SWR Meters for low power VHF use
Aug 20th 2013, 22:36 | |
KC1ABRJoined: Aug 10th 2013, 17:04Total Topics: 0 Total Posts: 0 |
I was wondering if anyone has had success with an SWR meter using a VHF 5W handheld radio as the source? I want to do some work with a portable 3 element Yagi antenna hooked up to my Yaesu VX-170. On all of the many product reviews I've read, meters tend to be very inaccurate at less than 20 watts. Any ideas on what product I could use to assess how the radio/antenna system responds to changes would be much appreciated. Thanks, Dave KC1ABR |
Aug 20th 2013, 23:23 | |
W1VTSuper Moderator Joined: Apr 4th 1998, 00:00Total Topics: 0 Total Posts: 0 |
Instead of using an SWR meter, you might consider using a return loss bridge with a diode detector and a voltmeter. Apr 1996 - QST (Pg. 76) LF/MF/HF/VHF Return-Loss Bridge (Hints and Kinks) Author: Lau, Zack, KH6CP/1 http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/95022 Sep 1997 - QST (Pg. 34) Build a Return Loss Bridge Author: Ford, Jim, N6JF http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/93787 If you need a rlb that can handle more power at VHF, I'd suggest experiment with metal oxide resistors--perhaps using two 100 ohm 1 watt resistors in parallel to make two watt resistors that have a resistance close to 50 ohms. Zack Lau W1VT ARRL Senior Lab Engineer |