Posted: 2/13/2015 8:44:06 PM EDT
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I have three SWR meters, and every time Ihave one between my radio (ft857) and antenna, my signal falls to damn near zero. I plug my antenna directly into the radio and i get a booming signal.
This happens on all three. i have the radio plugged directly into the antenna and the signals boom. SWR meter??? Nada Do I just have three bad SWR meters? |
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4 bad cables, all 4 shorting Quoted:
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What kind/brand of SWR meters? Are the connectors tight on the units themselves? I mean where the SO-239 connector bolts to the meters. Do the meters show continuity between the output and input center pins? 4 bad cables, all 4 shorting All four cables built by the same person? |
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There should be nearly zero loss on HF frequencies. It's hard to believe all 4 cables were bad but it can happen. Did you build the cables or were they store bought?
BTW, stay away from crimped connectors. They often fail and can potentially damage your equipment. I've seen expensive, crimped coax jumpers, bought from DX Engineering fail because they were crimped. We bought six of them and they all had issues. Always solder coax connectors. |
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There should be nearly zero loss on HF frequencies. It's hard to believe all 4 cables were bad but it can happen. Did you build the cables or were they store bought? BTW, stay away from crimped connectors. They often fail and can potentially damage your equipment. I've seen expensive, crimped coax jumpers, bought from DX Engineering fail because they were crimped. We bought six of them and they all had issues. Always solder coax connectors. 1 crimped, rest soldered all by the same guy. has an rg8x jumper and things look normal |
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I have three SWR meters, and every time Ihave one between my radio (ft857) and antenna, my signal falls to damn near zero. I plug my antenna directly into the radio and i get a booming signal. Are you talking about your transmit power, or the strength of signals you're receiving? |
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There should be nearly zero loss on HF frequencies. It's hard to believe all 4 cables were bad but it can happen. Did you build the cables or were they store bought? BTW, stay away from crimped connectors. They often fail and can potentially damage your equipment. I've seen expensive, crimped coax jumpers, bought from DX Engineering fail because they were crimped. We bought six of them and they all had issues. Always solder coax connectors. I think that goes back to the maker of the cables, not all crimped cables in general. Heck, the military uses crimped for all it's stuff, aircraft, and whatnot. Commercial radio seems to go with crimped. |
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Quoted: There should be nearly zero loss on HF frequencies. It's hard to believe all 4 cables were bad but it can happen. Did you build the cables or were they store bought? BTW, stay away from crimped connectors. They often fail and can potentially damage your equipment. I've seen expensive, crimped coax jumpers, bought from DX Engineering fail because they were crimped. We bought six of them and they all had issues. Always solder coax connectors. Why are crimped coax connectors bad for radio yet fine for CATV? Properly crimped coax connectors are fine. |
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Why are crimped coax connectors bad for radio yet fine for CATV? Properly crimped coax connectors are fine. Quoted:
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There should be nearly zero loss on HF frequencies. It's hard to believe all 4 cables were bad but it can happen. Did you build the cables or were they store bought? BTW, stay away from crimped connectors. They often fail and can potentially damage your equipment. I've seen expensive, crimped coax jumpers, bought from DX Engineering fail because they were crimped. We bought six of them and they all had issues. Always solder coax connectors. Why are crimped coax connectors bad for radio yet fine for CATV? Properly crimped coax connectors are fine. I've had issues with them but it's not just my opinion. The guy who was helping me install my new beam antenna and the tower had the same opinion. He does this for a living and has 30+ years experience installing antennas and towers. He is well known in the ham community and even published a book with ARRL. He said he would never use crimped connectors nor would allow his customers to use them. He has seen too many failures and expensive equipment damage caused by crimped coax connectors ( both home made and top of the line commercially made). |
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So, if I'm understanding where this thread has gone . . .
.45 > 9mm beans > no beans OP, I'm going to ask a couple of stupid, insulting questions. Are you sure you're not hooking up the meters backwards? Is the meter's range set correctly? I can't imagine that you have three bad meters and four bad cables. I have my 857D running through a Daiwa meter and it works great. Also, are you running through a tuner or straight to the radio in both tests? ETA: I thought of one more test. Do you have a barrel connector that you could put between the antenna coax and the jumpers? That would determine if the jumper cables or meters are the issue. |
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So, if I'm understanding where this thread has gone . . . .45 > 9mm beans > no beans OP, I'm going to ask a couple of stupid, insulting questions. Are you sure you're not hooking up the meters backwards? Is the meter's range set correctly? I can't imagine that you have three bad meters and four bad cables. I have my 857D running through a Daiwa meter and it works great. Also, are you running through a tuner or straight to the radio in both tests? ETA: I thought of one more test. Do you have a barrel connector that you could put between the antenna coax and the jumpers? That would determine if the jumper cables or meters are the issue. The meters were fine. i tested the jumpers and they were all shorting. I had some spare RG8X and made a cable with some spare pl259's and the meters worked perfectly. Meters are MFJ-860 MFJ-862 and a cheap Astatic. all work perfectly with my new cable that I made I was just a NOOB and forgot to test the cables with a multimeter. |
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The meters were fine. i tested the jumpers and they were all shorting. I had some spare RG8X and made a cable with some spare pl259's and the meters worked perfectly. Meters are MFJ-860 MFJ-862 and a cheap Astatic. all work perfectly with my new cable that I made I was just a NOOB and forgot to test the cables with a multimeter. Quoted:
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So, if I'm understanding where this thread has gone . . . .45 > 9mm beans > no beans OP, I'm going to ask a couple of stupid, insulting questions. Are you sure you're not hooking up the meters backwards? Is the meter's range set correctly? I can't imagine that you have three bad meters and four bad cables. I have my 857D running through a Daiwa meter and it works great. Also, are you running through a tuner or straight to the radio in both tests? ETA: I thought of one more test. Do you have a barrel connector that you could put between the antenna coax and the jumpers? That would determine if the jumper cables or meters are the issue. The meters were fine. i tested the jumpers and they were all shorting. I had some spare RG8X and made a cable with some spare pl259's and the meters worked perfectly. Meters are MFJ-860 MFJ-862 and a cheap Astatic. all work perfectly with my new cable that I made I was just a NOOB and forgot to test the cables with a multimeter. EXCELLENT! Glad to hear it was an easy and inexpensive fix. I've had numerous bad and intermittent cables, and they can be a B*&^ to diagnose. |
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EXCELLENT! Glad to hear it was an easy and inexpensive fix. I've had numerous bad and intermittent cables, and they can be a B*&^ to diagnose. Boy I was to. Last thing I wanted to do was to replace all of my SWR meters. I cannot afford an analyzer yet and am saving up for one after i get an FC-30 for my emcomm box that I am working on. |