Static with new antenna

[Widowsson]

Another newbie problem hoping ya’ll can help me solve. 
 

I had a mag mount antenna on my roof. I was getting decent reception. I bought some lmr400 and a fiberglass antenna from a guy I met on the local repeater. I got it all hooked up and now I’m getting a ton of static. I didn’t make any changes to the radio. Just unhooked the old hooked up the new. The old one only reached to a lower one story roof. This new set up I have about 10’ above the ridge of the two story section. I was expecting clearer signal. Could this possibly be because I am now right in line with the power lines that are across the street? Someone on the repeater asked me if I checked the SWR. I have not and do not have a meter. Not sure how I would trim this antenna anyhow. It’s fiberglass. Any thought?

[Guest]

What is your squelch set at.  You’re going to pick up a ton more faint transmissions now.  I set all my radios squelch to 8.  I only want the strongest signals. 

[SteveShannon]

2 hours ago, Widowsson said:

Not sure how I would trim this antenna anyhow. It’s fiberglass. Any thought?

The antenna is probably a fiberglass tube surrounding a metal element. Without knowing what you have it’s difficult to say how to tune it or even if it can be tuned. But it’s much more difficult to tune an antenna without an antenna analyzer anyway. 

[Widowsson]

Squelch was set at 2, however I am only listening to the repeater that I usually listen to. It’s static no matter who is talking and they said I am static as well. Wonder if my solder job is the issue on the pl259.

[Widowsson]

2 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

The antenna is probably a fiberglass tube surrounding a metal element. Without knowing what you have it’s difficult to say how to tune it or even if it can be tuned. But it’s much more difficult to tune an antenna with an antenna analyzer anyway. 

Correct. Not sure the brand but he used it for the repeater before an upgrade. I don’t think it comes apart.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Widowsson said:

Squelch was set at 2, however I am only listening to the repeater that I usually listen to. It’s static no matter who is talking and they said I am static as well. Wonder if my solder job is the issue on the pl259.

I bigger better higher up antenna is going to receive many more signals then a mag mount on a cookie sheet so I’d move the squelch up in any event.  However I’d bet… yes a bad solder or badly tuned antenna.  

[SteveShannon]

6 minutes ago, WRXP381 said:

I bigger better higher up antenna is going to receive many more signals then a mag mount on a cookie sheet so I’d move the squelch up in any event.  However I’d bet… yes a bad solder or badly tuned antenna.  

I would agree that it’s probably a bad connection, possibly a solder joint or possibly as simple as a loose set screw that clamps the radiator to the antenna base.

 

[Widowsson]

Could it be because I didn’t use u bolts. I do intend to get proper bolts but the ones the antenna came with, a couple nuts were stripped so I just screwed the antenna to a 2x4. I was just excited to get it in the air.

[Widowsson]

Also, it did seem like I wasn’t getting solder to flow. First time I ever soldered a pl259 or any electronics for that matter. I can solder copper pipes really well but obviously this is different. It seemed like the plastic middle piece was melting on my first attempt, and I hate to admit it but I didn’t put the screw part on first so had to cut that one off. Second attempt everything was fluxed but I tried it without heating up the connector too much. 

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, Widowsson said:

Also, it did seem like I wasn’t getting solder to flow. First time I ever soldered a pl259 or any electronics for that matter. I can solder copper pipes really well but obviously this is different. It seemed like the plastic middle piece was melting on my first attempt, and I hate to admit it but I didn’t put the screw part on first so had to cut that one off. Second attempt everything was fluxed but I tried it without heating up the connector too much. 

Yeah, soldering connectors can be tricky. What kind of flux did you use?

[Widowsson]

9 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Yeah, soldering connectors can be tricky. What kind of flux did you use?

Plumbcraft Soldering Paste. From a old toolbox I got somewhere along the way. Looks like it was made in 1962. I have a few different kinds of flux. Of course I didn’t check to see what the best to use would be. I feel like learning the hard way will teach me some valuable lessons for the future. So I can tell someone not to solder the connector on without first putting the screw part on, and then, even though forewarned, as was I, do it anyway.

[SteveShannon]

19 minutes ago, Widowsson said:

Plumbcraft Soldering Paste. From an old toolbox I got somewhere along the way. Looks like it was made in 1962. I have a few different kinds of flux. Of course I didn’t check to see what the best to use would be. I feel like learning the hard way will teach me some valuable lessons for the future. So I can tell someone not to solder the connector on without first putting the screw part on, and then, even though forewarned, as was I, do it anyway.

