Antron 99 issues and woes

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Ur5by9
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Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by Ur5by9 »

I recently helped a family member get back into Radio.
Started off with a 80 channel radio some new cable a decent PSU and an old Antron 99 which was previously used by me.

Anyways as it was just to test the water the Antron was mounted about 6 ft off the ground.
This worked fairly well and contacts over 20 miles were achievable.

So we decided to mount the antenna on the roof as we were picking up some noise being close to the house and overhead phone lines.
Up the Antenna went worked very well, floor noise was nice and low s3-4 contacts were up and it was going well with a nice swr of around 1.5 and less

Now so many months down the line the antenna seems to be deaf and the contacts we were once getting are almost non existent.
The swr is still fairly low and the cable was new as were the plugs.
As for TX the antenna still puts out well and more so contacts can still get a copy but from the Antron end its not picking up as well as it did
despite the swr being okay.

Tested this with 2 other radios with exactly the same results. We now have a new Imax awaiting to be installed but is it normal or
even possible for the antenna to degrade and go deaf ?

Just looking for others experiences and despite a new Imax going to replace the Antron it still beats me as to why it went wrong?

Thoughts......
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ch25
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by ch25 »

A99 is very mount place and type dependent. In one location can work great, in other can be deaf.
It is pretty well described on the internet. Also what to do to avoid that. Use google Luke.
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Ur5by9
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by Ur5by9 »

Thanks for the reply, points taken onboard, It did work well for a few months and has started to deteriorate on receive which despite an okay swr
makes me wonder why could the antenna stop receiving the stations it did in a matter of months ?

can the antenna be prone to fail on the RX side of things due to age or other factors?
speeddemon

Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by speeddemon »

Antron99 .sounds like its getting old/ degrading inside .ther cheap enuff for a new one on fleabay cheers
Last edited by speeddemon on 21 Dec 2017, 14:38, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by Tigersaw »

You may have water in the co-ax. It wont necessarily produce a poor swr, it will affect both TX and RX, but it takes a lot of attenuation before you notice you have a TX problem as well
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Ur5by9
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by Ur5by9 »

coax is fine, TX is fine , its just RX is very much down.
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Adriano9966
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by Adriano9966 »

I sounds to me like you are transmitting and receiving through the coax and not the antenna.

:think: It could be that the copper wire inside the antenna has degraded and that there is a short inside the antenna itself.

The possible explanation for the low SWR is that you could be obtaining resonance via the feedpoint which has a 50 ohm section provided by a matching coil.

Just a theory. It does not mean that this is the cause . Either way I think replacement is the correct action.
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by sonoma »

make sure the ground at the antenna coax end is mking a good connection. if it was not solered to the pl259 connector when it was 1st put up it could be causing you some problems. verify this when you put up the new antenna. it may show good with a ohm meter but it will act up if water got indside the pl259 connector, so be sure it is soldered good also.
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Mudslinger
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by Mudslinger »

After a while on these I think water manages to seep through the fibreglass and the copper inside deteriorates.

I reckon the coax is dmaged as well though. Poor coax can give you a good SWR reading as the reflected power is lost on its way back to the meter/radio.

Some new coax and an Imax should be a huge improvement as the A99 is pretty mediocre anyway, even when working as it should.
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by 108EH002 »

Have replaced the 827 I had up for an Imax,seems to be a half decent antenna.A-99 pants compared to the Imax but ;)
Plenty are talking worldwide on 27.555 usb,
Some are too far up their own @rse to admit it,
Many happen to know otherwise dx-ing test free,
Showing a complete lack of respect for the law.

27.555 Usb
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Ur5by9
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by Ur5by9 »

Yip good points taken, I do feel like the coax is acting like a feeder.
Thanks for feedback much appreciated.
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by The Collector »

Are you using a balun thingymijig just under the aerial? It may help to stop the coax radiation somewhat.

I cant remember 100%, but isn't there a tiny drain hole on the bottom of these that needs to be kept clear? If the joints haven't been sealed with self-amalgamating tape, then it could have let water in a bit. Again, the coax should be fully sealed against the elements.

Your SWR shouldn't have changed at all using the same channels/frequencies, so if it has then something is slightly amiss. Were the tuning rings also taped to stop them coming loose and moving a bit?

Also, could the drop off in people perhaps be just due to the lack of users (no solar activity and Xmas looming) at the moment, or are your regulars dropping in signal?
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Ur5by9
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by Ur5by9 »

The contacts on the radio are local guy's , the antenna just went deaf almost over night., The coax has half a dozens loop turns at the base.
It will be getting replaced as the Imax is sat waiting on the new year. Just odd it failed very quickly and continues to have a fairly good swr.
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Mudslinger
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by Mudslinger »

Just a thought, have you tried a different radio?

The radio might have developed a fault which has made it go deaf.

It does happen, especially on older stuff.
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Re: Antron 99 issues and woes

Post by 108EH002 »

Simon Ur5by said he tried 2 other radios ;)
Plenty are talking worldwide on 27.555 usb,
Some are too far up their own @rse to admit it,
Many happen to know otherwise dx-ing test free,
Showing a complete lack of respect for the law.

27.555 Usb
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