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Old July 29th 17, 06:32 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.moderated,rec.radio.amateur.dx
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Default [KB6NU] My VHF/UHF SWR meter recommendation


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My VHF/UHF SWR meter recommendation

Posted: 28 Jul 2017 11:12 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


Yesterday, one of my recent Tech class students emailed me, asking me how
he could measure the SWR of a 2m antenna that he had:

I happen to have an older magnetic mount mobile antenna with a UHF
connector attached. I was thinking of trying out this antenna with my
Baofeng HT. Â*The only issue is that I dont have a SWR meter. I believe you
said you do.Â* Do you have any recommendation?Â* I did a search on eBay, and
got more than 1,200 hits, with costs from $4 to $600+.Â*


So, I did a little Googling, then replied:

The one I have is an Opek SWR-6 Unfortunately, they don’t make this model
anymore. I think I paid about $60 for it. It works well for a cheap meter.
Unfortunately, the SWR-6 is no longer in production.
Opek now sells SWR-8L.Â*On Amazon, it costs $110.Â*A similar meter is the
Daiwa CN-501V. It will set you back $100.Â*MFJ sells a bunch of SWR meters
that purport to measure SWR on the 2m band, but because my experience with
MFJ equipment has been less than satisfactory, I do not recommend MFJ.Â*
The Daiwa CN-501V is in production, but costs $100.
Having said all that, you may not really need a VHF SWR meter. You can
usually guess the SWR from the output power reading. If it’s lower than
full scale, then the SWR is high. Â*You’re not going to damage the radio
because even the Baofeng has high-SWR protection circuits. You could also
use an inexpensive HF SWR meter to make this measurement.
If you really want to spend some money, consider purchasing an antenna
analyzer that covers the 2m band. You’ll have to spend more, but you’ll get
more, too. For example, the RigExpert AA-170 costs $334, but you can also
analyze HF and 6m antennas as well.


So, what do you all think? Did I steer my Elmeree in the right direction?
It doesnt seem to make sense to me to spend $100 for a VHF SWR meter when
you could purchase an antenna analyzer for not too much more. Are there any
other VHF/UHF SWR meters or antenna analyzers that you would recommend?

The post My VHF/UHF SWR meter recommendation appeared first on KB6NUs Ham
Radio Blog.


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