Author: Owen

Should you trust your VSWR meter – detector linearity

Should you trust your VSWR meter? asked an interesting question, and based on experience, including a relevant example, concluded:

The answer is no, like any measurement instrument, prove that it is trustworthy in the intended application.

It went on to ask:

If the VSWR meter is designed to fail, why does it fail?

This article contains an analysis of the analogue circuitry of the IC-7300 directional coupler to explain the likely cause of its poor behaviour.

IC-7300 directional coupler schematic


Above is an extract of the IC-7300 circuit in the area of the directional power coupler used for VSWR measurement. The circuit is a quite conventional Bruene coupler, and its response is similar to several types of directional couplers that produce a DC output voltage from a half wave detector. Continue reading Should you trust your VSWR meter – detector linearity

Last update: 29th November, 2018, 3:46 PM

Should you trust your VSWR meter?

One often sees newbies ask about their VSWR meter readings, and a common observation is that the measured VSWR is better at low power and as power is increased, VSWR increases.

With the evolution of the ‘shack in a box’, and knowledge and experience to match, the problem is often reported observed with the transceiver’s internal VSWR meter.

Some of these ‘shack in a box’ have some pretty nifty features, for example the very popular Icom IC-7300 not only has an internal VSWR meter for the HF bands, but it can perform an assisted sweep and display the results graphically.

Isn’t that a great idea, so convenient, all good!

Or is it? Continue reading Should you trust your VSWR meter?

Last update: 29th November, 2018, 3:45 PM

Co-phased collinear for 2m – discussion of phasing devices

An exploration of a cophased collinear array with coax phasing stubs explored various structures for encouraging co-phase operation of a 3/4λ vertical over perfectly conducting earth (PCE).

This article expands that set with NEC-4.2 models of some variations on the traditional Franklin form of the antenna.

Let’s start with review of the traditional Franklin form

Franklin form

The graphic above shows the topology of the Franklin form. It comprises a half wave vertical element over a quarter wave element, with a quarter wave horizontal s/c stub as the device to encourage co-phased operation of the elements. The current magnitude and phase distribution is shown in green. Continue reading Co-phased collinear for 2m – discussion of phasing devices

Last update: 18th November, 2018, 10:57 PM

Arduino SAMD21 bootloader protection II

At IoT – exploration of LoRaWAN – part 2 I reported some quality issues with two low cost SAMD21 Arduino Zero like boards, and at Arduino SAMD21 bootloader protection some related discussion.

In view of continuing experience of incorrectly programmed low cost SAMD21 boards, I have decided to re-flash them as a matter of course

Above is one of the culprit boards. Continue reading Arduino SAMD21 bootloader protection II

Last update: 12th November, 2018, 6:04 PM

Motorola TAD1000B Folded Coaxial Antenna – discussion

This article is a discussion about the Motorola TAD1000B Folded Coaxial Antenna series.

Above is an image from Moto’s documentation, it shows what appears to be a simple coaxial or sleeve dipole, bit with the top quarter wave element folded like half of a folded dipole. Continue reading Motorola TAD1000B Folded Coaxial Antenna – discussion

Last update: 12th November, 2018, 8:34 AM

An explanation of W5DXP’s ‘line extender device’

A correspondent wrote seeking explanation of W5DXP’s no-tuner tuner which purports to obtain a near match by adjusting the length of the transmission line using relays or switches of some kind.

The particular device that is of interest is one using a single double pole knife switch as a three position On-Off-On switch.

The accompanying explanations states that this “is a way to use a single DPDT knife switch to obtain one, two, or three feet of ladder-line depending on the position of the switch”. Continue reading An explanation of W5DXP’s ‘line extender device’

Last update: 11th November, 2018, 5:15 AM

Rigexpert’s Antscope takes a bigger step backwards

At Rigexpert’s Antscope takes a step backwards I wrote of Rigexpert’s determination to cripple Antscope by reducing the maximum value of R and X on graph axes to +/- 1600Ω.

I have deferred trying the new Antscope2 until now to allow it to reach some maturity.

This article is a brief review of Antscope2 v1.0.10, brevity driven by the need to cut losses and run.

The first thing I noted is the difficulty in reading some textual data due to low contrast. The mid blue on mid grey above is very hard to read and would be even harder outdoors if measurements were being made in that environment. I did not search for alternative themes, none jumped out, but out of the box, this is very limiting. FAIL. Continue reading Rigexpert’s Antscope takes a bigger step backwards

Last update: 19th November, 2018, 7:36 AM

AIM 915a produces internally inconsistent results

 

AIMuhf

AIM915 was recently pulled from the distribution site and replaced by a new release, AIM915a.

I cannot recall ever finding a new release that did not have significant defects, commonly inconsistency between displayed values. In the common theme of one step forward, two steps backwards, this version has defects that were not present in AIM910B.

This problem existed in AIM915, it persists in AIM915a.

Let’s review the internal consistency of this part of the display screen.

Most of the values given above are calculated from a single measurement value, and should be internally consistent. That measurement value is translated to different quantities, many based on the stated Zref (50Ω in this case). Continue reading AIM 915a produces internally inconsistent results

Last update: 7th November, 2018, 8:57 AM

Arduino SAMD21 bootloader protection

At IoT – exploration of LoRaWAN – part 2 I reported some quality issues with two low cost SAMD21 Arduino Zero like boards.

In both cases, the bootloader did not work. I did not investigate further but did note that the NVM user row looked like it had been cleared, but just wrote a new bootloader and restored a default user row with protection for the 8192 length bootloader.

Above is one of the culprit boards. Continue reading Arduino SAMD21 bootloader protection

Last update: 13th March, 2019, 7:08 AM