Topband: Comparing antennas was: Re: 160m loaded tower

[Don Moman VE6JY]

Even better is to use S Meter dropdown in the KIWI extensions menu.... it
gives a strip chart style presentation that can be configured to easily
show small differences in signal levels, far easier to watch and more
accurate  than the S meter display.


On Wed, Jan 18, 2023 at 10:27 AM STEVE MCDONALD <ve7sl at shaw.ca> wrote:

> Pete, I’ve found the best way to A/B antennas in real time is to listen on
> one of the hundreds of online Kiwi SDRs …. You can flip from one antenna to
> the other instantly and the difference is readily apparent. RBN can never
> be A/B ‘d instantly.
>
> Steve VE7SL
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
>
> This would have been more helpful to Ignacy before the second antenna
> went up, but taking off from Stan's question ... if you want to get a
> quick quantitative comparison between two transmitting antennas, you can
> use the Reverse Beacon Network.  Go to
> https://reversebeacon.net/main.php.  Transmit a CQ or test (CQ or TEST
> at least twice, and your callsign 3-4 times) and note the spots that
> result.  QSY at least 0.3 KHz and repeat.  You should see spots from
> some of the same stations, and you can readily tell (in dB) which
> antenna was stronger.  You can do the same trick to compare receiving
> antennas, without QSYing, but you must wait 10 minutes before the system
> will accept a second spot of the same station from you.
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
>
> On 1/18/2023 11:31 AM, Stan Stockton wrote:
> > Ignacy,
> >
> > Is your thought that you are a few dB weaker based on sone kind of A-B
> test of the two antenna setups or just that you feel weaker?
> >
> > 73…Stan, K5GO
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >> On Jan 17, 2023, at 9:44 PM, Ignacy Misztal<no9e at arrl.net>  wrote:
> >>
> >> I have a 100 ft tower with jk mid tri 40 on top. When shunt fed, it was
> >> pretty competitive on 160. Recently the antenna seems to be a few db
> >> weaker. The only change was adding another beam at 60ft. Could it have
> had
> >> an impact? Adding the beam only marginally affected the match.
> >>
> >> Ignacy NO9E
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