My old 14AVQ died

[N7OQ]

Well After a our big storm and few smaller ones I noticed that my SWR was bad on all bands. Well today I took it down and cleaned all the connections, fixed and broken trap cover and put the analyzer on it and it is still bad and when I move the antenna like a small wind the swr jumps real bad. It look like I have 1 or 2 bad traps so decided to retire it. I bought it back on 1978 and it had gone from South Carolina to California, Washington, Germany, Wyoming, back to California and has done me great service. I don't know what is inside those traps but sense I plan on getting rid of it I will take one apart, they are screwed and pressed together.

Now I have to find something else to use might have to put up a long wire until I can get something else up. I'm not suppose to have any antennas here, CC&R's but there is no committee to enforce them and none have been enforced in the last 13 years. With that I will still keep things a low key anyway. I was thinking about a Hexbeam on a pushup pole mounted to the back of the house. All the antennas I have built I painted flat black and they are hard to see unless you are looking for them. Has anyone here used one?