Background, I recently got a mag-mount 1/4 wave antenna for my vehicle and a "slim jim" antenna to use at home or camping. Performance of both is great and I'm enjoying the increased range and improved audio.
However, as I was researching antennas I kept seeing people refer to tuning antennas for best SWR, which led me down the path to get a SWR/power meter so I could check my antennas. Not wanting to break the bank I went with this relatively inexpensive one that was recommended (Youtube, Reddit, blogs, etc):
I used it to check SWR at 462/467MHz on the slim jim (1.1/1.2) and 1/4 wave (1.4/1.5) which seemed to be reasonable. I was curious to see if any of my HTs had one of the notoriously bad rubber duck antennas, so I checked all 4 and got SWRs from 3.0 to 8.9 depending on the frequency. I would say it's a bad meter except for the reasonable readings on the 1/4 wave and slim jim, so if it's not a bad meter why would the SWR be so high on my HT antennas?
The main difference is that my HT antennas are all SMA-F while both externals are BNC-M, so I had to use a different adapter. Is it a bad connection on the SMA adapter? If so any tips to get an accurate reading on my HT antennas?
Short version: I checked the SWR on my HT antennas and got incredibly high (3.0 to 8.9) readings compared to mobile and base antennas. Wondering if those readings could be accurate or not, and if not what the most likely issue is.
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WREJ796
Short version at the end.
Background, I recently got a mag-mount 1/4 wave antenna for my vehicle and a "slim jim" antenna to use at home or camping. Performance of both is great and I'm enjoying the increased range and improved audio.
However, as I was researching antennas I kept seeing people refer to tuning antennas for best SWR, which led me down the path to get a SWR/power meter so I could check my antennas. Not wanting to break the bank I went with this relatively inexpensive one that was recommended (Youtube, Reddit, blogs, etc):
Surecom SW-33 Mark II VHF/UHF SWR/Power Meter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075H8FDDR
I used it to check SWR at 462/467MHz on the slim jim (1.1/1.2) and 1/4 wave (1.4/1.5) which seemed to be reasonable. I was curious to see if any of my HTs had one of the notoriously bad rubber duck antennas, so I checked all 4 and got SWRs from 3.0 to 8.9 depending on the frequency. I would say it's a bad meter except for the reasonable readings on the 1/4 wave and slim jim, so if it's not a bad meter why would the SWR be so high on my HT antennas?
The main difference is that my HT antennas are all SMA-F while both externals are BNC-M, so I had to use a different adapter. Is it a bad connection on the SMA adapter? If so any tips to get an accurate reading on my HT antennas?
Short version: I checked the SWR on my HT antennas and got incredibly high (3.0 to 8.9) readings compared to mobile and base antennas. Wondering if those readings could be accurate or not, and if not what the most likely issue is.
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