20 meter Dipole

[Jim Boswell]

Finished my dipole, all trimmed up and first contact was from Utah to Arlington Tex. with 10 watts SSB. That is a good start. I used a gel cell battery and Icom 703. The basic picnic table portable.

[Desert Sailor]

Just got my 20 meter dipole up on the roof. But although my ICOM 735 receives well, its meter doesn't show much output when xmitting. I've also got an MFJ tuner in line, but it doesn't wiggle at all. Tried putting a jack in the key plug with no effect.
I'm pretty much brand new at this, recently got my General, and made a contact with this rig at another location. then moved here and finally unpacked and set up. Kind of frustrating. But I'll keep fiddling. Would appreciate any counsel.
73
Bob
KF7MWF

[Chuck James]

If you were using SSB (USB) on the Icom-735, or any radio really, you will not see much forward deflection on the meter.  Normally you will only see about 20-25 percent of what you would see if using CW or some other mode, like FM or another digital mode.  That's just the way SSB works, and is nothing to worry about.
73's

[Jim Boswell]

Bob,

You have to use CW to measure SWR. Set-up your station, the select what freq. you want to work. Adjust the tunner's inductor for maxium rec. signal. Connect a key and select CW mode. With the power set at about 1/3, key the trans. and measure the SWR. If the SWR is above 2 to 1 you will need to change the cap. settings to lower the SWR.
Be sure you have a good ground. Be sure all your coax connectors are soldered, and check for possable shorts on the coax.
It also might help to take your radio to another hams station and verify the radio is working correctly.
Let me know if you need more help, 73'S  KA5SIW