if at all,possible, stay away from the mag mount as a permanent antenna, I'll bet the mag mount "test" will have the same results.
my money is on the Golden screwdriver hack job theory.
good luck
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Tuning SWR with high output
- Thread starter Mike Hancock
- Start date
if at all,possible, stay away from the mag mount as a permanent antenna, I'll bet the mag mount "test" will have the same results.
my money is on the Golden screwdriver hack job theory.
good luck
StrangeBrew asked if you adjusted the SWR meter when you changed power levels. That's very important. "R" in "SWR" stands for "ratio" - a comparison of two numbers referenced to a common value, usually 1.
Most such meters compare the amount of forward power to the amount of reverse or reflected power and display that as "SWR". It's close enough to use for just about all purposes. BUT you have to establish the amount of forward power by adjusting the meter to the "CAL" mark on the scale - usually the line at the right-hand end of the meter scale. THEN, don't touch that control or the transmitter's output. Just switch to the SWR or REFL function, key and read the meter.
Most such meters compare the amount of forward power to the amount of reverse or reflected power and display that as "SWR". It's close enough to use for just about all purposes. BUT you have to establish the amount of forward power by adjusting the meter to the "CAL" mark on the scale - usually the line at the right-hand end of the meter scale. THEN, don't touch that control or the transmitter's output. Just switch to the SWR or REFL function, key and read the meter.
Well I'll be damned... you got a point there! As I recall when I was testing out the radio and antenna I don't think I recalibrated the meter with then power increase. That makes a lot of sense now. This is my first radio with big power. The most power I've had beside this galaxy is my HR2510 at a whopping 25 watts. I'll do another experiment with the equipment with that in mind. But boy do I feel stupid now Haha.
Well boys I'll keep you all updated with my findings.
Your Galaxy 94HP has a self calibrating SWR meter. That's why there is no "Cal" knob like the older Cobra 29's for example.
I still say for now, don't trust the radio's internal meter, buy or borrow an external SWR meter even a $25 truckstop cheapie. Then re-measure with low power dead-key then increase and see if the same thing happens.
Only then will the take a lot of the guess work everybody is throwing at you and possibly one of the advice given may work.
As with most perplexing problems with anything electronic or mechanical, you often have to systematically rule out stuff to get to the source.
Yep. If you don't re calibrate it's not going to read right for sure!! Your VSWR reading will be off the charts I'm sure if you increase the power to say 10-15 watts DK from a 4 watt one. The meter will peg at 3:1 or more. And like Yeti Comm said, it's really called
VSWR, and like Beetle said it's a measure of Voltage Standing Wave Ratio. So it will be read in a radio form like 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 1.53:1, and so on. And it's not all just about VSWR when you are tuning an antenna. You might have a 1:1 VSWR, but your impedance match might be terrible, and this isn't good for the radio either. You want the impedance to be near or at 50 ohms. From 48-52 is a good area to be. Then you have reactance, and this is where an antenna analyzer becomes a tool and a darn good one at that. They can be found for not much these days. Used or new. And for what you paid for the radio I am sure you can swing getting one. Save up if needed. Reason I say this is that an antenna analyzer will show all the parts of an antenna system and this allows you too truly tune an antenna. A low VSWR isn't always an indication of a good antenna system. Anyways, enough about that.
Make sure you are re calibrating your meter when you raise or lower the dead key of the radio. And make sure the mic Gain is all the way down as to not have any noise present. This will also skew VSWR readings. Last but not least, try to use as short coax jumper between the radio and the meter. 1ft is a good goal if possible. Anyhow. Sorry for the text wall. And hope some of this info helps. And like others have said, trust the external meter and not the internal one as if it's not been adjusted to the rest of the radio if it's been messed with, it may or may not work correctly. And as Fourstringburn said, they are self calibrating, so in AM mode all that is needed is to turn the mic Gain down and key the mic. Should give you a reading like that. And when all else fails pull out the manuals of all everything and read them!! There is actually some good info in them!! They are just made for leveling tables or starting fires with!! Again, hope some of this helps. Have a good one.
HAPPY NEW YEAR To All. I hope 2017 brings lots of good things!!!
73 and God Bless.
