I cut the wire to just a pigtail out of the eliminator. The coil is gone.

No continuity.

I broke open the eliminator and checked continuity at the solder point of the wire that runs from the circuit board to the terminal, still nothing. I checked again at the point where the power lead positive makes contact with the circuit board and have continuity.

So, that tells me that the wire is fine but there is an issue with the circuit board -- it's losing continuity somewhere along the board.

Perhaps this is typical of cheap stuff. But how is it that the circuit board short circuited just by clipping wire? Perhaps the circuit was fragile to begin with?

I'm out $15, which is not a big issue. Maybe the circuit board becomes a teaching aid.

I have a Wouxun battery eliminator http://www.powerwerx.com/wouxun-radios/wouxun-battery-eliminator.html to which I had hoped to attach Anderson Powerpoles.

Before I started this business, it worked fine.

I clipped off the vehicle accessory plug and crimped Powerpoles to the positive and negative leads out of the battery eliminator. It does not work.

I get continuity in the negative circuit (black wire and [-] terminal on the eliminator, but no continuity on the positive side. I clipped the Powerpoles off and checked the continuity of the bare wires and got the same results.

I tested the accessory plug that I cut off and the continuity was fine, so I spliced the thing back together and still have no continuity on positive side but I have continuity on the negative side.

This is baffling me. I only clipped the two wires and the sheath -- I did not mess with the PCB in the battery eliminator case but it appears that I messed up the positive side of the circuit.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Teak
KD0KVV

Thanks to everybody for the input.

I have not yet done an analysis of the coax, but at this time I figure this is a terrain/buildings issue. I can work a few repeaters out to 51 miles on 55 watts but there are some at 30 miles that I cannot hold. Perhaps a higher-gain antenna may work, but I doubt it would work much unless I go to a vertical beam.

I'll double check the coax issue but for now I figure I'm doing the best I can.

Thanks again.

Teak
KD0KVV

Thanks for the additional replies. As always, I learn a lot on here.

Perhaps this is an antenna system issue. Here are the specs:

Antenna: Comet CP1. It's a bit short but considering the height it should be reasonable.
Radio: Yaesu FT1900R. It's pretty new. I bought it new, used it mobile for a few months and then brought it in the shack.
Coax: Mini RG8/U. The loss should be around 3.6dbi/100 feet. Total length is around 50 feet. Any thoughts on that coax? I know it's not the lowest loss but I figured a short run would not be a big deal. Maybe LMR400 or LMR600 would be better?

I built the coax myself. I can't say I'm confident I did a great job. I used crimp connectors and was careful about the cut lengths, making sure the braid was event distributed around the jacket and in to collar. I did the best job I could with soldering the conductor. It looked OK, but I am not good at soldering.

I think my next step will be to assess the antenna system. I should probably have an SWR/Power meter for the shack anyway, so I'll research some and get one. I'll snoop around to borrow an antenna analyzer, too. I'm not ready to drop the money on one of those yet, as I don't intend to do a great deal of antenna building.

Thanks.

Teak
KD0KVV

If I need to switch coax, I'll probably get commercially-made lengths, although I will need to build one end because I can't pass a connector through the holes I have at the antenna and shack entrances.

K7KBN, that could be an issue -- good thought. I'll need to follow up with the guy with the beam to ask if he was using a vertical or horizontal beam. I would think he would have been using a vertical beam for 2M FM, but perhaps he was running horizontal polarization instead. It's about the only thing I can think of.

Teak
KD0KVV

I have a Comet GP1 mounted on a pole mast on top of my house. The top of the antenna is about 30 feet off the ground and my home is on the highest point of the city of St. Louis. I have no problem operating 2 meter repeaters out to 40 miles or so. I can hear repeaters 55 to 60 miles away but cannot work them with the 55 watts my radio will emit.

Recently I attempted to make some contacts on 146.520. I had 2 stations reply, both about 25 miles away, one to the east and the other to the west. Both gave me excellent signal reports, basically 5-9, but I could barely hear the stations through the noise, even with the squelch opened. The station to the west turned his beam right to me, but I could still barely make him out, his signal was probably 3-2.

Strangely, they were working each other when I unintentionally broke in because I could not here them. So I was in between the two stations, almost right in the middle, and they could hear each other and me but their signals to me were very weak.

I can easily work repeaters that are very close to both stations' QTHs.

The station with the beam suggested I look at my coax and connectors, which seems reasonable enough although would not explain why I can RX repeaters much farther away.

At just 25 miles, with one station running a quality beam, could this have been a propagation or RFI issue? Or is there any logic behind the coax idea?

Thanks all.

Teak
KD0KVV

Performance update:

I just hit a repeater 31 miles away (straight line) with 1/2 watt through the HT with this antenna. Operator on the other end said the signal was readable with minimal white noise. 2 watts cleaned it up to full quieting.

