[amsat-bb] M2 LEOpack tuning

[Mark D. Johns]

I’ve had my LEOpack antennas about 8 years, but over the winter my station
became almost totally deaf on 2 meters. I took the 2 meter beam down and
cleaned up a bunch of corrosion around the coax connector, and that seems
to have helped the situation, but...

I checked the antenna with my MFJ Antenna Analyzer (which I did not have
back when I first assembled these antennas) and find that the 2 meter beam
is resonant at about 143.95 MHz — just below the 2 meter ham band. Up at
145.9, where I would LIKE it to be resonant, my SWR is about 2.5:1. Pretty
high.

Messing with the tuning sliders only made things worse (these adjust
impedance and not necessarily resonance), so I’m wondering, has anyone else
found it necessary to trim the elements on these?

My calculations are that about 1/8” off each end of the DEs would bring it
up the 2 MHz needed. Opinions?
-- 
***Sent from Gmail on iPhone***
Mark D. Johns, Ph.D. K0JM
Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies at
Luther College, Decorah, Iowa USA
Now residing in Minneapolis, Minn.
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"Get the facts first. You can distort them later."
---Mark Twain