See how easy it is to tune an HF antenna using a modern antenna analyzer. I'll be creating another video showing how well the antenna performs on air. Stay tuned. 73 KB6VTU
Just got the same RiGExpert AA-55. I was always hesitant to buy one since they are not cheap, but the RigExpert pays itself with how easy is to tune up any antenna vs using NanoVNA. Thanks for the easy guide.
You're not necessarily the most resonant at your lowest SWR. You want to check your R, X chart and to be resonant, you want your X value as close to zero as possible.
I'm all ears. So, you want the X value as close to 0 as possible? Where do you want the R factor to be? I just got my AA-55 yesterday so I'm still learning. Maybe you should do a video on it. Teach me and I'll do one as I have a youtube channel.
I know what's going up on my privacy fence..lol.. thanks for taking the time to share information..( Desperado 56 north side of Tampa Florida ) waving a hand. 73's EVERYONE
Like the demo, what would be of extreme interest is comparisons of ground losses vs height of the wire across the bands for this antenna. Especially once you got it straightened out with 20-40 ft of height, some real swr and power measurements related to actual performance. Thats the ticket, but someday I think I will add a rigexpert to the tool box, only question is which model. Thanks and 73, ND7C-David
Josh I’ve been using an old MFJ-259 however a few minutes ago I ordered Rig Expert AA 55 Zoom. I’m planning to home brew a multi band EFHW to replace my 20 year old dipole. I’m hoping to start operating POTA/SOTA later this year.🔉 Your Fence Dipole is interesting to see almost unique . Have you ever made DX contacts with it? 😊 Next week my Xiegu-90 should be delivered a couple weeks later the Xiegu DE-19 digital interface should arrive. I have been holding off getting into SDR Operations until there’s reasonable/ affordable one💡💡 Again appreciate your support and insights 73 Steve AA4SH
Hi Bob! I tune my antennas, based on SWR, but I know you are correct. I'd love to better understand the relationship between SWR, reactance, and impedance. I've tried to find the information, but haven't found what I was looking for. If you have any suggestions where I can learn more about the relationship between those measurements when tuning an HF antenna please pass it on. thx. josh KB6VTU.
Hi Josh, thanks for great video especially about using the new AA-55 features. What is your 80M noise floor like up there? This Saturday at 0800 on 3890KHz we will have discussion about future of our net. Mike KI6OID
Could you direct my inquiry. And forgive my non-techy question. My dad installed a whip antenna on his roof about 6 foot on a about also 6 foot pole in a 3 foot grounded tripod with LMR 400 coax cable. He cannot get the meter to read below 4 on the roof and 3.1 at ground level stuck in ground. Any help sure would be appreciated.
When you cut the dipole wire ,, did you cut the portion that was “back-wrapped” around the existing wire . It seems like the radio and analyzer would almost be fooled thinking that portion of the antenna wire was just thicker, if you know what I mean? Not the greatest example for a rookie like me , but I understand the concept. My back yard privacy fence is very similar, if I woulda known my 75/80 meter dipole woulda worked effectively 5 feet off the ground , I coulda saved a lot of time and coax !!!!
Question: If the frequence I am trying to attain is 14.080 and my best SWR is at 12.480, do I shorten or lengthen the wire antenna? And if I shorten it, can I fold the end and wrap it around itself ?
To increase the resonant frequency of the antenna you'll shorten it. So, yes, in your case shorten the wire(s). In a perfect world, you would not wrap the antenna on itself, but I do it so I can lengthen it again when I set it up in another configuration. You can easily shorten a wire, but much harder to make it longer.
hello Josh friend greetings has something happened to you that when you use the analyzer you have low swr and when you connect the antenna to the radio you have high swr?
Hi Josh. Thanks for the new video. I thought you were in California... did you relocate? I bought a bunch of bumper stickers... “DON’T CALIFORNICATE MY WYOMING.”
It works surprisingly well for NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skyway) propagation. Not great for DX, but good for 0-600 miles from the house. That's really what I wanted so I could participate in local HF emergency nets. I'll probably still be putting up a higher end fed antenna at a later point.
Nice video! Did you calibrate the analyzer & enter the velocity factor of your feedline prior to doing these measurements? I just bought this analyzer, but not sure if i need to do these things before working on my antennas.
Ummm, arent you supposed to take the measurements at the anntenna? My understanding is that readings from the radio end of the coax rather than the antenna doesnt give accurate readings. I made the same mistake until someone from our club pointed this out to me.
We measure the antenna first, and yes the coax can change the SWR seen at the radio. But we need to protect the radio from high SWR. So after measuring it, and attaching the coax, we adjust the length of the antenna so the radio sees the lowest possible SWR for a given frequency or band. Good luck!
I just received a rig expert 500 yesterday and have an ungodly number of problems with it and no way to really contact anyone for help except an email in ukraine. When you finally locate the manual it's in a font size smaller than anything I've ever seen in my life when you print it out, the software doesn't work on any of the three computers that I have and it screwed up the booting on two of them. When you change velocity factor in the settings it's not reflected when you go to take the measurement. The manual does not include any instructions on the functions on the second screen. To top it all off there's really no f****** help at all from the rig expert company for any of these problems they sell it to you and then tell you to go to hell.
