Frustrating POTA Activation today

[SteveShannon]

10 minutes ago, Northcutt114 said:

Well...I think the vertical antenna is kaput. I went out to the park to try and do WFD things and the radio would not tune it below 4.0 SWR. The band was on fire, but I couldn't talk to anyone.

Came home and tuned up the EFHW again to make sure I wasn't crazy. 1.0 SWR. Hooked up a dummy load and tuned all bands. Immediate 1.0 SWR on all bands. So, it's back to amazon for the JCP12....I can't imagine how an antenna just ceases to become tunable. But looks like it has. Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow and figure out a way to deploy the EFHW at the park, provided all this snow and sleet stays at bay. 

You have a G90, right?  Sweep the SWR for each band to see what the vertical antenna response looks like. 

[WRYZ926]

9 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

You have a G90, right?  Sweep the SWR for each band to see what the vertical antenna response looks like. 

I have to agree with Steve. adjust and check the antenna across 10m through 20m to see what each band is like.

It also possible that you need to adjust the length of the whip to get a better match on each band. Ground conditions are going to change depending on the location and can also change depending on the soil moisture content.

That is why I only will use my measurements as a guide to get the whip adjusted close to where I want it resonate at . I then always check it with my analyzer and adjust as needed.

[Northcutt114]

30 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

You have a G90, right?  Sweep the SWR for each band to see what the vertical antenna response looks like. 

I did. 4.0 across the board...well, on 10 and 20. I didn't bother with anything else.

[Northcutt114]

13 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

I have to agree with Steve. adjust and check the antenna across 10m through 20m to see what each band is like.

It also possible that you need to adjust the length of the whip to get a better match on each band. Ground conditions are going to change depending on the location and can also change depending on the soil moisture content.

That is why I only will use my measurements as a guide to get the whip adjusted close to where I want it resonate at . I then always check it with my analyzer and adjust as needed.

I think the antenna is toast. Just a week ago it would tune up almost immediately to 1.0 SWR on 10m with three and half sections of the antenna deployed. I'd used it that way a half dozen times in three different locations. Then, all of sudden, 4.0 SWR and won't tune.

Besides, even if the antenna wasn't at a resonant length (which it was), the G90's tuner should still be able to tune an antenna that's a few inches or feet off. I wasn't operating split, both VFO's were in the same band, all the things. If it will tune my other antenna and the dummy load....well, one of these things is not like the other. Back it goes.

I authorized the return through amazon just now. Will report back. 

[WRYZ926]

@Northcutt114 you made the right decision to send the antenna back after all of your testing. I only suggested double checking things incase there was a change in ground conditions that would throw off the antenna resonant point. And yes if the whip length is off by a few inches, the G90 should still tune it.

[Northcutt114]

30 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

@Northcutt114 you made the right decision to send the antenna back after all of your testing. I only suggested double checking things incase there was a change in ground conditions that would throw off the antenna resonant point. And yes if the whip length is off by a few inches, the G90 should still tune it.

It might have been a little more damp than usual...but the ATU on the G90 (supposedly) can handle an SWR of 8:1. I think I read that somewhere? Even with sodden soil, and an antenna roughly close to resonant, the ATU on the G90 should be able to handle it. If I'm getting 4.0 across the band with that antenna, something's wrong with that antenna. I can not imagine what it is, but my guess is that the solder joint is failing or shorting, somewhere in SO239 connector or further up in the shaft where it connects to the female screw in socket. It receives just fine but it will not tune.

New one should be here Wednesday. Until then, I'll play around on this EFHW that I've attached to my deck railing and new found 16' painting pole extension I found in my garage. 

[Northcutt114]

Hasty EFHW strung up in the rain on the back deck just to do Winter Field Day yielded a a four simple QSO's just to get on the board. None of them had any trouble reading me. Even had a little conversation with a guy that I had worked park to park at my last activation attempt and he said "Wow...you sound a lot better this time." I didn't have to repeat my call to anyone. Most got it on the first try, or if there was a pile up, on the second when they asked for it again. And then I noticed I was only running 10w!

So, it looks like I am back up and running. I'll have to head back out and trying activating again this weekend. The replacement JCP12 should arrive on Wednesday.