VSWR, and like Beetle said it's a measure of Voltage Standing Wave Ratio. So it will be read in a radio form like 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 1.53:1, and so on. And it's not all just about VSWR when you are tuning an antenna. You might have a 1:1 VSWR, but your impedance match might be terrible, and this isn't good for the radio either. You want the impedance to be near or at 50 ohms. From 48-52 is a good area to be. Then you have reactance, and this is where an antenna analyzer becomes a tool and a darn good one at that. They can be found for not much these days. Used or new. And for what you paid for the radio I am sure you can swing getting one. Save up if needed. Reason I say this is that an antenna analyzer will show all the parts of an antenna system and this allows you too truly tune an antenna. A low VSWR isn't always an indication of a good antenna system. Anyways, enough about that.
Make sure you are re calibrating your meter when you raise or lower the dead key of the radio. And make sure the mic Gain is all the way down as to not have any noise present. This will also skew VSWR readings. Last but not least, try to use as short coax jumper between the radio and the meter. 1ft is a good goal if possible. Anyhow. Sorry for the text wall. And hope some of this info helps. And like others have said, trust the external meter and not the internal one as if it's not been adjusted to the rest of the radio if it's been messed with, it may or may not work correctly. And as Fourstringburn said, they are self calibrating, so in AM mode all that is needed is to turn the mic Gain down and key the mic. Should give you a reading like that. And when all else fails pull out the manuals of all everything and read them!! There is actually some good info in them!! They are just made for leveling tables or starting fires with!! Again, hope some of this helps. Have a good one.
HAPPY NEW YEAR To All. I hope 2017 brings lots of good things!!!
73 and God Bless.
Yes I do see now in post 7 where he does use external meter. I missed that one.
If the same problem exists after recalibration, My first guess would still be common mode currents on coax line and/or a Golden screwdriver and Platinum needle nose pliers hack job with excessive harmonics being spewed out.
Happy New Year all!
If the same problem exists after recalibration, My first guess would still be common mode currents on coax line and/or a Golden screwdriver and Platinum needle nose pliers hack job with excessive harmonics being spewed out.
Happy New Year all!
Good post as always!
May I suggest using the space bar more often to create more paragraphs?
It makes it easier to read so it doesn't look like one long sentence.
Sorry to nitpick,
Happy New Year!
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If the SWR is 1:1 then the impedance match is anything but terrible. Perhaps you mean if the SWR is showing 1:1 at the radio end then you may still have a bad match at the antenna end? The best place to measure SWR is at the antenna feedpoint and that eliminates any ambiguous readings.
Thank you sir! She's one of my current projects that never end lol. It was stock at one point.
Howdy all, I just wanted to let you all know the radio works perfect! I it just didn't click in my head that I needed to recalibrate the SWR meter after the power was increased! I went up in the mountains a threw my dipole way up and she had a flat 0 SWR on all channels. We even made some SSB contacts! Thanks guys!
541Oregon
541Oregon
A "...flat 0 SWR on all channels" may not be all that good. You should see the lowest reflected power around channel 20 and see it go up a bit as you get closer to channel 1 or 40. A dummy load will give you great SWR readings (actually, there's no such thing as a zero SWR. Lowest possible is 1:1). BUT, a dummy load makes a lousy transmitting antenna.
Since you DID make contacts, the system is radiating, but how well? It would be handy to have a different antenna in the area to check and see which antenna does the better job.
Which mountains did you do your experimenting? Looks like you're in Oregon. I'm up here in Bremerton WA.
Since you DID make contacts, the system is radiating, but how well? It would be handy to have a different antenna in the area to check and see which antenna does the better job.
Which mountains did you do your experimenting? Looks like you're in Oregon. I'm up here in Bremerton WA.
Yes your correct it technically is a 1, lol in my mind when it needle rests at the 1 it means no reflection. So a 0. But yeah it's a 1 haha.
I will be testing out other antennas as well! I have a 102" whip on my Dodge at the moment that I will be using. And I'm actually looking into a military antenna mast/tripod to use with my antron 99.
The mountain I work off of isn't a we'll know one. It's up and old road originally made for truckin Logs on before the major highway was made. Next time I'm up there I'll see if I can get the elevation from my position.
