Hello to the group. Recently at a local hamfest I noticed a pile of aluminum
next to a guys truck. Asking about it, he explained it was a 5 element 6 meter
beam that he thought is an M2.He went on to tell me that he had used it for
several years and that it had high SWR and he used it with a tuner of some type.
Otherwise it worked very well. We worked out a deal and I am now the owner of
this antenna. It needs some cleaning up. From some research that I found a pdf
file from M2, it looks to be a 6M5X model. My question is why would the SWR be
high? The T match and coax balun all look to be good. The only thing I can see
is that the T match rods look to be long. They are 14 3/8 " each side of the
block. This looks longer than the pictorial in the pdf file from M2. They do not
give a length for this rod. I found some info that M2 offered an upgrade kit for
the 6M5, could this possibly be a partially upgraded 6M5? The boom and element
lengths all match the 6M5X. Would anyone have the T match rod length for the
6M5X?
Thanks and 73, Randy, w5kcm

"w5kcm" wrote in message
...
Hello to the group. Recently at a local hamfest I noticed a pile of
aluminum
next to a guys truck. Asking about it, he explained it was a 5 element 6
meter
beam that he thought is an M2.He went on to tell me that he had used it
for
several years and that it had high SWR and he used it with a tuner of some
type.
Otherwise it worked very well. We worked out a deal and I am now the owner
of
this antenna. It needs some cleaning up. From some research that I found a
pdf
file from M2, it looks to be a 6M5X model. My question is why would the
SWR be
high? The T match and coax balun all look to be good. The only thing I can
see
is that the T match rods look to be long. They are 14 3/8 " each side of
the
block. This looks longer than the pictorial in the pdf file from M2. They
do not
give a length for this rod. I found some info that M2 offered an upgrade
kit for
the 6M5, could this possibly be a partially upgraded 6M5? The boom and
element
lengths all match the 6M5X. Would anyone have the T match rod length for
the
6M5X?
Thanks and 73, Randy, w5kcm

By adjusting the rods the swr should be adjustable somewhat.

It may sepend on what the origional owner calls high swr. Six meters is a
wide band and the swr will go way up after about 51 mhz. It may be he was
trying to use it in the upper portion of the band.

The pdf I looked at for the 6m5x shows the shortning bars to be 7.5 inches
from where the rod starts out from. The rods are 12 inches long.

Here is a drawing of the antenna.
http://store.fastcommerce.com/m2incs...0610bdd-p.html

On Sunday, June 23, 2013 10:25:53 PM UTC-5, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"w5kcm" wrote in message

...

Hello to the group. Recently at a local hamfest I noticed a pile of

aluminum

next to a guys truck. Asking about it, he explained it was a 5 element 6

meter

beam that he thought is an M2.He went on to tell me that he had used it

for

several years and that it had high SWR and he used it with a tuner of some

type.

Otherwise it worked very well. We worked out a deal and I am now the owner

of

this antenna. It needs some cleaning up. From some research that I found a

pdf

file from M2, it looks to be a 6M5X model. My question is why would the

SWR be

high? The T match and coax balun all look to be good. The only thing I can

see

is that the T match rods look to be long. They are 14 3/8 " each side of

the

block. This looks longer than the pictorial in the pdf file from M2. They

do not

give a length for this rod. I found some info that M2 offered an upgrade

kit for

the 6M5, could this possibly be a partially upgraded 6M5? The boom and

element

lengths all match the 6M5X. Would anyone have the T match rod length for

the

6M5X?

Thanks and 73, Randy, w5kcm



By adjusting the rods the swr should be adjustable somewhat.



It may sepend on what the origional owner calls high swr. Six meters is a

wide band and the swr will go way up after about 51 mhz. It may be he was

trying to use it in the upper portion of the band.



The pdf I looked at for the 6m5x shows the shortning bars to be 7.5 inches

from where the rod starts out from. The rods are 12 inches long.



