On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 06:00:09 -0600, "Keith"
wrote:

Well, now that my SSB is up and running, I have one more minor problem ( I
think). Whenever I key up the mike to talk, some of the electronics go nuts,
like the Link 20 (near the grounding foil), the VHF goes blank and one of
those "touch" 110 lamps goes on and off. The radio tech that got me up and
running said these were symptoms of reflected power. I'm using a 23' digital
antenna, and seem to be transmitting well. Is there anything I can do about
this, or should I even be worried about it?

If it's a symptom of reflected power, then why didn't he check for it
and correct it?

Do you have an SWR meter and know how to use it? Does the radio have
a automatic tuner? Do you have good grounds? These are all things
the "tech" should have checked for you if he knew what he was doing.

It does sound like you are radiating all over the neighborhood - there
are some things you can do to cure the problem if you are comfortable
with the technical side of things. Check the grounds on the radio and
the antenna and make sure they are good (clean connections, good
connections, etc.), make sure the antenna is placed as far away from
the radio as practical, the antenna lead is not frayed or possibly
broken internally (you can use an ohm meter to check for that -
continuity), make sure the lead is long and routed properly, just
those kind of common sense things.

If that doesn't cure the problem, then it's ferrite beads, clamp on
chokes, antenna trimming - stuff a tech SHOULD be able to do.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
----------
"The wildness and adventure that are in
fishing still recommend it to me."

Henry David Thoreau
"Walden" (1854)