Tuesday 21 August 2012

Matching transformer failure


The other day I attempted to work PSK only to find that I had a very high SWR. My antenna tuner was clicking away but after a few seconds it was clear that something had failed. Up the ladder I went and fort off the accumulation of spiders to retrieve my matching transformer. Once opened, it was clear that there had been some heating and probably arcing. I have taken a picture and indicated the problem area with a yellow arrow. Fortunately I have plenty of spare wire so I’ll wind a new transformer. This will be a temporary measure as I have plans to replace my end fed wire with something less likely to cause interference.