|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Speak Out
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
You can
write your own review of the VK5JST Aerial Analyzer.
|
G6CPZ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
May 9, 2009 09:42
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Excellent kit. Does what it says on the box.
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
I have had a lot of kit building, & general constructing experience over the last 30 years, & this rates with the very best. My first thought was PROFESSIONAL. Well designed,with a well thought out pcb (I've seen some with more trackside wiring than topside due to poor design!!!). The whole experience from ordering to building to using was brilliant. It's a v.good piece of test equipment. Most of my thougts have already been written by others, so I will not repeat them.
|
|
VK2FADZ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Mar 29, 2009 17:41
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Highly recommended
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
This Antenna Analyser is a very useful device for a radio Ham. It is well designed and the PCB is of good quality, so constructing it is straight forward for an experienced solderer. A few tips of advice are:
(1) Test the connections on the rotary switch before soldering because the rotary switch can be different to that shown in the component overlay diagram.
(2) Before plugging in the Picaxe chip, check that the voltage at TP2 is double the voltage at TP3 and TP4, with a 50 Ohm resistor across the input terminals at 2 MHz. Also make sure that the voltages at TP2 ,TP3 and TP4 never exceed 4.7 Volts at the lowest frequency 1.3 MHz and higher frequency ranges by adjusting potentiometers P1 ,P2 and P3. Otherwise the Analogue to Digital Converter in the Picaxe chip can be damaged, resulting in erroneous impedance and SWR readings. I had to order a new Picaxe chip to get it working correctly.
(3) An electric drill will make completing this kit easier, to drill holes in the plastic case of the right size for the switches, input terminals and fine tuning potentiometer.
The Picaxe chip was delivered already loaded with the software. However, I found it was easy to connect the Picaxe chip (when plugged into the PCB) to the serial port of a PC using alligator clips. Then the software can be modified. I put my call sign alongside the battery voltage.
|
|
PE2BZ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 28, 2009 02:33
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Well Done !!
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
It took me just 5 hours to build the kit and get it to work (including 1 hour to locate a misplaced diode who was reverse mounted by myself...)
If any kind of measurement tool is worth it's money it certainly is this kit.
Now, my shortwave antenna experiments are a lot more fun !!
|
|
K7MDO
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 4, 2009 16:40
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Best kit in years!
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Received my kit from SCARC.org.au in Australia just before Christmas. Got it together by New Years and am extremely happy with it, both as a kit and as a tool. Very easy build.
Some suggestions I have are to pop rivet the battery holders on the ouside bottom of the unit. This allows you to change the batteries without opening the case. Also add a chassis mount BNC or a -259 for direct attachment to your coax.
|
|
PA0FRI
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jul 22, 2008 05:42
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Cleverly designed
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
The designer calls this 'AERIAL ANALYSER' a simple tool with the accuracy of a grip dip meter. This is not doing justice to a cleverly designed piece of equipment. It compares favourably to many commercial analysers, even more so if one looks at the price – performance ratio. Most hams are mainly interested in low SWR @ 50 Ohm and take measurements to they can adjust aerials or antenna tuners in the HF region. At times they are interested to know the input and output impedance of broadband amplifiers.
This is one option to home-brew at a reasonable price is a very usable piece of equipment and it has a professional look when finished. If one puts the kit together without making any mistakes then it will work perfectly first time round. A bonus is that the schematic is supplied and you’ll know it functions on the inside. And then afterwards you may opt to apply below mentioned modifications.
The range can be extended above 31 MHz by letting the oscillator works up to 60 MHz. At the high end of those frequencies the output on TP1 is too low to obtain reliable and useful measurements. For up to 50 MHz it is an usable and a worthwhile extension.
If you have to choose between a RF1 analyser or rolling your own from this kit then the latter is the better option.
See for some mods:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~pa0fri/Diversen/VK5JST/Ant%20analyzereng.htm
|
|
VK5LA
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 8, 2008 17:47
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Just Brilliant!
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I've had mine for a couple of years now and I'm well pleased...The kit went together without any problems but you'll need to go slow and steady as it's not a first timers kit.
My unit is stable, accurate and the handiest piece of test gear I own. I have used it over and over for adjusting moxon's, loops, verticals and dipoles.
Like many others, I run mine from 10 2500mA AA cells and added a DC/charge jack, a 10 turn pot for the fine frequency adjustment, and an S0239 socket in addition to the Banana plugs to make the unit even more versatile.
The fact that this is a kit should make it a compulsory item that every new ham must build as a part of getting their license!
You will learn a lot about electronics and have a very useful piece of test gear at the end of it.
|
|
KF7NN
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 19, 2007 09:56
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
great product
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
came together nicely, although it soon lost the
program and would only display squares. I got the
software off the internet and reloaded the pic,
works good again! i also installed 10 nimh cells
and a charge jack, in addition i brought out the
serial port to a stereo jack to program it easily.
seems to be accurate as far as i can tell, at least the rig agrees. took me about 4 hours to complete.
|
|
VK2VE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 31, 2007 06:09
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great little Unit
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
Just finished the unit a couple of days ago after having the kit sitting here for a few months awaiting the time to put it together. It went together very well. Only minor complaint is that the spacing used on the bannana sockets was not the standard 3/4" used on almost all similar equipment. I'll probably change them for a BNC soon, anyhow. Works well and will be a great adjunct to the test gear here.
|
|
VK3PE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
May 20, 2007 18:14
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
exccellent
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Just finished building my Analyser. I purchased a PCB and PIC and used the junkbox etc for the rest of the parts. All went together easily although i had problems with final output level. Could not get the 3v p-p. Double checked everything and could not find problems. Finally I found that the PN2222 transistors i used had a reverse pinout to that shown in the instructions! Turned them around and no more problems. Now I need to do some serious antenna building after more than 10 years inactive on the bands.
Glenn VK3PE
|
|
VK5HPC
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Mar 31, 2007 20:45
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Highly recomended
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
I have now built two of these analysers, one for myself & one for my AR club. Provided you have some experience in constructing electronic projects you will not have trouble, but you must take things slowly & think about what you are doing & you won't go wrong. Once built, they are easy to calibrate & set up. I modified mine with a set of 10 2400Ma/Hr NiMh
"AA" cells & external charge jack, as it tends to be heavy on the batteries. I have used it to set up & wire dipoles, OCF's, a Buddipole & my Hustler 5BTV at my QTH with excellent results. Good work, Jim !
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
