I did that long ago . I found you need

far more than just the ratio .

I discoverd i needed to have a more

intuitive feel for the whole circuit , than

merely the Ratio .

Now i have that intuitive feel for electronics

and microwave and antennas .

I can see obvious errors that will ruin the

hook-up .

The secret is to NOT use a critical piece

of gear , you desperatly want to work .

If you have a piece of gear you want/need

to work , you'll learn the hard way .

I have found , easy learning is to

start with someone elses success , then try

to gleen what you can . But if it gets tricky ,

put it aside and find an easier explanation .

I.E. MFJ 209 .

I spent time trying to master its use .

Then i stumbled on a Ham Radio article

about Dipper , using the 209 .

This simple ( resistor , CAP , air coil ) circuit

made me toss some of what i learned from MFJ's

tutorial !

It was a new approach . MFJ did not include

it , cause it would enhance 209 til it would obsolete

other MFJ boxes ! It was a political thing .

So , now i learn faster , by stopping my learning

when i see it may get too detailed to make a value

judgement .


Back to microwave . You should not learn

it on something you NEED .

You should not learn from texts nor

"new, improved , enhanced Special for Hams
this box does EVERYTHING ....

I struggled when i tried to learn from building
my own antennas , but learned very fast when
i listened to the crowd , tout J-poles , then
tried to find the fundamental error of the
J-POLE .
Be opportiunistic in your learning !
If you see the crowd touting something , then
it probably does not "work" , except as snake
oil to enhance their reputation as antenna experts.

Few talk microwave , but you can still learn
what does NOT work in MicroWave .

You posted about matching .

Losses skyrocket as you go above 200 MHZ .
No more long leads and everyting is an accidental
capacitance , that drops Q .
But once you learn how to avoid these
losses , then you can go to about 2 ghz .
rect' wave guides are lossy , we use round
for long runs , but its more complicated , for
really long runs , RF is far lower loss !
2 small dishes are far less cost than
200 feet of hardline !

I can cobble up a WiFi link with 12 " dishes
and amplify the rcv end to a kilowatt , cheaper
than you can transmit that kilowatt on hardline .

Must we use WG ?!

So you need to give us more details of
you "match" , so we can help the easiest
way , the lowest cost way .

I see big changes , things we thing we need
becoming extincnt .

Did you know , 30 years , no one will want
nor need to drive a car , and gas will be back
down to $1 / gallon !

By solving problems ( our govt sees as a windfall
to themsleves , job security ) ,

we will free ourselves from their technical "slavery" .
They will no longer be able to "license" us in any way .
We wont have any need for Nuke power plants.


KC7CC ..