Plus … New Antenna System at KL7L; WØYSE/7 Returns to Air With a Minimal But Effective Antenna System; AA8SH Visits the Shelby Hamfest to Talk Ground Wave and a Few Statistics for the 2021/2022 Season
One of the things that is just a fact of life when operating 630 and 2200 meters and that we talk about a lot in the interest of safety is high-voltage arcing at the antenna. Most of the active operators have done it at least once. If we are lucky, there is minimal damage, but most of the time carbon tracking necessitates cleanup and repairs so that it does not happen again. For years, I tracked these incidences of arcing and sometimes the fire that accompanied them in the “Hall of Flame” until my website ceased to exist. Paul Kelley, N1BUG, of Milo, Maine, stepped up to take over the presentation on his website1 and the collection still elicits shock and awe to those who see it for the first time. Arcing that brings fire and destruction is a new thing for most high-frequency (HF) operators because full-sized and matched, resonant, antennas typically exhibit comparatively low voltage since reactance can be managed without large loading devices. It is something to keep in the back of your mind if you plan on operating on these low bands.
In early August of this year, Mike Michaels, W3TS, of Halifax, Pennsylvania, began experiencing an arcing problem
