noman wrote:
My radio seems to be overloaded by strong local commercial stations.
Otherwise, range and clarity are fine. I just got to wondering if my
homemade antenna or cable are a problem. To do the original install,
I used an rf field strength meter and simply adjusted the antenna
length for highest reading. It all seems to work fine, I can talk to
aircraft 40 miles away when we are both at 1000agl, but when I get
near some commercial antennas the station bleeds in and breaks the
squelch, even with it turned all the way up. I have seen this on
other rental planes, too.
tom

What are you trying to find out? Unless something is corroded or broken,
whatever problem you have is probably not your antenna.
--
Jay Maynard, K5ZC

I had similar symptoms in an earlier airplane, the problem turned out to be a problem with my ELT. I was led to that by info gained from this group. Try temporarily disconnecting the antenna from your ELT and see if your comm radio problems go away. Mine did. I bought and installed another ELT, no more problem. I have helped several other local people who were tearing their hair out trying to solve similar problems by giving them this information.

Jim Austin