TNFrank

Same as my user name. Tennessee Frank.

I'll have to look up NanoVNA Saver. Also, I know ground plane plays a big part in the efficiency of the antenna and it hit or miss with an HT. I just wanted to get an idea of where each antennas "sweet spots" were so I'd have a better idea of which one to use for what. Plus I think it'd be a fun video for my channel.

I got my NanoVNA H2 in today and was planning on doing a video on antenna swril with the antennas I have. I'd originally planned on doing a 401 node sweep of from 120MHz to 470MHz then see where each antenna worked best between that range. Now I'm thinking I should break each range up by Band(2M, 1.25M, MURS, 70cm, and GMRS)to get more accurate readings. Does that sound about right? I'm curious to see which antennas are more limited to some frequencies and which word on a broader spectrum. Should be a fun experiment and make for an interesting video.

That's because as I've learned the radio is looking for a perfect 50 ohm load from the antenna and since the dummy load gives the radio the 50 ohms it's looking for the SWR is perfect. The load the radio "sees" from a given antenna can vary depending on frequency, hence the need to tune the antenna for a given frequency. I really want to pick up a NanoVNA to run SWR scans on my antenna so I can see what each is tuned for.

Just for grins I got my power/swr meter out(same one I used to test power output in my videos)and checked the swr(unscientifically)and got anywhere from really good on some frequencies with some antennas to absolutely awful on some frequencies. Some antennas did great on MURS and 2M but totally sucked at 70cm. Many didn't do well at all on 1.25M but were passable on 2M and 70cm. Surprisingly the factory 8" and Abbree 771 were both accaptably on ALL tested frequencies. 2M, MURS, 1.25M, 70cm and GMRS. I guess the factory provided antennas aren't as bad as the old rubber duck antennas they use to provide. I'll probably give the 320a a test to see how it looks before I make up my mind one way or the other.

RG-8x seems to be pretty good especially if I keep it at 10 feet.

Just watched a review on the 320a, the SWR was horrible especially on the 70cm band. I'll be sending it back without even opening it. Really disappointed that Nagoya would put out a product like this.

I ordered a Nagoya 320a to try out. I'll put it on my best radio(AR-5RM #3, see my power test video in Armature Radio section.) to see how it works. P.S. This antenna is rated for 10W, my radio is putting out 11W. Is there enough "wiggle room" for it to handle the extra watt?

Your CPS seems to work fine under WINE. It makes programming the radio a breeze. Thanks for all the work you put into it.

Do they have anything like WINE for Linux that you can use on your Mac to run Windoze stuff? I run quite a bit of Windoze software on my MX Linux install without any issues what so ever. GNU/Linux has come a long way since I started using it way back in 2012. It's so easy to use a caveman could do it. LOL.

Awesome link, thanks. Looks like LMR-400 would work well. At 220MHz and 20ft@10W I'd only get a 26% power loss so I'd still be putting out over 7W of power.

https://www.amazon.com/MOOKEERF-KMR400-PL259-Male-Cable/dp/B094D3DFG3 There's also a KMR400 cable too.

LOL, test questions, yep, I know. A lot of stuff I learned in Tech School at DeVry is coming in handy now. Also, that's one reason I'm sticking at 2M, it's the lowest my radio will do and there's quite a few repeaters here for 2M. I'll need to see just how far from the tripod I'll actually be and see how close I can cut the distance.

What about 2M? I was under the impression that RG8x gave less signal loss across all frequencies. I'm still learning this stuff though. What would be better then, RG58? Also, I know shorter is better but I wanted enough length to get the antenna out and away from any tables I'd be sitting at.

I'm thinking of something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Band-Antenna-2m-70cm/dp/B08YWHTHC3 Hooked up with 20-25' of this: https://www.amazon.com/XRDS-RF-Coax-Cable-Coaxial/dp/B0DMNZ9FPJ And this: https://www.amazon.com/Antenna-Adapter-Coaxial-Handheld-Kenwood/dp/B08BCSYDN3 On a tripod I have.