ARRL QST Magazine Evaluation of Antenna Tuners and Baluns英文电子书.pdf

Evaluation of Antenna Tuners and Baluns–An Update How to have high confidence in your measurements. By Frank Witt, AI1H 1 lossy when they got very hot or when a component failed n a two-part article in April and May 1995 QST, I described a simple method for evaluating antenna (if running high power). QRPers had no way of knowing I whether or not their antenna tuners handicapped them. tuners. Application to the evaluation of baluns was de- scribed the following year.2 The method involves a resis- Some manufacturers’ claims for their antenna tuners were tance-load box and a low-power analyzer, and it works (and still are) unreliable, and that is being kind. Much equally well for evaluating the performance of equipment light was shed on this matter by the programs written by with balanced as well as unbalanced loads. A simple ex- Dean Straw, N6BV, TLA and its successor TLW,4 which tension was described that allows the equipment evalua- compute antenna-tuner performance. The indirect method tion with complex-impedance loads as well. complements this analysis tool by providing a very acces- Amateurs around the world have since used the method, sible measurement tool. which has been dubbed the “indirect method,” the “AI1H From the source in Note 1 (May 1995, page 37): “This method” and the “Witt method.” It provides—at moderate new application of low-power SWR testers is a demanding cost—a simple means for evaluating antenna tuners and one, since the accuracy must be excellent for valid results. baluns. The method was used to evaluate four antenna tun- Perhaps we will see even more accurat