Dipole Generates Static in PL-259

Irrespective of the fact the solder-the-braid PL-259 connector is probably the worst RF connector conceived by the mind of man1 and the fact the spark shown in the video is in an area that should be a direct short, the video, shown below, wonderfully shows the ease with which static charge can build on a dipole antenna.

That’s not the point though. If we were to cut off the connector we would surely still see a spark from center conductor to shield. If the cable were near station ground we would expect a spark jump. That large a charge has to go somewhere.

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43 Foot Antenna Installation – The Rising

Here are some details regarding the next, and probably last, phase of my 43 Foot DX Engineering vertical installation.

This post is very late. The actual date of the events within it are just before March 2009 in preparation for the Virginia QSO Party.

In the many posts within this site, it is no secret my examination of various vertical antenna solutions with comparison between BigIR and the 43 Foot products a big part of this. Check out all the 43 Foot posts on HHD here…

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