Well, I said it was temporary. On Friday, I took the TA-33M down. As soon as I can get the pieces all together and figure out an asking price, I will put it up for sale. If nobody buys it earlier, I’ll have it at the RARSFest 2010 hamfest at the Raleigh, NC State Fairgrounds on April 3. Along with the standard 3-band TA-33, I have the 17m+12m driven element and the 40 meter extension kit. I haven’t decided if I will sell it as a complete package or three seperate packages. There’s a used Rohm push-up mast too. More to follow.
73,
Cliff W4FT
It looks like my B&W 160-20 trap dipole is having some serious issues. I noticed during the Nov. Sweeps contest that contacts on 40 meters were almost impossible, but 20 and 80 meters was working like a charm. When I put the antenna analyzer on it, I discovered something disturbing. Everything below 20 meters was 6:1 or worse! ( The match on 20 meters is still around 1:1) Today, I pulled the antenna down and started checking it. Everything looked ok mechanically, so I started checking for opens across the traps. Results were inconsistent, and not repeatable on the ohmmeter.
To make a long story short, OXIDATION! I should have soldered all the connections instead of depending on just the mechanical connection of twisted wires. The oxidation looks to be disrupting the antenna connections between the wires and the traps. One of the 40 meter traps may be bad too.
Now, I’m thinking that it is time to replace this antenna with something else for 160 through 40 meters. 160 is a bonus, but 80 and 40 are absolutely required. I have 20 and up covered with a yagi. I’ve been thinking about loops, dipoles, etc., but this probably needs to be some kind of wire antenna. I do have several trees to serve as supports.
Throw out your suggestions! What would you go with?
73, W4FT
TA-33M and Cushcraft 11 element Yagi are halfway up!
I’ve been remodeling my house for a while now, so the radio shack and the antennas have seen frequent changes and moves. Earlier this summer, I found myself wanting more than just my B&W 160-20 trap dipole hanging in the trees. This would be a temporary install only. Sometimes, you just have to scratch an itch. 
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