Re: Quarter-wave whip earth plane

On 3/10/25 7:11 PM, Dave Platt wrote:
[...]

Once again, I'd suggest investing in a NanoVNA if you don't
already have one.  They're very handy and will let you
tweak and test your setup without putting your radio at any
risk.
 

+1
Initially you could just borrow one from another ham. Ultimately I'd get one (I did). They are particularly useful for the occasional camping trip. Some day you might want to play with HF antennas and every new location will be different. With a NanoVNA the tuning procedure will be much faster, leaving more time for chats on the ham bands. Or to get the steak started :-)
Just an example: When I built a 2m yagi from scrap metal it took me around 10 trips up and down the ladder to adjust the gamma match, always with a run back into the house to check the SWR meter. When I built my 220MHz yagi I had a NanoVNA -> one trip up and down the ladder, done. Ok, so a NanoVNA might cause weight gain ...
--
Regards, Joerg (AJ6QL)
http://www.analogconsultants.com/