"Jan Panteltje" wrote in message
...
On a sunny day (Thu, 11 May 2006 06:22:44 -0600) it happened "prairie
farm"
wrote in :

The swr meter has a calibration switch,(turn type) FWD/REF switch
and a FWD/REF switch.and a gauge that runs from 1 to 10 red-zone starts
at
3 any idea how that should work?

Set to FWD
Turn on tranmitter
adjust for 100% on the meter
Set to REF (reflected)
now the meter indicated the reflected power.
'3' in your case is about 25%!!!!
Your transmitter gets this extra power back, it may not be able to handle
that.
So switch off immediatly if 3 or higher (red area).
Then adjust antenna, and try again.
Always--- use FWD to recalibrate.

I do have a PAN SWR230, it has a power meter too.
What I did was connect a transistor over the SWR meter, that drives a 3V
beeper and a red LED, like this (use fixed font):

------------------------
| | |
270 [ ] | |
| | |
red \ / O] 3V beeper | +
LED --- | -
| | ---
---- |
/ |
+ 10k |/ - 2x 1.5V AA battery
0--==----| BC547 ---
from | | -
SWR \ |
meter | |
0-------------------------------


So now anytime SWR changes (the old antenna used to behave bad in storms
and rains, the beep will sound, and the LED will come on.
There is no switch, batteries have lasted 4 years in this :-)
When the voltage across the SWR meter becomes 0.7V, the transistor
conducts,
and the beeper and LED come on.
So also during calibration (FWD), so that tests the batteries and LED.

I think the R is 10k, but I would have to open it up to check.
Nothing is very critical though.
Been in use now for 8 years!
He, great, another mystery solved, ur Dutch I guess, just like me, but I
ended up in Canada.
One more, the antenna has nothing adjustable on it, I just checked. A 10
feet pole with at the bottom a "normal" connection to a "normal" cable.
"normal" = all my ends of cable will fit on it. This is held in a steel base
part, looks like the wooden pole is caught in a tube of about 14" high and
that will also be the part I will use to hang it to the gable of my shop.
Pole it self is wood, with a connecting cable going through it to the top,
on the top a steel screw connection to pole number 2, 8 feet long. Also wood
with ? in it. It all ends in a rubber cap at the top. The wood was painted
and I sanded it down and put a first coat of paint on again. If that part
cant' be adjusted, the length of the cable will be important, as far as I
get it. Is the assumption right ? Do I cut of a small piece of the cable,
solder on the coupler again and try again for improvement?
Thanks for any help here.
And this is two then I also found two 30 watt amplifiers, they run on 12
volts and have two "normal" connections for the antenna cable. One in and
one out I guess. While testing with the swr thingy they should be in the
loop too? Are those things necessary, a huge improvement or just a gadget
for the show?