Sirio 827 SWR fault

[davidm123]

Hi I have had my Sirio 827 antenna up about 5 months using rg213 coax but the last few days i have got a very high SWR of 3.0-3.3 so i have not used my radio for transmitting only for listening. i was wondering if anyone can help with what could be wrong and what to look for before i take it down thank you also from the ground it looks intact. it does move around quite a lot in the wind even though it has guy ropes attached Thank you in advance

[Otter]

I foound on mine that where the coil is clamped in at the botton it was open circuit. I think it's just a screw or a nut.
Also you could have water in your coax.
At one stage I had a bad connection where the coax connects to the antenna (like the SO-239 pins were too wide).
After I'd had it up for a couple of years the screws holding the top section in place came loose, and my SWR used to flick up and down in the wind.
That never gave me an SWR as high as 3 though.

[davidm123]

ok thank you what do you mean pins were to wide? and how did you fix it?

[Otter]

You'll see when you unscrew the coax. I very gently bent the fingers together SLIGHTLY. If you didn't take measures, such as self-amalgamating tape, to stop water getting into the coax I would think that is most likely.

[bigpimp347]

just to educate a few on the 827 as well as the Tornado.

the coil is held in place with THREE allen screws..
two are obvious and can corrode quite easily, a quick unscrew and re-tighten is often enough.
the third is where the steel stand off bar is with what looks like a nut on the end.
remove the nut and inside is a third allen screw, this is the one over looked by most people when the SWR starts to go t1ts up.

also make sure all sections are still in place, the top is well known for coming loose and dropping in,
i have two 827's and one of those the top had dropped down to it's top cap, you wouldn't have noticed unless you really looked.

[concorde]

My swr went high one section had lost it's self tapping screws and collapsed into the telescopic section below reducing the height by about 2ft. I put bigger screws in.

[29fb040]

OK dunno if you use a hf radio or cb or cb and amp..... I had same problem mine was new and only up about 9 months when it happened..... But if I turned my amp on or the radio up to 200w the swr was perfect again so it was fit to bridge the fault at higher power..... I reckon the third section from the bottom has a design fault.... Its the one that is the same diameter at both ends..... It fits into the lower section but over the upper section and held with two self tapping screws...... So look up at your antenna if it looks a bit wonky at the top of the 3rd section up from the bottom you may have the same problem as I had...... Mine broke the pole in a storm and came down but I was shocked when I seen what was happening to it and a few of my friend are having the same problem with theirs also...... I have a video on YouTube of the damage to it.... Don't mind the ground planes that's from coming down in the storm..... Byr look closely at the amalgamating tape how it bunched up and ripped apart from the section moving once the screw holes shedded...... Here's a link to how mine looked when I got it off the roof and took it apart



I did repair it and it's up and working good again here is a link to the repairs I did.....



I hope this help you out buddy

[29fb040]

My swr went high one section had lost it's self tapping screws and collapsed into the telescopic section below reducing the height by about 2ft. I put bigger screws in.

Was it the third section up the upper end of it???? The funny tube that's the same diameter at both ends.....

[Edd200sx]

I got sick of repairing my 827 and got something else