If you were putting 200 watts into it on FT8 that's almost three times
the manufacturers rating and you're lucky you didn't fry it.
Dave AB7E
On 1/14/2024 1:18 PM, Michael Reynolds, NO6O wrote:
Actually, I was only putting around 200 into the antenna, and it's
doing fine. I've been continuing to make digital contacts without the
amp and tuner. The antenna works great for me. I reached 50
countries during the past few weeks of testing. Fortunately, I fully
understand what was going wrong.
Michael, NO6O
On 2024-01-14 1:03 PM, David Gilbert wrote:
Fully agree. The specs for the CHA-250B say a maximum of 75 watts
for digital modes ... i.e., continuous duty modes. That pretty much
says what the actual heat dissipation capability is. If he was
trying to put 500 watts into his antenna in almost any mode, it is
probably toast ... figuratively and literally.
Dave AB7E
On 1/14/2024 8:17 AM, Morgan Bailey wrote:
The Cha250 b is NOT an antenna capable of greater than 100 watts for
any
length of time. It is a 5:1 unun hooked to a 23 foot aluminum
radiator. It
needs to be 30 feet in the air and if that happens it will function
like a
vertical OCFD. Still it is only good for 100 watts. When running a
tuner
with the KAT500 and KPA500 you are heating up the puny unun and the
cores
are totally being fried. Plus the reactance probably is generating high
voltage on the short radiator causing arcs across any of the many
connections inside the matching section. A guy fried a base section
and I
have it in the garage. That is your problem. I have owned 2 of the
antennas
and as such they work in a pinch and work well for fast POTA activation
with 100 watts but other than that they are pretty much a megga
compromise
antenna. You would be way better off with a 998 mfg remote tuner and
a 43
foot vertical over a radial field. Check out the Zero5 antennas for the
cheapest durable 43foot vertical solution. 73, Morgan NJ8M
BS + MS + $2.98 = COFFEE
Real Life Experience = Priceless, says the man who set his back yard on
fire with a breadboard tuner loading a 160 meter inverted L with 1000
watts. LOL
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