I just finished testing my antennas. The result is that the
whip/tuner combination is unacceptable.

I took the coax off the ball mount and ran short wires, about 6 inches
from the center lead of the ball and from the ground screw at the ball
inside the cab of the van and ran them to the appropriate connectors
on the tuner. I then tested 75, 40, and 20 meters.

The test results were that I made no contacts on 75. The only thing I
heard was a very slow and long monolog on 3872 by some man who seemed
more to be broadcasting than talking to another individual. I waited
over ten minutes to see if he would break or identify, but he did
neither. I went to 3.915 and heard two stations go QRT, but received
no response when I called. I didn't have another antenna worth
testing on 75 so that concluded my 75 meter test. Results: NO JOY!

I went to 40 meters where I heard some conversations. It tuned up
more easily than on 75, but no one answered my calls. I swapped to
the 40 meter AS antenna and the stations I heard went from no signal
on the scale to over s-9. That was enough to resolve that test.
Results: NO JOY!

I went to 20 meters where I had more success. I talked to Jim on the
county hunter's net with the whip antenna. He was the only station I
was hearing at the time. I swapped to the 20 meter AS antenna and his
signal strength went from s-2 to s-9. Also, I was able to hear the
mobile that was running. Results: NO JOY!

I hooked the coax back up, setup the 20 meter AS antenna and tuned it
from the front of the car. I will not be drilling a hole and
rearranging all the roof antennas for the whip. I will rather focus
my attention on getting the rest of the parts of my screwdriver
together after I get paid next week and see if I can install it.

Thanks for all the comments.

If nothing else, all this testing did reveal a bad ground connection
from the coax to the cab of the van. It is now fixed.

73 for now.


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW