Can you measure HT antenna SWR?

[WRYH543]

Hey all. So I'm coming in green on this, and I'm trying to figure out the SWR of some of my antennas for comparative purposes.

Let me start by saying I know that theoretically you can't measure HT SWR with a meter, but I recently purchased an SW-33+ and have checked some of my antennas with it because it provides specific instructions on how to do so.

In testing I discovered that it seems to be kind of precise, at least using a 701g and 771g antenna. The 701 returned a ~3.0 and the 771 gave a ~2.0. I'm assuming these results are precise relative to each other, given the 771 is supposed to be the preferred option for HTs.

 

While it would be nice, it's not gonna ruin my day to not know the exact SWR of my antennas. What I want to be able to do is verify which antennas are good/bad should I buy some cheaper ones, and ensure I'm running the better antennas on the HTs that will be further from my group.

 

So in short, is the SW33+ actually capable of measuring SWR for comparative purposes? Or should I just return it?

[marcspaz]

Regardless of what the manufacture stated, it's very difficult to get an accurate SWR reading for an HT antenna.  The list of potential issues that can skew the results a long.  On or off the radio, unless you have some training and/or understanding on what to do, I wouldn't rely on what the meter says.

[BoxCar]

Antenna analyzers like the Rig Expert won't do a good job on measuring the SWR on a HH antenna. You can get a better idea of its performance using a Vector Analyzer but, like Marc says, it takes both training and understanding of how antennas work.

[Lscott]

13 hours ago, WRYH543 said:

Hey all. So I'm coming in green on this, and I'm trying to figure out the SWR of some of my antennas for comparative purposes.

Let me start by saying I know that theoretically you can't measure HT SWR with a meter, but I recently purchased an SW-33+ and have checked some of my antennas with it because it provides specific instructions on how to do so.

In testing I discovered that it seems to be kind of precise, at least using a 701g and 771g antenna. The 701 returned a ~3.0 and the 771 gave a ~2.0. I'm assuming these results are precise relative to each other, given the 771 is supposed to be the preferred option for HTs.

 

While it would be nice, it's not gonna ruin my day to not know the exact SWR of my antennas. What I want to be able to do is verify which antennas are good/bad should I buy some cheaper ones, and ensure I'm running the better antennas on the HTs that will be further from my group.

 

So in short, is the SW33+ actually capable of measuring SWR for comparative purposes? Or should I just return it?

It's very difficult to do and get good results. The reason is the human body is part of the antenna system due to capacitive coupling between the radio's body and the users hand. I've tried it myself and discovered just how hard it is.

Even a relative comparison between antennas isn't that easy either.

Antenna Testing W9MDB.pdf HT-Antenna-Testing.pdf

[WRYH543]

6 hours ago, Lscott said:

It's very difficult to do and get good results. The reason is the human body is part of the antenna system due to capacitive coupling between the radio's body and the users hand. I've tried it myself and discovered just how hard it is.

Even a relative comparison between antennas isn't that easy either.

Antenna Testing W9MDB.pdf 248.54 kB · 4 downloads HT-Antenna-Testing.pdf 227.92 kB · 3 downloads

Thanks for the insight. I'm now even more confused haha. I'm not sure if what I'm getting is just a fluke or not, but in my testing I'm finding the results between 2ea of 4 different antennas, all are consistently proportional to each other with each connection being the same(ie, radio in right hand and cradling the meter with left; HT on a wooden table, using a mic to key it; remote antenna mount on a car hood; remote mount on wooden table). I'm not sure what is happening, but I think at this point I'll just hang on to it in order to compare antennas for my uses.