Re: Quarter-wave whip earth plane

Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote:

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 ...
 

I have one too. Get the real one (NanoVNA2 v4) and not one of the many
knockoffs.

The real ones are sold on Tindie.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs
--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs  Principal Consultant  ElectroOptical Innovations LLC /
Hobbs ElectroOptics  Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics