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Reviews For: VK5JST Aerial Analyzer

Category: Antenna Analyzers

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Review Summary For : VK5JST Aerial Analyzer
Reviews: 44MSRP: 95 +post
Description:
This is a design from Australia and put out as a kit by one of the Amateur Clubs there. It covers 1.3 to 31 Mhz
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.users.on.net/~endsodds/analsr.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00444.7
VK5ZG Rating: 2006-11-18
Hard to beat at any price Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This would have to be one of the finest pieces of test gear that you can by for the price. For that matter, you could spend considerably more, and not get any better performance.

One thing that needs to be pointed out is that this is not a kit for the first time builder. It requires a resonable level of ability with respect to electronic assembly, and mechanical dexterity.

Compared to the MFJ 259 unit, which I have been able to compare side by side, the VK5JST analyser is more accurate, has less drift and is a lot cheaper.

To sum up, this is one of those rare products that come along every so often, that provide exceptional performance and well priced.

Not to mention that Jim, VK5JST is a great bloke too.
VK3YAZ Rating: 2006-03-26
How did we manage without it !! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Take care and the kit goes together easily. The holes in the PCB need to be drilled larger to fit some components such as the Regulator and variable capacitor. The LCD panel should be masked off and painted matt back beforehand. The LCD can be glued into the case and connected to the PCB with rainbow ribbon. Forget about using the banana plug sockets and fit a SO239 socket. Note the differences in the setup voltages given in the instructions. The extra switch position can be used for a 24-60MHz range. On this top frequency range there will some residual impedance in the circuit making the readings slightly inaccurate but it is still useful once the error is noted with a calibration resistor. The oscillator is stable and can be used a signal source but requires a steady hand on the fine tuning control.

Overall it is an extremely useful tool that can save many hours of SWR measurments. Check and record your antenna impedance over the whole HF band and you might find some extra bands available! Having the impedance recorded you can detect any degradation over time. You will quickly wonder how you managed without it.
VK6XH Rating: 2006-03-21
Amazing Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A couple of friends owned one , I used an Autek RF-1 for many years and had good results, but this is a better unit to use .
You can buy the unit assembled for $aus 200 from the Club or build it yourself.
I compared the results of my unit with the plots done of my antenna by a friend with a Rhode & Shwartz $25,000 analyser and achieved almost identical results .
I recommend it 100%
ZL2TTM Rating: 2006-03-15
Brilliant Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got this as a kit from Australia. All the bits were there and it went together easily. You can pretty much see from the picture what it does. Since the code is in pic basic and you can get the editor and downloader free, it is easy to make changes as some have done and added features. For the money it is fantastic. If you want to make one yourself you can get the pcb board only or just download the data and start yourself.