On Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:45:57 GMT, "U Know Who" wrote:



3. I am using 50' of LMR-400 coax. No shorts measured.

4. I have a RF choke/balun of about 8 turns, 8 inches round, about 2
inches
below the antenna and ground plane wires. I cannot get it any lower.

5. The radio is a HR-2510, and that is not grounded for the same reason as
#2.


I did a frequency check to see where this antenna is tuned. It seems to be
tuned
for 26.500-26.800 MHz. The SWR is a flat 1.2 across that band. It starts
to
when I go below or above that band.

I wanted to know if there is anything I should do before I cut the wire on
the
Firestik. Would grounding the ground plane or the radio to a ground rod
help?

And suggestions are appeciated.

Vinnie S.

This may seem overly simplistic or stupid, but try removing the plastic cap
on the end of the antenna. It affected my SWR on one I had. I can't remember
which way, but I do remember it made a difference.


Correct. That is what is on the Firestik website too. But it was so out of wack
on 27 MHz, I was wonder is I did something wrong. I wanted to see what people
had to say before I cut it.

Vinnie S.