mounting the a99 antenna
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magnum83
- Mud-Duck Jr.
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Oct 12 2009, 09:16
- Real Name: christopher
mounting the a99 antenna
I have a cobra 19 wx st II and swr/watt meter that im going to use as a home base station with the a99 antenna. My question is . . .i have a single wide with a metal chimney. If i mount the a99 to it would the metal chemney make it have higher swr's? One other question is, when i mount it, would i need to ground the antenna and if so how would i go about doing that and what would i use to do it with? Thx in advance. . .please i need a reply or you can email me with it at chazzx11@yahoo.com
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'Doc
All antennas work better when any metal around them are -under- the antenna rather than -beside- the antenna. The place at the base of that 'A99' that's where you bolt it to something, is usually -below' the actual antenna part of the antenna, so it doesn't count.
That metal chimney, is it strong enough to support the 'A99'? There's a lot of stress because of the wind etc, so that chimney ought to be strong enough or you will have problems. That's a mechanical thing, not electrical.
It shouldn't make any electrical difference if you mount the antenna to that chimney. And if that chimney is 'grounded' to the rest of the metal of the house, and if that metal house is 'grounded', the antenna ought to be grounded too. That grounding has nothing to do with how the antenna works, but it IS a safety sort of thing, lightning, etc. Safety grounding is a huge subject, not really all that simple at times, and I ain't getting into that! Your antenna ought to work just dandy. Read the instructions that come with -ALL- of your equipment. that'll tell you a lot of what you need to know.
Understand how to tune that antenna (instructions!). There's no such thing as a "one size fits all" antenna straight out of the box, so tuning is typically required. There's two ways of doing that tuning. One way is to throw enough money at the equipment to do that tuning very simply and fast. The other way which is the most common, is to do a lot of 'up/down' change it a little and check it, till things are 'right'. You'll have fun with that!
[Or send that money to me, I'll tune it for you. You supply the beer! ... if you take me up on that, I got this boat for sale.]
It isn't as bad as it sounds, so have fun.
- 'Doc
That metal chimney, is it strong enough to support the 'A99'? There's a lot of stress because of the wind etc, so that chimney ought to be strong enough or you will have problems. That's a mechanical thing, not electrical.
It shouldn't make any electrical difference if you mount the antenna to that chimney. And if that chimney is 'grounded' to the rest of the metal of the house, and if that metal house is 'grounded', the antenna ought to be grounded too. That grounding has nothing to do with how the antenna works, but it IS a safety sort of thing, lightning, etc. Safety grounding is a huge subject, not really all that simple at times, and I ain't getting into that! Your antenna ought to work just dandy. Read the instructions that come with -ALL- of your equipment. that'll tell you a lot of what you need to know.
Understand how to tune that antenna (instructions!). There's no such thing as a "one size fits all" antenna straight out of the box, so tuning is typically required. There's two ways of doing that tuning. One way is to throw enough money at the equipment to do that tuning very simply and fast. The other way which is the most common, is to do a lot of 'up/down' change it a little and check it, till things are 'right'. You'll have fun with that!
[Or send that money to me, I'll tune it for you. You supply the beer! ... if you take me up on that, I got this boat for sale.]
It isn't as bad as it sounds, so have fun.
- 'Doc
