Another aerial cable Question

[ionian]

I have a'Navman' emergency whip aeriel mounted on a pole at the back of the boat. When testing it with a meter it showed continuity between the screen and the inner conductor.
Further investigation showed that the cable was ok but the socket on the whip that screws into the base was giving continuity between the pin and the outer screen connection. Is the aerial faulty?

 

[VicS]

Thats normal. It does not indicate a fault with the aerial

 

[wooslehunter]

It's not possible to test an antenna installation with a continuity meter. All you can do is test the cable for dc short/continuity with the antenna disconnected. The screen and inner should obviously show continuity with no short between them.

With the antenna connected, you may indeed see a short between screen and inner.

The simplest way to test the installation is with a VSWR bridge. A meter rated for the 2 meter amateur band is fine. A CB one is probabaly not.

 

[ionian]

Thanks for the replies - I think its safe to assume all is o.k.

Rgds ionian

 

[Billjratt]

If you have an ammeter on board, check the current drawn when the Xmit key is pressed in 25 watt mode (preferably on chan 77). It should be about 5 amps. If it is lower, the radio may be turning down the transmit power to protect itself from damage due to reflections from a poor cable/installation. CB SWR meter does work by the way.