Here is a drawing of the antenna.

http://store.fastcommerce.com/m2incs...0610bdd-p.html

Hi Ralph, thanks for the response. I was unable to open the link you attached. I have a pdf file from M2 that has the assembly directions of the 6M5X but it doesn't show the length of the T Match bars. It does show the 7.50" for the shorting bars. The 12" you state for the bar lengths is shorter than the one on this antenna. These are 14 and 3/8" long! This may be the SWR problem. I see from the link you attached that it is a pdf file for the 6M5 to 6M5X conversion. I wonder if the original 6M5 model used these 14 3/8" rods and the 6M5X model uses 12" rods? Possibly, I will need to clean up the antenna and assemble it and see exactly what the SWR is doing. Possibly the antenna is resonant higher up in the band like you say. Thanks for your input. 73, Randy, w5kcm

On Sunday, June 23, 2013 10:25:53 PM UTC-5, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"w5kcm" wrote in message

...

Hello to the group. Recently at a local hamfest I noticed a pile of

aluminum

next to a guys truck. Asking about it, he explained it was a 5 element 6

meter

beam that he thought is an M2.He went on to tell me that he had used it

for

several years and that it had high SWR and he used it with a tuner of some

type.

Otherwise it worked very well. We worked out a deal and I am now the owner

of

this antenna. It needs some cleaning up. From some research that I found a

pdf

file from M2, it looks to be a 6M5X model. My question is why would the

SWR be

high? The T match and coax balun all look to be good. The only thing I can

see

is that the T match rods look to be long. They are 14 3/8 " each side of

the

block. This looks longer than the pictorial in the pdf file from M2. They

do not

give a length for this rod. I found some info that M2 offered an upgrade

kit for

the 6M5, could this possibly be a partially upgraded 6M5? The boom and

element

lengths all match the 6M5X. Would anyone have the T match rod length for

the

6M5X?

Thanks and 73, Randy, w5kcm



By adjusting the rods the swr should be adjustable somewhat.



It may sepend on what the origional owner calls high swr. Six meters is a

wide band and the swr will go way up after about 51 mhz. It may be he was

trying to use it in the upper portion of the band.



The pdf I looked at for the 6m5x shows the shortning bars to be 7.5 inches

from where the rod starts out from. The rods are 12 inches long.



Here is a drawing of the antenna.

http://store.fastcommerce.com/m2incs...0610bdd-p.html

Ok, I was finally able to open the link. That is interesting this 6M5 to 6M5X conversion. The only thing I see is that the element lengths are different than the factory 6M5X. It looks like the elements on the older 6M5 model taper or have a smaller diameter than the 6M5X. The one that I have has continuous 3/8" tube elements. Possibly this is why the element dimensions are different. This shows me that this beam is not a conversion model.
I see that they are showing the T match rods to be 12". From this it looks like I need to cut the rods to 12" on my 6M5X. To be on the safe side, I should put up the antenna, set the shorting bars to 7.5" and then see what it looks like. Then start trimming the rods as needed. If someone out there has a 6M5X that can measure their T Match rods, can settle the issue. Thanks

On 6/23/2013 6:22 PM, w5kcm wrote:
Hello to the group. Recently at a local hamfest I noticed a pile of aluminum
next to a guys truck. Asking about it, he explained it was a 5 element 6 meter
beam that he thought is an M2.He went on to tell me that he had used it for
several years and that it had high SWR and he used it with a tuner of some type.
Otherwise it worked very well. We worked out a deal and I am now the owner of
this antenna. It needs some cleaning up. From some research that I found a pdf
file from M2, it looks to be a 6M5X model. My question is why would the SWR be
high? The T match and coax balun all look to be good. The only thing I can see
is that the T match rods look to be long. They are 14 3/8 " each side of the
block. This looks longer than the pictorial in the pdf file from M2. They do not
give a length for this rod. I found some info that M2 offered an upgrade kit for
the 6M5, could this possibly be a partially upgraded 6M5? The boom and element
lengths all match the 6M5X. Would anyone have the T match rod length for the
6M5X?
Thanks and 73, Randy, w5kcm
I bought a M2 2 meter antenna from a friend. Also said it had a high
SWR, but also said when another friend assembled and installed it for
him, something went "pop" as he was trying to get the two parts of the
driven element aligned. They can't be, but he tried.

I could not get one of the coax balun connectors off, and the female
half would turn if I tried too hard. I had to fabricate a very thin
wrench to hold the female part while I wrenched to male off. Very tight.

I removed the cover of the aluminum block that connects the balun and
the matching rods and cleaned out some of the silicon material. There
was the SWR problem. When the coax fitting had been torqued too much,
the female part had turned and broken the tiny wire connection to the
matching rod.

I managed to get the wire soldered back to the end of the connector and
the SWR was ok. I refilled the block with electronic grade RTV and all
is fine.

