I am building my own antennas and have a couple of questions about using
antenna analyzers properly. Here's the setup:
I have a 133' doublet, fed with 46' of 450 ohm window line, into a Johnson
matchbox. My rig is a FT-897D. I mostly run QRP though I venture up to 100W on
SSB. Because my inline SWR meter is on the repair bench, I depend upon the
rig's SWR indicator.
To characterize the antenna/tuner system from the radio, I've connected a Comet
CAA-500 on the radio side of the matchbox to sweep through the bands by hand.
Basically I set the frequency on the analyzer, and tune for lowest SWR. So
each measurement consists of the bandswitch/tune/match settings on the matchbox
and the SWR and ohmic readings on the analyzer.
So, three questions: does an analyzer like the CAA-500 have enough drive to
properly drive the matchbox/feedline/antenna system? If it doesn't, what other
options do I have for characterizing the antenna system?
And lastly, can anyone point me to a good tutorial on Smith charts? I'd like to
see if I can convert the impedance I am seeing at the matchbox to what is
happening up at the dipole feedpoint.
Thanks and 73 de Bill K7WXW
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wag more, bark less.
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