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Thunderpole saturn
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 7:24 pm
by steveky
I've just bought a Thunderpole Saturn and fitted it on a large magmount onto my Shogun. I can't get the SWR out of the red no matter where I put it on the roof and adjust the length by the grub screw along its full adjustment, is the next step to start hacking bits off the end or is there another way of bringing it down, its fitted to a midland 42 handheld.
Any help appreciated
Steve
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 10:46 am
by andy@thunderpole.co.uk
Hi Steve,
How far in the red is it? If it is only slightly in the red, i.e just over 3 then it may be bought down by tuning. But if it is right over, i.e. 10+ then it may indicate a problem elsewhere, maybe with the cable.
What frequency are you testing the SWR on? You should try it on the UK and on the EU frequencies, on channel 1 and on channel 40 then you will see if the antenna is too long or short.
Regards,
Andrew

Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 2:21 pm
by steveky
Andy
I have adjusted it to the full height and to its lowest trying all points in between on both ch40 and 1 and the worse case is 10 and the best 10 in the red. I don't think it's the magmount because I can put the thunderstick straight into the mount and get readings between 1.3 and 1.5 which leads me to think it's the saturn.
Steve
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 3:01 pm
by andy@thunderpole.co.uk
Steve,
Sounds like you've done everything you should be doing.
Probably the best thing to do is send the antenna back to us for checking. It is unusual to get faulty antennas but like with anything it does happen.
If it is faulty we can simply swap it for you and get another sent out.
Andy

Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 3:31 pm
by steveky
Cheers Andy
Will have another go at weekend and if I cant sort it will take you up on your offer, if I just used it for scanning and not transmitting would this do any damage cos for what it costs if it won't damage the handset set I may just keep it when scanning
Steve
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 3:52 pm
by andy@thunderpole.co.uk
Yeah it should be fine if you are just gonna be receiving.
You cannot damage your radio unless you transmit.
Andy

Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 6:35 pm
by steveky
Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 4:32 pm
by SandMan
Even if you use the aerial for just recieving, I've found that a lower SWR will make the reception better, especially if it's out by miles. Anything 1:1.5 or lower is fine as a rule for transmitting, more is okay for recieving but not too much as the antennae and rig need to be "as one" frequency wise for best use...but as mentioned beforehand, it wont damage your rig as long as youre not TX'ing.