This is amazing.

Thank you both for you help. Both are good suggestions.

I may indeed find that the aluminum becomes too heavy, but I could use a small tripod to assist.

Using rods may be pretty simple, too. Plus, it would allow for more power is necessary.

I am indeed a proponent of quality antennas rather than lots of power, so I am trying to learn antenna theory and construction as much as I can. My math skills never progressed beyond basic algebra, so the theory and calculations are tough for me to grasp.

Using PVC and a $3 measuring tape to build an antenna that performs so well was outstanding, a good reminder of the importance of antennas (not power) and a great introduction to the self-sufficiency of home-brew.

Teak

I just built a tape measure yagi -- the popular hand held that is made 1/2" PVC for the boom and 3/4 steel tape for the elements. This was my first homebrew antenna and I found it to be a fun, easy project, even though I am not good at soldering. Soldering steel is a pain. I used a small torch and it still took quite a while, and plenty of solder.

The yagi works great despite my crude solder job. I don't have an antenna analyzer or SWR meter so I relied on the plans and found that signal reports were good on simplex and full quieting into repeaters within 15 miles or so at 5 watts or less.

Now I am thinking that I'll built another yagi in a few weeks with the same plan but I'd like to use 1/16" thick, 3/4" wide aluminum bars instead of the tape for durability. I will use nuts, bolts and ring connectors to connect the two sides of the driven element to the conductor, ground and the hairpin match. This will also allow me to disassemble the antenna for transport.

How much difference will the thicker elements make? I would think it would be minimal, but if I need to change the lengths of the boom or elements, I'd like to know how to calculate that before construction so that fine-tuning it for SWR will be easier (preferably unnecessary).

I have the ARRL Yagi for Windows software but don't yet understand how to use it. If anybody is familiar enough to help get me started, I could use it to calculate the antenna measurements.

Thanks.

Teak
KD0KVV

On simplex, you're dealing with the efficiency of the other station's setup and yours. Repeater antennas are usually well elevated, so you can often hit them even with HTs. Many amateurs do not have that advantage, so you may not be able to use simplex to talk to a guy 5 miles away who also has an HT or a poor antenna on a base station.

Good idea, Doug. I remember seeing this but could not remember the manufacturer.

I think trying to go behind the wall is too much work, so I'll just run up through the floor. I might use the patch panel, but for my application it would be not much more than a glorified double-female barrel connector.

Thanks everybody for the ideas.

Teak
KD0KVV

OK, that makes sense. I was worried about the ground loop thing, which is whey I was asking.

Connecting both the station equipment grounding bar and the coax entrance ground bar to the common house ground presents a small logistical problem because of the layout of the house and its age, but it can be dealt with.

Teak

I have the FT250r and a Mirage B-34 and use them together. The 35 watts of the B-34 has been enough to hit repeaters as far as 30 or more miles, but elevation and antenna are key. With a Comet CP-1 on a mast on top of my house, I can hit repeaters out to 10 miles or more with 5 watts. If I turn on the amp I get considerably more distance. My house is in the middle of the city but is on the highest of the metro core, so my coverage is good. If you're in a hole or have a bad antenna, it may not be better than the rubber duck.

I do prefer a mobile rig -- I have the FT2900 in my truck -- but for quick portability and versatility, the FT250 and B-34 is a pretty nice set up. It's almost like having 2 radios.

The FT250r and amp are now sort of a "go" kit. I put the amp, some cables and a 7 Ah battery in a backpack. I have a small but very effective antenna and a portable mast -- a topic for another thread -- and have used it on hills to hit repeaters out to 30 or more miles.

If you're on a limited budget, the amp is a reasonable solution until you decide to get a more powerful radio. By then, perhaps you're look at a dual bander to get more power and one more band.

OK, Thanks.

I don't know that I'll open the PS to adjust the voltage. I'm not that comfortable with electronics yet.

I'm returning the charger anyway. It has an awful constant buzz, which the OM says is normal.

This is the charger:  http://www.batterychargers.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductName=94026501A

Output is 12V, not 13.6 or 13.8, so it may not be a good one to use anyway.

Thanks again for all your information.

Teak
KD0KVV

Very interesting.

I have a 13.85 volt switching power supply: http://www.powerwerx.com/batteries-chargers/powerwerx-30-amp-desktop-switching-power-supply-powerpoles.html.

Are you saying I can just connect the power supply directly to the batteries as described, in lieu of the charger, and accomplish the same thing? The power supply isn't "automatic" as a charger.

I could run the charging cables directly off one set of from Powerpoles or, maybe better, attach a second lead from the rear bind posts to the batteries. (I have one lead already going to a Rigrunner).

And I won't need this PowerGate? http://www.westmountainradio.com/product_info.php?products_id=pg40s

If so, I'll return the charger and get my money back.

Thanks

Teak
KD0KVV