C-pole tuning part 3

This weekend I went out to test my C-pole with a new 1:1 balun. As I blogged before I ran into trouble with this antenna and the common mode choke I constructed in W2DU style.

To rule out any balun influences I had decided to tune the C-pole last week using my VNA without any balun present. My idea at the time was that this would give me the most clean picture of the antenna and would rule out any failure of the balun ruining the tuning process. Smart move? No. (but I learned something).

While working on the "naked" antenna I was amazed how much off it was. To me at the time it seemed strange (I tuned it before didn't I?) but it did explain why it failed in operation. So I continued re-tuning the antenna - moving the feedpoint a considerable bit along the one leg of the folded dipole (basically the C-pole is a dipole with the ends folded in a square shape towards each other).

After 1,5-2h of pushing the antenna up and down again I had a perfect match in the 40m band. One happy camper.

At home I tested and optimised my 40m balun. Ready for the final assembly and testing.

This weekend I had some time to go out to bring it all together and enjoy the fruits of my labour. However when I set up the antenna with balun I found.... it was way off. Go figure.

Tuning the C-pole yet another time

Discussing this with my YNOMY team members we came to the conclusion that the common mode current - considerable in this design - influences the measurements of the VNA. So tuning the "naked" antenna was a stupid idea and the time spent tuning was actually time spent detuning it.

A frustrated ham is never going to be the best person to work on any project but I did decide there and then to re-tune the antenna one more time. I was almost finished when I too hastily bumped the VNA against the pole. The center conductor of the SMA plug attached to the VNA broke off and is now securely in place in my VNA port - making it neither a female nor male connector (gender neutral - a modern concept). That concluded the tuning process for the time being.  

Gender neutral SMA connector

So now I have to replace the SMA connector on the VNA. That connector - I found - is soldered into place with lead free solder that I cannot remove with my soldering iron as it just does not heat up enough.
Luckily Marcel PG8M told me he both has the connectors and a proper soldering iron. So now I have to find the time to go over to his place and have him repair the damages (keeping a safe distance all the time of course).

Cooking on a choke

Out portable with my (relatively) new C-pole antenna last week I ran into trouble. After about 30 minutes signal levels dropped dramatically indicating something was wrong. I saw the SWR skyrocket.
Walking over to my c-pole I felt the common mode choke was boiling hot. So I changed antennas and continued my operation.

Back home I began my investigation in what went wrong. Immediately there were two suspects: the antenna (high swr for some reason) and the choke (too low choking impedance).

The antenna was fine when I used it the first time and I did not change anything in the mean time. So the choke seemed a more logical candidate. The purpose of the choke is to minimise the amount of common mode current that you will generate with an unbalanced antenna like the C-pole. If the choking impedance is too low however there will still be a considerable common mode current left that will generate heat in the choke.

W2DU style choke with ferroxcubes beads

On this latest homemade version of the c-pole I use a W2DU style choke that I constructed myself using a number of ferrite beads. The type and amount I used I based on the factsheet. On paper the choking impedance was OK but I can't remember if I really tested it. Checking it now I measured a whooping 400 Ohm of impedance - far too low to stop the CM current flow (I wonder if the heat impacted the ferrite?).

Removing turns of RG58 from two stacked FT240 toroids

On my first C-pole I used a different current choke, designed on the basis of the excellent information by the late G3TXQ. I used two FT240-43 ferrite toroids stacked with a couple of turns of RG58. It is bulkier and heaver though than a W2DU choke, that is why I changed it.
That toroid based choke also became very hot on my first c-pole but I later discovered the antenna itself had an issue - causing high swr - causing high voltages over the choke.

So I returned to this old choke - abandoned but not scrapped. I measured it and it had an interesting profile. It was particularly useful in the 80m band range (5k Ohm) but certainly not bad in the 40m range (2.5k Ohm).

Measurement #1 of the choking impedance and transmission loss on my balun

I decided to take it apart and remove one of the RG58 turns. As expected the choking maximum moved up. The profile now suited a 60m antenna perfectly while impedance was higher in the 40m band. After removing two more turns I got a maximum in the 40m band. The choking impedance is now more than 5k Ohm there. That should do the trick.

Measurement #2 after removing 3 turns of the coax

When I have the time I will go out /P with my C-pole to check it without a choke - just to be sure it still is resonant in the 40m band - and then add my old toroid based choke.