Q I have a Cushcraft AR-270 Dual Band (2-meter/70-cm) Ringo antenna mounted on the side of my house. I changed its location the other day and checked the SWR after installing coax. It now reads 5:1. I changed coax, checked it again and the SWR is still 5:1. I have checked all connections and everything seems in good shape. What’s next?
A By any chance, when you relocated the antenna, did you mount it near (within 6 feet or so) anything metal of a significant size? If so, the Ringo is probably “coupling” to this and changing the antenna’s resonance as a result. If not, there may have been something internal to the antenna that broke when you moved it.
From QST March 2001
