"JIMMIE" wrote in message
oups.com...


snip

One thing that
concerned me even after the antenna was working is the SWR
appeared to be a little too good. It was 1.2:1 in the middle of 10
meters and never got ave 1.7:1 even at the band edges. I thought that
this is a little too good to be true..

My concern, too, for the same reason but the readings appear to be
authentic. For check, I tried the modified antenna (coax not running
through the lower element) on a few other bands with very, very low power
and got terrible VSWR readings. I get about a 1.4:1 at the low end of the 10
band, dropping to a 1.1:1 near the top of the band. I believe having big,
fat elements helps.

Due to cable loss, my measured VSWR at the transceiver is a skosh better
than what I would see at the antenna. A nice chart in the ARRL Antenna Book
shows that with 1 dB cable loss (approximate for 100' of RG-8), my 1.4:1
VSWR measured at the radio is actually closer to 1.6 at the antenna. Still a
keeper. I went on the air last night with a few watts and got a great
signal report from a local ham, so the antenna is working.

"Sal"
(KD6VKW /AE)