Help--SSB setup with antenna/ground

[RunningCool]

Rig.. SEA 222 that was rebuilt by Doug of seacomcorp.
Antenna tuner sea 1612 that passed testing byDoug.
KISS counterpoise.
Boat. Rafiki double-ender. With large dynaplate installed. But not hooked to ground. Have been trying kiss becuz
1. Rookie, thought it was not good.
2. Maybe fell for kiss system.
Have 34ft S.S. lifeline with crimped loops at end.
Have 6 ft of GTO line from that to tuner.

Problem, everything I key mike it reboots. Shuts off and restarts.
Doug says power radiating Problem
Should I install swr meter?
Go back to dynaplate?
Receiving is no problem, getting good signal when marine net on 14300 is on air.
Just can't transmit.
Thx

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by RunningCool

Rig.. SEA 222 that was rebuilt by Doug of seacomcorp.
Antenna tuner sea 1612 that passed by Doug.

Have 34ft S.S. lifeline with crimped loops at end.
Have 6 ft of GTO line from that to tuner.

Problem, everything I key mike it reboots. Shuts off and restarts.

Should I install swr meter?
Go back to dynaplate?
Receiving is no problem, getting good signal when marine net on 14300 is on air.
Just can't transmit.
Thx

Some clarity might help.
Who is a Doug and what difference does he make?
An SWR meter won’t fix anything. It will indicate a non-resonant antenna mismatch. Will that info help you?
What reboots? The transceiver? Causes can vary from RF on power cable, severe ground loop, feeding RF to ground or via radio, etc….

My first suggestion is to put a different antenna up and ensure it is properly isolated.

[sv_pelagia]

Don't be so quick to blame KISS... it works for us and 2 other friends boats. As suggested, try different antenna.

[Jammer]

One property of the KISS counterpoise is that it does result in greater RF field strength inside the vessel. Since you have a dynaplate installed already, it may be worthwhile to try using it to see if performance improves.


If it's the radio that's rebooting (it's not clear from your post) then the problem may be unrelated to RF. The power draw while transmitting is significant, and undersized wiring or loose or failing connections may pose problems only during transmit.

[donradcliffe]

Where is the 34 ft of lifeline going to and from?

Try transmitting at lower power.

[RunningCool]

The transceiver reboots.
Antenna goes from boomkin up to mast top.
It is isolated ar both ends.
Don't think I can transmit at lower power.
This is a SEA 222. Transmits at 100 watts.
If I have power problems, I thought swr meter would help figure it out.
New to marine ssb.
Is the antenna length wrong or right at 34ft plus 6 ft for gto wire.
Thx

[RunningCool]

Doug owns and operates Seacomcorp.
He repaired unit. These units go back 30 plus years.
Now mostly government marine commication gear.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by RunningCool

The transceiver reboots.
Antenna goes from boomkin up to mast top.
It is isolated ar both ends.
Don't think I can transmit at lower power.
This is a SEA 222. Transmits at 100 watts.
If I have power problems, I thought swr meter would help figure it out.
New to marine ssb.
Is the antenna length wrong or right at 34ft plus 6 ft for gto wire.
Thx

An SWR meter measures efficacy of the antenna system, nothing else. Keying a 100 w transmitter at 12VDC can draw 15 amps or more. If the radio “cuts off” means it shuts off, it can indicate a feed power problem in the electric feed to the radio such as a bad connection.

Is the antenna isolated from any boat ground?

Parenthetically, a Dynaplate is for electrical ground and not as a counterpoise for an antenna.

[MicHughV]

I owned a SEA 222 for years, plus the tuner. My antenna was a simple end fed wire that ran from the stern of the boat up to the ...almost...top of mizzen.
My 222 pushed out 150W of power, not sure where you get 100W from ??
Admittedly my ground was a steel hull, but I could throw out a signal halfway around the world without a problem.
Many areas where a problem could arise.
1. The connection between radio and tuner, remember the tuner also needs 12v power to operate.
2. From the tuner....next problem area is the thru' deck connection. I ideally, the tuner should be near as damnit to the deck. I used an insulated fitting here, and used GTO-15 wire from tuner to insulator. in my case, about 4".
2. From thru' deck insulator, another run of GTO-15 cable up the inside to a pvc pole. pole is about 6' long, necessary to keep anyone from touching the antenna while transmitting.
3. Antenna was a length of plastic covered 1/8" inch s/s cable fitted with insulators each end. The upper insulator was attached to top of mizzen with oil soaked twine, about 18" between insulator and top of mast. The lower end was similar and attached to the pvc pole, also with about 18" soaked twine. The GTO cable was attached to the wire with a copper clamp and wrapped with electrical tape.

That's it. Simple enuff.

In later years, I used an identical system on a fiberglass boat, but ground was two 18" copper grounding plates. This setup worked as well as the first.

Following that, I got into Ham radio, and used the same setup, which also worked like a champ.

Somewhere along the line, you've done something wrong. Hard to say without being there.

Here's my advice. Most every town has a Ham club. Contact them and you'll find the members most helpful and willing to come out to your boat for a looksee.

[RunningCool]

Thx for that.
150watt u are right.
I have 6ft gto wire from antenna to tuner.
When I try to transmit I have 13.4volts on a 300 amphr lithium.
Got the juice, will double check all connections this weekend.

Will a dynaplate work for ground?
The boat has about 3ft of 4in copper plate that is attached to the dynaplate.
When I rescued the Rafiki 1 yr ago, it had this setup.
But now trying KISS GROUND

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by RunningCool

Will a dynaplate work for ground?

Don’t conflate ground with a counterpoise. While it may work, it’s a dubious choice given it’s there to serve as a ground. Regardless, that isn’t your problem here.

Where did you measure 13.4 V? At the battery, panel or actually at the back of the transceiver while transmitting.

[RunningCool]

At the back of the transceiver. I measured 13.4.
If i hooked ground into copper plates without it being connected to dynaplate.
Would that help?
thx

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by RunningCool

At the back of the transceiver. I measured 13.4.
If i hooked ground into copper plates without it being connected to dynaplate.
Would that help?
thx

Remove, clean and reconnect all connections to ensure there are no high resistance connections only apparent under load.

What kind of counterpoise you use wouldn’t affect whatever is causing your problem. Unless you are feeding RF back into the radio with some weird ground loop/antenna continuity.

[RunningCool]

Ok, thx.
Will do that.
RF back??? will swr meter help find that?
The guy in Seattle who fixed everything mentioned that.
He talks way over my head alot of the times on the phone.
Him 40yrs Me 1 yr

Wanted this becuz when I take off in 6 months I wnated a system to do weatherfax and get USCG weather reports.
Which come in loud and clear.
Only transmit... no bueno..
I Want People to Hear Me Darn it

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by RunningCool

Ok, thx.
Will do that.
RF back??? will swr meter help find that?
The guy in Seattle who fixed everything mentioned that.

As I wrote earlier, an SWR meter had value to assess antenna performance. Not the issue you describe.

Most transceivers will cut out with low voltage. You need to measure it AT THE POINT OF CONNECTION TO THE RADIO WHILE TRANSMITTING.