[Hi-zreceivingarraydiscussions] trouble shooting a 4 square

[dan edwards]

Lee / Dick: a modest proposal for newbies:
troubleshooting a hiZ 4 square:
After using this in a 'hostile'  ( house in middle, power lines, Tx ant way to close ) environment for a couple of years, i can offer a tip or 2, beyond seeing LED lit, and measuring about 4.5 vdc across the antenna terminals.
sometimes, " it just doesnt seem to be working..."
1. it only takes ONE loose wire, antenna, ground, or coax shield to mess mine up.check them all. i use a micro dab of anti-seize on everything in Texas heat and humidity. seems to help. at the antennas and at the controller. I have even tinnedthe center conductor of the RG-6 with some silver-added solder. previously, RUST was visible inside the male F-connectors. I finally found some solid copper centerconductor RG-6....which seems a bit better
2. check WWV on 2.5 Mhz. If you're not seeing a pretty nice pattern off sides and back on WWV, something is wrong. Also, top end of Broadcast Band AM I can often hear FOUR different stations on the same frequency...down to about 1000 khz or so.. lower, the spacing is probably too small..my spacing is 90  ft - for easier mowing, mostly....
3. ( tip from Lee ) disconnect both 'short' and 'long' delay lines. now, the controllerjust points to ONE antenna at a time. If you have the handy-dandly battery poweredsignal generator ( 1840 khz or so ), each antenna should should the same S-meterreading in the shack, as you walk it around to each element and switch the controller. If you have a strong, steady BCB station above 1500 khz, they should also give very similar S-meter readings on all 4 antennas....DONT FORGET TO HOOK IT BACK UP (dont ask me how i know...) when you are done ( the delay lines ).   This can point you to a bad preamp or  bad feedlijne..... 4. sometimes, 160m is just 'strange'..........maybe that's why we like it ??
73, W5XZ, Dan