Thanks for your reply, glad to hear that, I do like leaving it running at work to catch military stuff coming through the Lichfield radar corridor, I will try turning it off next week, I was just worried in case it had damaged the unit, I am running it from home now, and the range seems ok.
I have had the unit for about 3 years now, so maybe a new ariel is in order, the current one is well travelled and is a bit twisted in places, thanks again for your reply.