Antenna analyzer

docjohn

[{"insert":"I am a new FlexRadio user, now with my 6600M for two weeks. I find I am in need of an antenna analyzer for HF and 6 Meters. I am interested to hear what the community thinks is a good one to check out my antennas. I am not an electrical engineer and do not work in the radio industry. (But I can repair your bones when you fall off your tower.) I would like to consider a rig like the Rig Expert AA-55. Let me know your experience and recommendations. Thanks! \n"}]

Neil D Friedman N3DF

I think RigExpert analyzers are excellent. I have an AA-55 and like it a lot.

John KB4DU

I use an AA-54 and since I got it, I use to measure everything, even dummy loads. Very versatile instrument, tells more than most ham grade analyzers. The monochrome screen is easier to read in sunlight than some color models. And the provided Antscope program allows printing of the info for later use.

K9DUR has software that will scan the swr of an antenna using the flex.

halmassey

Just to add a bit here. I have the AA-600. Why the heck is that? Who needs 600 MHz analysis?

Antenna analysis scales linearly with size. I learned this when I met Mark---He designed one of the best old school antennas ever made. That was the KT-34A 4 element beam without traps. It was perhaps the most efficient antenna of the day. The SteppIR of yesteryear if you will. I saw a tiny little beam model he was working on for some other purpose. (It wasn't the KT-34A but a UHF or VHF/UHF antenna).

I have done this. I have scaled HF antennas by a physical factor of say X. I made them smaller to be easy to build and test (much like Mark did). This in turn meant I needed to analyze them X higher in frequency. This has saved me a lot of money. Consider all your uses when you purchase a Rig Expert. They are super nice!

73

-Hal

KD0RC

I use the analyzer from EU1KY. It gives a great graph on a nice high resolution screen. There are now cheaper knock-offs that probably work as well.

docjohn

Thanks to everyone for the comments. Greatly appreciated. I am sure I will have more questions as time goes on. I like the idea that I finally have a radio that I will never completely understand, and there is always something new to learn about it.