I recently set up my first 2m transceiver with a makeshift antenna and I
would be very interested to learn more how to improve my little set up
mostly by working on the antenna side of it.

Now there seems to be a bewildering number of things one needs to know which
is why I thought I turn to this forum for guidance.

My question is if I want to build and improve my own antennas, what sort of
measuring devices would I need to build or get??

An SWR meter, I think, will tell me-hopefully- how well my antenna and radio
are matched, but it will not tell me anything about how well my antennas
focus the radiation in a particular direction. How could I measure that?
Will a field strength meter do that?

And where do I find plans for these types of devices, most swr bridges are
for the HF band, I haven't found anything simple for 144MHZ.

Your help in starting me out in the right direction would be appreciated

Uwe