[TowerTalk] Slick New Toy

[Richard (Rick) Karlquist]

The 2 port version output level is only -17 dBm, which is
also the likely level for this version.   This is only
56 dB over S9. That does not bode well for BCB interference.
I could try my 2 port unit on my 90 foot vertical to see
how it fares.  I am 6 miles from a 50 kW station on 1140 kHz.
IIRC, it comes in at something like 80 dB over S9.

My AA-55 Zoom is bulletproof on the vertical.  Its output
level is over 20 dB higher than the VNWA.  Horses for courses,
as they say.

Rick N6RK

On 11/30/2018 6:01 AM, Dave Sublette wrote:
> I meant -- how does the VNA work in the presence of strong AM signals.  My
> vertical has worked great when used as an antenna on 160 for the past 30
> years.  I know how the vertical works.
> 
> K4TO
> 
> On Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 8:17 AM Herbert Schoenbohm <
> herbert.schoenbohm at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I am within 3 miles from a 5KW AM station on 970 kHz without a problem.  I
>> do pick up the second harmonic on 1940 but never go that high in the band.
>> You may have second or third harmonic IX but that depends on the AM
>> frequency.  If the AM station, for example, is on 610 kHz 1830 kHz will be
>> bad for you for 5 kHz each side of their harmonic.
>>
>> Herb Schoenbohm, KV4FZ
>>
>> On Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 8:50 AM Dave Sublette <k4to.dave at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Any info on how it might do on a quarter wave vertical for 160, operating
>>> within two miles of an AM broadcast station?
>>>
>>> Dave, K4TO
>>>
>>> On Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 4:28 AM Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Here's another nice new toy from DL-land by way of the UK. The designer
>>>> is DG5MK.
>>>>
>>>> https://www.sdr-kits.net/VA5_Page
>>>>
>>>> $235 got the analyzer and a better quality cal kit shipped to my door
>>>> just before CQWWCW. The better Cal kit was $20 of that cost. It took
>>>> less than two hours to put it together (as I get older I get slower).
>>>> It's a single-port true vector analyzer, and runs either stand alone on
>>>> two internal AAs or from VNWA software via a USB port. Decent build
>>>> quality, BNC is soldered to the board and bonded to the case at the
>>>> point of entry. The case is a 2-piece metal clamshell, screwed together
>>>> at four places. In other words, it's well shielded and has no Pin One
>>>> Problem!
>>>>
>>>> There's a beautifully printed manual that covers building and operation,
>>>> with excellent color photos. Text is excellent in the building section,
>>>> pretty good in the button-pushing area, a bit weak in the concepts area,
>>>> and badly disjointed to point of being awful in its description of
>>>> calibration. The latter is a big deal, because it's the first thing you
>>>> do once you turn it on!
>>>>
>>>> As near as I can tell,when running from VNWA software (FREEWARE), it can
>>>> do almost everything the VNWA can do with S11 (single-port)
>>>> measurements, except that choices of sweep rates and dwell time at each
>>>> data point are a lot more limited. That means I can use the excellent
>>>> TDR function built into the VNWA software! I don't know yet if I can
>>>> import complex data made stand-alone. BTW -- the measurement plane is at
>>>> the end of a 5 ft piece of RG142 from my stash. I find that a convenient
>>>> length for getting to where I can measure antennas from my shack.
>>>>
>>>> This box is designed to be the one you use in the field and at the top
>>>> of the tower, but with the VNWA software, you can make measurements in
>>>> the shack, including TDR, then export antenna data to SimSmith to
>>>> transform it to the antenna ffeedpoint, then use SimSmith to design
>>>> matching networks and compute  loss in the feedline and matching
>>> networks!
>>>>
>>>> This is a VERY nice unit, and a real bargain!
>>>>
>>>> 73, Jim K9YC
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> TowerTalk mailing list
>>>> TowerTalk at contesting.com
>>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> TowerTalk mailing list
>>> TowerTalk at contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> 
>