Bet that is where your problem is, also. If you can remove the balun and
see if there is continuity between the connector center and the matching
rod.

Good luck.

Paul, KD7HB

"w5kcm" wrote in message
...
Ok, I was finally able to open the link. That is interesting this 6M5 to
6M5X conversion. The only thing I see is that the element lengths are
different than the factory 6M5X. It looks like the elements on the older
6M5 model taper or have a smaller diameter than the 6M5X. The one that I
have has continuous 3/8" tube elements. Possibly this is why the element
dimensions are different. This shows me that this beam is not a conversion
model.
I see that they are showing the T match rods to be 12". From this it looks
like I need to cut the rods to 12" on my 6M5X. To be on the safe side, I
should put up the antenna, set the shorting bars to 7.5" and then see what
it looks like. Then start trimming the rods as needed. If someone out
there has a 6M5X that can measure their T Match rods, can settle the
issue. Thanks

I am not sure what effect the lengths of the rods past the shortning bars
would have. Probably not too much if any.
I think I would move the bars about 1/2 inch in and then out if the swr did
not improve and see what hapens before cutting the rods.
Maybe go up and down the band to see what the swr is over the band as about
1 mhz will make a lot of differance in the beam.

On Monday, June 24, 2013 8:07:01 AM UTC-5, Paul Drahn wrote:
On 6/23/2013 6:22 PM, w5kcm wrote:

Hello to the group. Recently at a local hamfest I noticed a pile of aluminum

next to a guys truck. Asking about it, he explained it was a 5 element 6 meter

beam that he thought is an M2.He went on to tell me that he had used it for

several years and that it had high SWR and he used it with a tuner of some type.

Otherwise it worked very well. We worked out a deal and I am now the owner of

this antenna. It needs some cleaning up. From some research that I found a pdf

file from M2, it looks to be a 6M5X model. My question is why would the SWR be

high? The T match and coax balun all look to be good. The only thing I can see

is that the T match rods look to be long. They are 14 3/8 " each side of the

block. This looks longer than the pictorial in the pdf file from M2. They do not

give a length for this rod. I found some info that M2 offered an upgrade kit for

the 6M5, could this possibly be a partially upgraded 6M5? The boom and element

lengths all match the 6M5X. Would anyone have the T match rod length for the

6M5X?

Thanks and 73, Randy, w5kcm

I bought a M2 2 meter antenna from a friend. Also said it had a high

SWR, but also said when another friend assembled and installed it for

him, something went "pop" as he was trying to get the two parts of the

driven element aligned. They can't be, but he tried.



I could not get one of the coax balun connectors off, and the female

half would turn if I tried too hard. I had to fabricate a very thin

wrench to hold the female part while I wrenched to male off. Very tight.



I removed the cover of the aluminum block that connects the balun and

the matching rods and cleaned out some of the silicon material. There

was the SWR problem. When the coax fitting had been torqued too much,

the female part had turned and broken the tiny wire connection to the

matching rod.



I managed to get the wire soldered back to the end of the connector and

the SWR was ok. I refilled the block with electronic grade RTV and all

is fine.



Bet that is where your problem is, also. If you can remove the balun and

see if there is continuity between the connector center and the matching

rod.



Good luck.



Paul, KD7HB

HI Paul, very good info. I had opened the little plug in the T Match block and looked around in there and it looks good but from what your saying, I need to check this carefully. I will go back in there and make sure the connections are good. I have checked the RG6 coax balun and it checks good. Thanks for your input.
Randy, w5kcm

On Monday, June 24, 2013 8:51:53 AM UTC-5, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"w5kcm" wrote in message

...

Ok, I was finally able to open the link. That is interesting this 6M5 to

6M5X conversion. The only thing I see is that the element lengths are

different than the factory 6M5X. It looks like the elements on the older

6M5 model taper or have a smaller diameter than the 6M5X. The one that I

have has continuous 3/8" tube elements. Possibly this is why the element

dimensions are different. This shows me that this beam is not a conversion

model.

I see that they are showing the T match rods to be 12". From this it looks

like I need to cut the rods to 12" on my 6M5X. To be on the safe side, I

should put up the antenna, set the shorting bars to 7.5" and then see what

it looks like. Then start trimming the rods as needed. If someone out

there has a 6M5X that can measure their T Match rods, can settle the

issue. Thanks



I am not sure what effect the lengths of the rods past the shortning bars

would have. Probably not too much if any.

