[Moon-net] Array Deterioration

[John Fridenstine]

Hello All,

During the Fall my two meter EME array became increasingly hard of hearing.  Even the big guns were weak.  Something was wrong but nothing changed on the transmit side.  SWR was still 1:1, load, tuning and  power out, all 350 watts, remained perfect.

Fortunately December 28 was a sunny and unusually warm winter day.  I got out the ladder and started unwrapping N connecters.  I disconnected cables looking for a problem.   Before reassembling I brushed the internal mating surfaces with a brass brush and weatherproofed.  I did the same to all eleven connectors but was disappointed to find no obvious problem.

That evening, the 29th UTC, I worked several larger stations and signals seemed better.  During the last 10 days I have found I can hear and work the smaller stations again.  Thirty QSOs,  eleven new initials and three new DXCC since I cleaned the connectors.

The current array, 4x12, had only been assembled 18 months ago so I didn't really think there would have been a problem unless water had infiltrated the connectors.  I wonder if the change in temperature caused condensation corrosion under the water proofing.  Or perhaps it was just the normal corrosion of silver surfaces 

I wonder if others have had similar experiences.

73,
John W8PAT EN81vg