REFLECTOR: Radio weak and scratchy

[Brian Michalk]

I found a good primer on SWR, and it shows how to build one for what 
looks like less than $5.
http://ludens.cl/Electron/swr/swr.html

However, If it indicates bad SWR, so what?  How would the problem get 
fixed?  If the problem is in the antenna, it seems to me like he needs a 
way to check for problems external to the radio.  Something like a fox 
and hound to see what's happening to the radiated signal along the path 
of the cable.

A TDR (time domain reflectometer) would locate where a cable break or 
mismatched impedance is, but is out of my league in terms of equipment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-domain_reflectometer


Douglas Holub wrote:
> That's a good idea. Hook your handheld up to the coax for the winglet 
> antenna and see if ATC can hear you. If it works well, you know the 
> problem isn't the antenna.
>
> SWR = Standing Wave Ratio.
>
> Doug Holub
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rene Dugas" <dugasd at bellsouth.net>
> To: "'Brett Ferrell'" <reflector at velocityxl.com>; "'Velocity Aircraft 
> Owners and Builders list'" <reflector at tvbf.org>
> Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 2:12 PM
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Radio weak and scratchy
>
>
>> Brett,
>> Good idea.  I'll check.
>>  I don't know how to use an antennae meter but I'm trainable.  Is there
>> some other way to check?  Could I connect my handheld to the wing 
>> antennae
>> or will it explode(kidding).  Will the hairs on my arm stand up if I 
>> stand
>> close to the wing while transmitting.  Just probing.  Not my area of
>> expertise.  I'm a good crimper though.  What does SWR stand for?
>> Rene'
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
>> Behalf Of Brett Ferrell
>> Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 7:41 AM
>> To: reflector
>> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Radio weak and scratchy
>>
>> Rene,
>>
>> I'd recommend you find someone in the local Ham community/club and 
>> have them
>> put and SWR meter on your antennas.  I did this, and I have one antenna
>> that's really good and one that's crap, but once you know where the 
>> antenna
>> is really tuned, you can start trying to correct it (or replace it).  I
>> found a guy in my EAA chapter who's a heavy HAM user, and he had a full
>> surplus military radio test rig and could sweep my ILS and nav heads and
>> everything.
>>
>> Brett
>> n44vf.com
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