Thanks for all the input, guys. It was good to get back on the air with my G90 box! Which will have a snow skiing man pack polar bear sticker on it moving forward. 

[WRUU653]

@Northcutt114 thanks for sharing your ups and downs so that others (myself included) can learn from what you went through. I’ve just been following along and glad to hear things are working again. 

[Northcutt114]

58 minutes ago, WRUU653 said:

@Northcutt114 thanks for sharing your ups and downs so that others (myself included) can learn from what you went through. I’ve just been following along and glad to hear things are working again. 

Of course....just trying to get a google footprint if any other people are having the problems that I had. I still am in awe  of the fact that the cable that shipped with the G90 was the issue.

[TNFrank]

It amazes me how we have all this technology in the radios we use and it's all dependant on a piece of wire.  The EFHW I made probably cost $35 bucks for the 64:1 Balun and the 16' of 14 gauge wire. 

[TNFrank]

1 more POTA QSO and I'll get the award for 40 Hunted Stations. Should be a good day today as soon as it warms up a bit. 

[Northcutt114]

2 hours ago, TNFrank said:

1 more POTA QSO and I'll get the award for 40 Hunted Stations. Should be a good day today as soon as it warms up a bit. 

I'm afraid the term "warm up" is relative. We're not getting above freezing today here. 40 hunted stations? Wow...you've been busy!

 

[WRYZ926]

15 minutes ago, Northcutt114 said:

I'm afraid the term "warm up" is relative. We're not getting above freezing today here.

We are having a heat wave today. It's currently 12 degrees with a predicted high temp of 17 for today. Thats a heat wave compared to highs around 1 to 4 degrees over the last couple of days. We will get above freezing on Wednesday but the temps will be back into the teens this weekend. We got around 6 inches of snow over the weekend. 

I won't even think about doing any POTA activations for a few months.

[TNFrank]

We started out chilli here, mid-40's, currently 57. I did get two more parks and a DX to England(he was a 5/6 i was a 3/1 but we exchanged call signs so it counts) and I hope to make more POTA contacts as the Band move over head more.

[TNFrank]

Got my Platinum Aware for 40 Hunts. I have 42 so I'll be looking for 8 more to get the 50 Hunts award.  I really enjoy Hunting POTA Stations.  It'll be nice when I get my General so I can give 15M and 20M a try and also I noticed some were just outside my privileges in the 28.512 or 28.027MHz area so once I get the General I can Hunt those as well. 

[Northcutt114]

14 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

Got my Platinum Aware for 40 Hunts. I have 42 so I'll be looking for 8 more to get the 50 Hunts award.  I really enjoy Hunting POTA Stations.  It'll be nice when I get my General so I can give 15M and 20M a try and also I noticed some were just outside my privileges in the 28.512 or 28.027MHz area so once I get the General I can Hunt those as well. 

I didn't see that many activations today....and when I was set up, of the four I could see, I could only hear one and then only very faintly.

[TNFrank]

I got 5 but only 3 have posted so far. The DX from England really blew my mind. I'll take a 3/1 with my humble set-up that far away. 

[TNFrank]

One of the DX POTA QSO's logged. It was  Mount Hillaby Natural Monument in Barbados. That's almost 3600 miles as the crow flys. That's a long dang way for an 80w radio using a 16' EFHW at 15' high in my backyard. I got a signal report of 5/6 too. I'm 100% impressed with HF. 

[Northcutt114]

2 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

One of the DX POTA QSO's logged. It was  Mount Hillaby Natural Monument in Barbados. That's almost 3600 miles as the crow flys. That's a long dang way for an 80w radio using a 16' EFHW at 15' high in my backyard. I got a signal report of 5/6 too. I'm 100% impressed with HF. 

My longest is to La Serena, Chile. 4,503 miles. 20W and 1/4 wave vertical in the dirt.

[WRYZ926]

4 hours ago, TNFrank said:

I got 5 but only 3 have posted so far. The DX from England really blew my mind. I'll take a 3/1 with my humble set-up that far away. 

That's always a good feeling.

