• You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
  • Click here to find out how to win free radios from Retevis!

HF Rig....

Oatmeal

Active Member
Mar 22, 2009
484
78
38
West Virginia..
Hey guys, as you all no I bought a new HF radio and have been working some dx on it finally jumped in there and got my feet wet, and been able to work dx with low watts is nice for a change and now I'm hooked on it....I'm sure my neighbors will like this also, lol...

So just a little curious if you actually do need like a MFJ 259b to set up a antenna, or not, ect....

As of right now just working off a Imax 2k on the 10m band and hoping to up grade my lics soon....
 

Simple VSWR meter will be fine.

The antenna analyzer is for building antennas,
some of us ( interpret as ME) like the building of antennas and the analyzer is a great piece of test equipment for this.

Check into your local 10 meter net or two meter peter crowd and someone may have one for you to borrow or better yet even help you to build your antenna.
 
Analyzer is nice but not essential a well informed operator with a swr meter can achieve more than an uninformed op with a analyzer .Most just use the analyzer as just a swr meter anyway , it saves having to make trips back and forward from the antenna to the radio while you adjust .However if you make a lot of antennas and know what you are doing it's invaluable,
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captain Kilowatt
just built a triband 4 element co linear array for 6m 2m and 70 cm . Tuned it old school with a GDO and swr meter..With the phasing stubs it was the best solution.!
you dont NEED the mfj 259 but its alot easier when setting up a antenna.no more running in house calibrating radio ect. imho i think its slightly more accurate too. no jumpers just the antenna and coax to be used to radio
 
The beauty of an analyzer is that it can be used at the antenna feedpoint, or very close to it, and you can be assured the feedline is not acting as an impedance transformer causing false tuning of the antenna.
 
I got lucky and the guy I bought my icom from has one and let's me use it whenever I want.
 
ok i have a good question i think, my analyzer says ive got a 1.0 to 1.1 clear across the band, now when i put an swr meter(Dosy) in line it jumps to a 1.3 to 1.4...and of course ive got 2 extra jumpers inline with the dosy....so what im asking is the analyzer at the feedpoint is correct?and by adding the jumpers it raises the swr by a little
 
ok i have a good question i think, my analyzer says ive got a 1.0 to 1.1 clear across the band, now when i put an swr meter(Dosy) in line it jumps to a 1.3 to 1.4...and of course ive got 2 extra jumpers inline with the dosy....so what im asking is the analyzer at the feedpoint is correct?and by adding the jumpers it raises the swr by a little

Why two extra jumpers?
Should be radio + jumper + VSWR meter+coax to antenna.

Dosy meters are famous for NOT being accurate.

jumps to 1.3 to 1.4 on what frequency? Higher in frequency or lower in frequency.
 
ok i checked my antenna with the 259b and its 1.0.....put my dosy and amp inline to check swr and its 1.4 and thats with the amp off just radio...this is on 27 mhz but thinking of taking the watt meter out of line really dont need it...2 to many jumpers i think and giving false readings on the dosy
 

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • @ Mark Malcomb:
    Hello BJ. Been a long time since I've been on. You doing well? Mark Malcomb
  • @ Naysayer:
    I’m
  • @ kingmudduck:
    Hello to all I have a cobra 138xlr, Looking for the number display for it. try a 4233 and it did not work