Jonathan Kaplan wrote:
>Obviously, there's something wrong with the 40mtr dipole and I'll look
>into it. Any suggestions as to cause? In the meantime, what is the
>collective opinion on the differences in SWRs with and without the Amp?
>Are the differences significant and do they indicate something amiss?
Your 40m dipole is likely just mis-tuned. Tuning is pretty sharp on a
lot of these.
Regarding your other numbers - well, I don't think things are changing
THAT much between high and low power. Sometimes it is worse, sometimes
better. This tells me that it could be your power meter. Radio Shack
isn't known for making high quality stuff in that arena. Also, those
"relative" meters that you have to zero and adjust aren't, IMHO, nearly
as accurate as a good meter. As someone said, trash the RS meter and go
and get yourself a good power meter. You can pick up a decent cross-hair
meter at a hamfest for $40 to $50 (I did) or from E-Bay for not much
more. You will be much happier having a meter that will allow you to
read forward, reflected and SWR all at the same time with no adjustment.
It is very much worth it. Personally, I really like Daiwa meters but
Diamond makes a nice one and even the MFJ power meters aren't that bad.
Of course my ultimate choice would be a Bird, but I don't have that kind
of money!
73,
Jon
KE9NA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Second Amendment is NOT about duck hunting!
Jon Ogden
jono@enteract.com
www.qsl.net/ke9na
"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
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