring does for an antenna that makes one worth using.