One of my favorite 10m SSB contacts was to Ireland during a 10m contest using my 20 watt G90 and my home made 10m dipole. I couldn't bust through a pileup at 20 watts but it wa good enough to make the QSO.

[WRQC527]

On 1/24/2026 at 3:14 PM, Northcutt114 said:

Well...I think the vertical antenna is kaput. I went out to the park to try and do WFD things and the radio would not tune it below 4.0 SWR. The band was on fire, but I couldn't talk to anyone.

Came home and tuned up the EFHW again to make sure I wasn't crazy. 1.0 SWR. Hooked up a dummy load and tuned all bands. Immediate 1.0 SWR on all bands. So, it's back to amazon for the JCP12....I can't imagine how an antenna just ceases to become tunable. But looks like it has. Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow and figure out a way to deploy the EFHW at the park, provided all this snow and sleet stays at bay. 

Before you give up on the antenna, check the coax. Especially the connectors. I've had to replace connectors several times over the years because the strain put on them from repeatedly flexing eventually breaks the center conductor or the braid. For an antenna to go from a good match to a 4:1 is hard to imagine. But coax is a likely culprit. One way I've isolated bad connectors is to connect an analyzer and flex the coax where it enters the connector, and see if the SWR jumps around. If it does, cut off the connector and install a new one. Checking continuity from one end to the other (both the braid and the center conductor) is also critical, as is checking for a short between the center conductor and the braid. 

[Northcutt114]

9 hours ago, WRQC527 said:

Before you give up on the antenna, check the coax. Especially the connectors. I've had to replace connectors several times over the years because the strain put on them from repeatedly flexing eventually breaks the center conductor or the braid. For an antenna to go from a good match to a 4:1 is hard to imagine. But coax is a likely culprit. One way I've isolated bad connectors is to connect an analyzer and flex the coax where it enters the connector, and see if the SWR jumps around. If it does, cut off the connector and install a new one. Checking continuity from one end to the other (both the braid and the center conductor) is also critical, as is checking for a short between the center conductor and the braid. 

I appreciate the thought but I'm using the same coax on the EFHW antenna that is currently tuning to 1.0 SWR very easily. I also used three different runs of coax on that same antenna and all of them were 4:1. The same three runs of coax on my EFHW? 1.0 SWR. Following Occam's razor, it has to be the antenna. Which, I agree with you, is bonkers. But we've all had Chinesium go bad on us before, right?

I don't have to return the antenna until 2/1. The replacement comes in the mail tomorrow. My plan is to test the new one immediately and see if the radio tunes it. If it does, that tells me the old antenna is bad. If we get back to the same 4:1 scenario with the new antenna, then I'll start looking else where.

[WRYZ926]

One thing to remember with the JPC12 and other antennas that use the same design for the coil is to make sure that it is only touching one coil at a time. It is easy to accidentally get it to touch two coils. I'm not saying that is what caused your problems, just that it is something to pay attention to.

Hopefully the new antenna works for you.

That is part of the reason I went with the REZ Recon as the coil is only used for the 40 meter band. It has an ON/OFF switch on the coil. To use 40 meters, you move the switch to ON and then adjust the whip. The coil switch is set to OFF and you make adjustments to the whip for 6 Meters through 20 meters. I like to keep things simple even if it costs a little more. 

[Northcutt114]

7 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

One thing to remember with the JPC12 and other antennas that use the same design for the coil is to make sure that it is only touching one coil at a time. It is easy to accidentally get it to touch two coils. I'm not saying that is what caused your problems, just that it is something to pay attention to.

Hopefully the new antenna works for you.

That is part of the reason I went with the REZ Recon as the coil is only used for the 40 meter band. It has an ON/OFF switch on the coil. To use 40 meters, you move the switch to ON and then adjust the whip. The coil switch is set to OFF and you make adjustments to the whip for 6 Meters through 20 meters. I like to keep things simple even if it costs a little more. 

On 10m, for the JCP12, you don't even have to coil spun on to the antenna. Just the four aluminum poles and the whip at the top. The coil only gets spun on for 20 and 40m.

[TNFrank]

I'm going to order the Radioditty HP-009 because I like the way the coil is enclosed so it's protected from the elements. It costs a bit more but I think it'll be worth the extra money in the long run.