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Reviews For: Comet CAA-500

Category: Antenna Analyzers

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Review Summary For : Comet CAA-500
Reviews: 25MSRP: 449.95
Description:
SWR Analyzer
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cometantenna.com/products.php?CatID=1&famID=10&childID=20
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00254.4
K9ZIB Rating: 2017-12-06
OUTSTANDING Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have used MFJs, AW07As. The Comet CAA-500 is by far head and shoulders above the others. Reliable, well built, super easy to operate, accurate and just a solid and reliable analyzer. Plus I like that it covers VHF and UHF up to 500. Cross needles are so easy to read and make it a cinch to operate.

Worth every dime.

K4ZA Rating: 2016-10-21
Quality & reliability Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own a variety of analyzers, considering my work as a tower guy. The truly portable type are the most useful on client jobs, & I have two MFJ-259s, both of which failed at the same time, on the same job! So...I was looking for something a bit more rugged & reliable. The Comet has exceeded my expectations after three years of constant use. The case has a few "rust" spots, likely from sweaty hands, & I long ago lost the tiny screw holding the battery cover closed. But it's fast & accurate & hasn't let me down once during my jobs.
K4QET Rating: 2015-09-05
Nice, did not realize abt the 2 sockets Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Took me 4 yrs to realize you must use N socket over some unknown MHZ, ie 449mhz???

'-
NJ5G Rating: 2014-11-04
High quality, robust Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Terrific quality (way beyond MFJ) If you just absolutely need the sign of the imaginary component to know if the reading is capacitive or inductive then you need a different instrument. I have had this jewel for about 3 years and it works well for my needs. It takes a second or two for the freq readout to stabilize after an adjustment sometimes and the freq control could use a vernier but it is not THAT sensitive or difficult to use. It is quite accurate and robust with a build quality that is the envy of MFJ owners. Standard USA PL-259 screws on just fine.

Patrick NJ5G
AF5GP Rating: 2014-02-05
Controler Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The frequency control was very erratic, Very sensitive I just live with it but I do like it.
N0FPE Rating: 2013-12-07
Has been working fine for years Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had mine since june of 2011. It has preformed flawless. After a few complaints from others I checked mine with a Bird as a reference. Reading dead on. and never a problem with connector. It works fine. I guess some folks just don't like it but I do.


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Earlier 5-star review posted by N0FPE on 2011-06-17

Arrived today. been going crazy checking all my antennas. So far it works like a champ. I had a MFJ-269 for years and had issues with the first 2 i owned. I have no real need for all the fancy stuff the MFJ does. The Comet will do me just fine. The construction is heavy and clean. Case is a good solid fit. Time will tell but for now it fits my needs.
AE7ZL Rating: 2013-12-06
Had to return it Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this device because it looked simple enough for what I wanted. Just SWR and Power I am not inclined to delve into all the active and reactive components, so this looked like a good fit. From out of the box it did not work correctly, perhaps I got a bad unit. The frequency control was very erratic, the frequency display sometimes worked, most often not. Most times it did work so many led elements wouldn't light up I was only guessing at the frequency. This forced me to make numerous measurements when only one or two should have worked. 8 hours later I decided to return it. The vendor said they had others returned for similar reasons. I went to my second choice a Rig-Expert AA-600 and I am very happy with it.
N0HAN Rating: 2013-07-07
YAY strait up Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
OK folks unless you spend major dollars for a spectrum analizer with tracking generator these devices work well for us hams. I have both this and the MFJ-269 and prefer this for ease of use! I dont know if I would trust in near field high R.F. situations but for most of us common folks it's the ticket fast and easy to use one needle for swr the other for impedance short and sweet... OH and a bonus it does 220!
WA2ASB Rating: 2013-04-23
Frequency control Difficult Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Apparently the one I received has been updated to use the coax fitting and threads for the USA.

My complaint is with the precision of the frequency control. I've used a RigExpert AA-230 before and it is extremely precise to the 1K.

Although it does give you Z, you have no idea what the reactive component is. Again with the AA-230 you know if it inductive or capacitive.

If someone was looking for an analyzer I would recommend that they spend the extra money for a RigExpert.
KK4NQL Rating: 2013-01-25
love it! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Had a Palstar that was brand new and inaccurate. Called the company and was told they had software issues, to ship it back and it will get fixed... Are you kidding me? the unit wasn't 24 hours old! Returned it to Gigaparts and they took care of me with the Comet CAA 500. I should have listened to Mike from the git go.