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SWR meter(s) NAV/COM/DME/TPD

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pmather

Joined: 17 Sep 2009
Posts: 33

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:53 am Post subject: SWR meter(s) NAV/COM/DME/TPD

Bob



Can you recommend one or more SWR meters that between them can cover the

full range of avionics antenna. I'm looking for units that generate the

signal themselves



Thanks



Peter

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nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
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Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 11:41 am Post subject: SWR meter(s) NAV/COM/DME/TPD

At 07:52 AM 10/17/2012, you wrote:




Bob



Can you recommend one or more SWR meters that between them can cover the

full range of avionics antenna. I'm looking for units that generate the

signal themselves



Thanks



Peter

   Hmmmm . . . that's a broad range of test equipment. Further,

   it covers frequencies outside those of amateur radio/experimenters

   interests. The MFJ259/266 are the gold standards for antennas

   up to 175 MHz (and 400 MHz; MFJ266). Single devices that

   cover the full range of interest are $kilo$ pieces of

   equipment.



   Probably the least expensive approach is a Bird 43 watt meter

   with appropriate elements driven by an RF power oscillator

   or signal generator/amplifier. I used to have a 3 watt broadband

   amplifier that would drive from my HP generator. I had a few

   1 watt elements for the B43. This combination allowed some

   economical look-see experiments with antennas in the VHF/UHF

   domains.



   The amplifier died some years ago and I never did get it fixed.



   Are you looking to build some antennas or just troublehoot?



   Antennas that ever worked are generally pretty robust and unlikely

   to benefit from any sort of 'testing'. Feedline connectors are

   the most likely source of problems with antennas in service.

   Bob . . .

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dlj04(at)josephson.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:41 am Post subject: SWR meter(s) NAV/COM/DME/TPD

On 10/17/12 11:57 PM, AeroElectric-List Digest Server wrote:



Conventional SWR meters require an external generator and power amp, as 

Bob mentions. The MFJ meters he suggests work fine for nav/com, but for 

L band (DME, transponder, UAT) you need something else. There is a good 

analysis of the various approaches at 

http://www.rigexpert.com/index?s=articles&f=aas ... they also make 

handheld devices that go to 1000 MHz but not far enough for transponder 

and DME (1215 MHz to get all of it.)



The preferred approach is an antenna analyzer like the Anritsu Site 

Master series, which was developed for people installing cell phone base 

stations. The earlier versions go to 1200-1300 MHz and are being phased 

out because many cell phone networks now use frequencies at 1700 MHz and 

above. They sell for a little over $1,000 on ebay (or much more for the 

latest ones that go to 6 GHz or more.)



In my toolbox now instead of an MFJ is a "Times Technology" T100+ 

network analyzer, which you can buy from the Hong Kong manufacturer for 

$250 on ebay, or see his website at http://timestechnology.com.hk. It is 

fiddly to use and seems rather fragile but works well, runs on two AA 

cells and fits in a shirt pocket. It will even draw a low resolution 

Smith chart to give you some idea of what your antenna is actually 

doing. It has a USB port and the fellow keeps promising to release a 

full PC control program but hasn't, although the demo example gives full 

details on what would be required if someone were to write one 

themselves. It only goes to 500 MHz though.



--

David Josephson

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