Which Antenna Analyzer Should You Get?

I have a Hamstick 80 meter dipole due to a small backyard. It has been a great antenna for years. I tuned the side that the coax attaches to then adjusted the ground side appropriately the same. Best thing is it’s an 80 meter rotatable dipole.

The ability to hang the stick pro at the antenna feedpoint and check with your phone is the best feature, you get a true reading without any feedline dark magic skewing the readings.

Hi Mike, I and a friend saw you at the Dayton Hamvention today. It was great meeting you and talking with you. We will be back tomorrow to volunteer in the flea market. Thanks for the free equipment you gave us, we appreciate it.

For what it’s worth, I’ve only ever calibrated my NanoVNA once, and as far as I can tell it works just fine across all frequencies without recalibration.

Regarding hamstick dipoles. I've used vertical hamsticks for quick setups but like hamstick dipoles for POTA. I build my own mounts, both dipole and quad mounts, and would advise tuning to start with making both the same length then adjust both, doesn't matter which you start with, to be the same length until you find the frequency you want. Yes it's a pain in the butt because they have such a narrow Q but once you lock them in use the sharpie to mark them. A friend suggested I try a capacitance matcher to help with tuning once you get the whips set so I tried an MFH909 matched and got a 1.5:1 down to a 1.1:1 on the upper bands. I have the hamsticks from 10 to 12 ft off the ground and have had really good results with this system. This setup works best for digital modes where frequency changes are rare but possible. Thanks for another great video!

I have the comet caa500 antenna analyzer and it works great. 70cm -160m

I have a Stick Pro too. It's quite good. I like too that I can connect to it from my phone or tablet of computer over bluetooth or USB to have a larger screen. I also have a nano VNA. You talk about having to calibrate it for different frequencies. Yes, but you can save those calibrations in on board files to load for each frequency range you may want to use.

Great video like usual. I had a Comet it is a great analyzer but traded it for a Rig Expert Zoom. Much more accurate and easier to use. Before the Comet I had a MFJ-259 but it was terrible with a hand effect that made it nearly impossible to use. And of course the battery were always dead when I need to use it.

I have tuned many sets of hamstick dipoles for myhome brew Octopus antenna mount (4 bands). The trick I use is to always start by tuning BOTH sides to the same length, and moving them in or out by the same amount til I get the lowest SWR. Since my setup puts the mount up 18', the longer wavelengths will not tune perfectly. Then I use the OCF dipole trick and move one side out 1/3, and the other side in 2/3. This reduces feedpoint impedance and makes for a better match. NVIS on the long wavelengths sure, but it works pretty well.

Can’t go wrong with a RigExpert. I have the Stick Pro.

Antscope on your desktop is nice. I have connected it to my desktop computer, and trimmed my antenna while testing through the coax in my house. I do that by taking my tablet out to the antenna, and VNC'ng back into my desktop. It's nice for maintenance, or real world tweaking.

If ordering MFJ hamsticks, definitely buy the adjustable whips to screw in the top, instead of having to trim the fixed ones that come with them. MFJ-1963 I believe is the one. Just make sure it's the one that screws into the existing thread on the hamstick.

I have a youkits analyzer that works well for me. It has been my only analyzer since they came out. I will be buying a rig expert stick pro once I clean out my shack in some up coming hamfests.

1:16 One of my first ever antenna projects was building a fleet of hamstick dipoles for every HF band. Still have them and they’re pretty cool but narrow banded and don’t really compare to bigger better wire antennas, verticals etc. but definitely handy for a quick portable setup. To tune them I always moved the whips in and out equally on both sides. Just checked the length of each with a tape measure every time I made an adjustment. Seemed to work just fine for me.

Thanks Mike.

I have used hamstick dipoles. I don't recommend them for bands below about 20 meters, they just won't load good, even with a tuner. If you can them to load, they are extremely narrow-banded on the lower bands. I would start with equal lengths, and then trim or lengthen from there. Much like you described in the video.

We use an MFJ 269 on our loop antenna behind the custom made tuner .. it does not make enough RF to get a proper reading. we are forced to us an IC-718 on low power with a stock SWR meter to tune the antenna. On spec that analyzers so not show it their RF output .. do you have any hints on which one has the most RF output?

Thanks helped

you might enjoy looking at the mini1300.

When doing a Ham stick dipole tune the side that is connected to the centre conductor of your coax then the other side . I have a problem with uploading log files . First I save them in file ladled Porn 1 or 2 so forth. then I upload them the way you suggested but they keep getting rejected. Do you have any other suggestions 😆😆.. I had an MFJ 269 analyser but sold it because I need the money. I am looking for a NANO VNA but there are so many to choose from . Any particular brand is best ? ...