I think I would move the bars about 1/2 inch in and then out if the swr did

not improve and see what hapens before cutting the rods.

Maybe go up and down the band to see what the swr is over the band as about

1 mhz will make a lot of differance in the beam.

Hi Ralph, Unless someone can give me the exact 6M5X T match rod length, I will leave these as they are and assemble the antenna and do the testing as you say. I am thinking now that this 6M5X came from the factory with the wrong T match rods. Thanks, Randy, w5kcm

"w5kcm" wrote in message
...
Hello to the group. Recently at a local hamfest I noticed a pile of
aluminum
next to a guys truck. Asking about it, he explained it was a 5 element 6
meter
beam that he thought is an M2.He went on to tell me that he had used it
for
several years and that it had high SWR and he used it with a tuner of some
type.
Otherwise it worked very well. We worked out a deal and I am now the owner
of
this antenna. It needs some cleaning up. From some research that I found a
pdf
file from M2, it looks to be a 6M5X model. My question is why would the
SWR be
high? The T match and coax balun all look to be good. The only thing I can
see
is that the T match rods look to be long. They are 14 3/8 " each side of
the
block. This looks longer than the pictorial in the pdf file from M2. They
do not
give a length for this rod. I found some info that M2 offered an upgrade
kit for
the 6M5, could this possibly be a partially upgraded 6M5? The boom and
element
lengths all match the 6M5X. Would anyone have the T match rod length for
the
6M5X?
Thanks and 73, Randy, w5kcm

Whatever the 'trons can do to mess with you, they will do it.

I've found problems with bare metal connections that SHOULD be conducting
because they're touching but do not conduct because of tarnish, oxidation,
dirt, etc. If all else fails, loosen every connection, clean the
metal-to-metal surfaces, spritz them with a material like Crommelin Red or
Caig De-Oxit (name depends on how old you are!) and reassemble.

The tarnish lesson was relearned yesterday when I made up a 10m choke coil
from RG-58 and a pair of PL-259's. The center pins did not have DC
continuity until AFTER I gently scraped both of them with a knife-edge.

It never ends.

73,
"Sal"
(KD6VKW)

...

Hello to the group. Recently at a local hamfest I noticed a pile of

aluminum

next to a guys truck. Asking about it, he explained it was a 5 element 6

meter

beam that he thought is an M2.He went on to tell me that he had used it

for

several years and that it had high SWR and he used it with a tuner of some

type.

Otherwise it worked very well. We worked out a deal and I am now the owner

of

this antenna. It needs some cleaning up. From some research that I found a

pdf

file from M2, it looks to be a 6M5X model. My question is why would the

SWR be

high? The T match and coax balun all look to be good. The only thing I can

see

is that the T match rods look to be long. They are 14 3/8 " each side of

the

block. This looks longer than the pictorial in the pdf file from M2. They

do not

give a length for this rod. I found some info that M2 offered an upgrade

kit for

the 6M5, could this possibly be a partially upgraded 6M5? The boom and

element

lengths all match the 6M5X. Would anyone have the T match rod length for

the

6M5X?

Thanks and 73, Randy, w5kcm



Whatever the 'trons can do to mess with you, they will do it.



I've found problems with bare metal connections that SHOULD be conducting

because they're touching but do not conduct because of tarnish, oxidation,

dirt, etc. If all else fails, loosen every connection, clean the

metal-to-metal surfaces, spritz them with a material like Crommelin Red or

Caig De-Oxit (name depends on how old you are!) and reassemble.



The tarnish lesson was relearned yesterday when I made up a 10m choke coil

from RG-58 and a pair of PL-259's. The center pins did not have DC

continuity until AFTER I gently scraped both of them with a knife-edge.



It never ends.



73,

"Sal"

(KD6VKW)

Hi Sal, very good info. Yes, I will test the connections inside the T mach block. Apparently, the M2 antennas with this T match has a lot of problems with poor connections due to using dissimilar metals. I have some chemical used in sal****er marine electrical environment called "Corrosion Block". Once, I have cleaned the connections, I will apply the corrosion block. Hopefully, that will keep it going for a few years. I did notice that it looks like M2 has gone to a different type of match. Possibly, due to the problems with the T match.
Thanks for your response & 73, Randy, w5kcm