High SWR 80m EFHW

I was seeing high SWR on the 80M EFHW: over 3:1+. I found counterpoise was chewed and broken, so I twisted it back together, but I saw no change. I disconnected the counterpoise completely, and that made no difference: still 3:1. I finally unscrewed and re-screwed the rusty alligator clamp and reattached it. That fixed it!

Previously, it seemed I’d sometimes see high SWR for a a moment, then it would recover. It seemed like giving it a little power would “clean up” something.

efhw  80m  antenna 

See also