[TowerTalk] Fwd: Antenna analyzer

Mark, K5ER k5er at arrl.net
Tue Jul 17 15:01:07 PDT 2012


Hi Roger,
         A local ham/broadcast engineer has the AIM 4170, and it as a great 
machine and well worth the money. He says the accuracy is equivalent to one 
of the much higher priced commercial units that his station owns. The 
drawback - you need power and a computer, which often isn't convenient in 
the field, especially up a tower.

         I personally had an MFJ-259, and eventually moved up to the 269. 
There has always been a little "slop" in the dial, and the freq counter 
never "locks in", but instead constantly drifts, although slowly. For the 
price, its still plenty good for most ham use.

         This Spring, after using W5WZ's Rig Expert AA-54, I bought one the 
next day. Its lighter, simpler and more portable than most others. The fact 
that it not only gives an analog readout, PLUS a bar graph is great. The 
best feature of all - it will draw an actual two dimensional swr curve with 
a user selectable bandwidth and center point. Additionally, you can store 
up to 100 plots, then d/l them to your computer, if you desire. If I had to 
choose, I'd give up the others for this one.

         If you are a League member, or have access, the March 2012 issue 
of QST had a review/comparison of four of the more popular ones on the 
market. Good luck on your quest.

73,
Mark, K5ER


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>I know we've discussed this before, but I couldn't find the specific 
>information.
>
>What are the best antenna analyzers for the Ham market?  I'm referring
>to both portable and computer based.  I have not found the MFJ line to
>be satisfactory. I have used one for some years.
>
>73
>
>Roger (K8RI)



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