Well, I’ve got a few cans of that too for plumbing, but it’s bad flux for electronics. For electronics you want to use rosin core solder and rosin flux.
Acid core solder will eventually destroy your electronics. But it might take a while so in the meantime you might repeat the same mistake over and over, creating even more problems for yourself down the line. It’s really not unmanly to read the instructions first.
What did you use to heat the connector while soldering it? I like to use M&P evolution connectors. The shield doesn’t require soldering and the center connector takes less solder and less heat than some others. M&P has some good videos on YouTube also. 
 

[WRQC527]

2 hours ago, Widowsson said:

a fiberglass antenna from a guy I met on the local repeater.

Was this "fiberglass antenna from a guy I met" connected to a GMRS repeater? If not, what was it connected to? And regardless of what it was connected to, can you provide us with the make and model? We hear fairly often here that someone erected (radio enthusiasts love to say that word) an antenna without the slightest idea what frequencies it is resonant on, only to find out that it doesn't work.

[Widowsson]

19 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Well, I’ve got a few cans of that too for plumbing, but it’s bad flux for electronics. For electronics you want to use rosin core solder and rosin flux.
Acid core solder will eventually destroy your electronics. But it might take a while so in the meantime you might repeat the same mistake over and over, creating even more problems for yourself down the line. It’s really not unmanly to read the instructions first.
What did you use to heat the connector while soldering it? I like to use M&P evolution connectors. The shield doesn’t require soldering and the center connector takes less solder and less heat than some others. M&P has some good videos on YouTube also. 
 

Thanks! I’ll try again because I definitely did not do it right

18 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

Was this "fiberglass antenna from a guy I met" connected to a GMRS repeater? If not, what was it connected to? And regardless of what it was connected to, can you provide us with the make and model? We hear fairly often here that someone erected (radio enthusiasts love to say that word) an antenna without the slightest idea what frequencies it is resonant on, only to find out that it doesn't work.

It was the antenna for the gmrs repeater. I bought it from the repeater owner. It’s working, I can hear transmissions very well and I am heard very well, just there is lots of static in the background. However I am picking up quite a bit more traffic. I’ll post make and model tomorrow thanks

[Widowsson]

33 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

What did you use to heat the connector while soldering it? 

The soldering iron the first time. Nothing the second. I was tempted to use the torch but didn’t want to melt the plastic. I was also reading that it didn’t need to be heated if it was properly fluxed. Lots of different opinions. What is the proper way?

[WRQI663]

Location may make a difference too - it could be in a bad spot - a nanoVNA will let you know the resonant frequency --- some "CCAs" (cheap chinese antennas)

are nothing but dummy loads they are so far off....receiving not so critical, but transmitting into a resonant antenna is important

[WRQI663]

Also there are some crimp pl259s if you are not handy with a soldering iron

[SteveShannon]

7 hours ago, Widowsson said:

The soldering iron the first time. Nothing the second. I was tempted to use the torch but didn’t want to melt the plastic. I was also reading that it didn’t need to be heated if it was properly fluxed. Lots of different opinions. What is the proper way?

If it’s a solder type connector then it must be heated until the solder flows where needed. The flux alone won’t do anything.
I use a Weller temperature controlled solder station, but any good soldering iron will work if you have enough heat to flow the solder quickly without damaging the insulation. If you’re not sure you might want to use preterminated cables.  I wouldn’t use anything less than LMR400 for UHF except for very short runs.

I don’t know what kind of connector you have. This video shows the most common solder connector:

 

[RayDiddio]

Acid core is not a good thing as stated previous by SteveShannon.

[Widowsson]

1 hour ago, SteveShannon said:

I don’t know what kind of connector you have. This video shows the most common solder connector:

 

Amphenol pl259.

Oddly enough I almost did it right. I’m gonna go get the proper solder and flux. Thank you very much!

[Widowsson]

What do you know using the proper materials and the proper technique seemed to have worked lol

thanks for the responses everyone

By the way the antenna is BR1695

[SteveShannon]

Great job!!!

[WRUU653]

This was great review reading for me, my new soldering station just showed up from my Prime day purchase. 

[RayDiddio]

4 hours ago, Widowsson said:

What do you know using the proper materials and the proper technique seemed to have worked lol

thanks for the responses everyone

By the way the antenna is BR1695

Glad to hear it! Enjoy the fruits of your labor.