Enough consideration over coffee, it was time to verify how we could reach the 5775 repeater antenna ( the one on a lean at the top of the pole ) for repair.
Firstly, carry a long ladder to the top without damaging any of the troops.
Well, the access test passed. Now the [similar] antenna ex the remote IC-706 will get a refurbish and all being well, it will replace “old droopy”. The wobble on the antenna is not the major concern; a strange frequency response and reactive impedance needs to be tracked down. The antenna is the prime suspect, but there could also be feedline issues.
Ian ZL1AOX dropped in and brought a present; a Marconi LF ( ~ 500KHz to 2.x MHz ) auto DF receiver. Potentially originally ex MP, we need to do a bit of homework on this.
After last weeks quick repair of the “V” beam feedpoint, 2 new jumpers were fitted today from the matchbox to the radiators. A quick test using the IC-7700 showed promise – would probably be even better if we didn’t have a capacitance tree growing up around one of the radiators. More testing required.