analyzer

[coondog]

hey ya all,i know this subject was brought up quite some time ago but can"t find it.i"m thinking hard again about investing in a anallyzer today.one quick question,is the RFJ-259B a piece of equipment that i"d be happy with?

if anyone can relay me to posts that were discussed before on this i"d appreciate it instead of bothering you all on old gone over subject,thanks a bunch.

 

[boomer111]

For tuning the antenna system while running a amp I wouldn't do it any other way. The MFJ 259B will enable you to really fine tune the antenna. For none amp related issues in tuning the antenna it might be overboard but nevertheless very useful.

This device will do much more too, than just tune the antenna.

Once you use it you'll never use a standard SWR meter again for tuning, checking yes.

 

[C2]

it depends on exactly what your objectives are?

 

[coondog]

thankyou boomer.iv"e been reading alot on this analyzer and i"m quite impressed.your right,there the best type of equipment when it comes to getting a really truely swr reading and i like all the other features.one feature i was amazed about was when i read that if you have a short or bad spot in your jumpers it"ll actually tell ya how far down the line it is.

i could of used one of these for myself over the past year.a friend once used his analyzer on my stuff and really did the job but after time when i had problems i didn"t want to bother him to recheck everything.if i would of had my own i probably would have more hair now instead of pulling it all out trying to figure out what was wrong.lol.

 

[bighammer]

i wont do installs without one

 

[KingCobra_CDX882]

they are tools
often over looked

but when one has and uses them'one quickly realises how good a tool they are

 

[coondog]

sure do appreciate the great replys on this,i went ahead and ordered the analyzer.i have heard that it takes some time to figure out how to use it properly.besides getting the swr perfect i"m really interested in making sure my grounds will be right when i hook up all my stuff in my new truck(2003 dodge,but new to me).

if you all remember my older posts about that 82 ford zephyr where i had so many problems with the swr with my 2x8 being on and the swr going crazy and me grounding,grounding,and more grounding,i still wasn"t to happy with the outcome.i had to keep deadkey way down just to make the swr look good.people told me this wasn"t right.

i was told since i was putting out 1500 to 1700 watts at the time my deadkey should be set at about 25% of that and i believe the deadkey would of been around 3.there"s no way i could of ran it there because the swr would of been pegging the wall.

somethig was surely wrong but could never figure it out with not having a analyzer to work with.i"ll be installing a brand new custom built 400 motor maul this time and i surely don"t want to screw up that piece of equipment with a screwy swr.with my new truck i"ll have to use a mag mount(yuk)so i"ll surely need that analyzer.

 

[boomer111]

I like to use the advance mode under coefficient reflection. This mode lets me center the bandwidth where I want it. Just get it to read .00 and -48db and it's heaven. These numbers are hard to get but it can be done. Get it around -38db to -42db and your done. Reflect should be .01 to .02. Square that number for reflect number so .02 = 4/10% .03 = 9/10% .04 =1.6% reflect. Keep it under .04 reflect coefficient and you be ok, but lower is better if volting.

 

[DTB Radio]

I definitely love my old MFJ259. Its been beat up, power inputs heavily modified, even busted out the LCD one time, but its still going strong, and I'd hate to have to have to do an antenna install without it.

 

[coondog]

i just recieved my analyzer and its a nice piece of equipment.the carrying case sucks,must be wrong one because i can"t get it to let the dials on front line up unless i slit the holes a little.

question here,on the top it has your 12volt plug in,your freq.counter attachment,antenna hookup,and one other thing thats hexagon type thing about 5/8"s high.the booklet has no diagram for what that is.

now with just the ant.hook up how does it work for checking out swr?shouldn"t there be 2 ant.type hookups on top like a regular swr meter so you can check between radio and ant.?no,i haven"t had the chance to go through the book yet and i should of before i posted this.

right now i"m just a little disemboggled in the brain,lol,because i"m thinking what would you do if you wanted to check from amp to ant.besides radio to ant.i"m just used to working with testers,meters in line.

 

[bighammer]

the freq counter is used with more advanced testing equiptment. the hex is for ground. which you can use if your us coax with no end on it, and to gonnect to the center pin they gave you so when stored less chance of rf messing it up. do not use this near others transmitting

this isnt a SWR meter, its an analyzer.it sends out its own signal you hook the antenna to the so connecter. turn on the mfj and set it to the freq you want. for example cb band is 26.965 to 27.405. turn the tune dial to change freq, set your swr so its the same on 26.965 and 27.405
play with it, see what its reading.

in lamens terms it will sow you your freq, swr, r= your coax impedance, x in simple terms is how well the antenna is going to work with your vehical.
if you have a mag mount you can move it around to find the best spot for it.

warning if you have a wilson 1000 you will never see r=50 with the stock coax

 

[coondog]

thanks bighammer,the info helped.i had the time this morning to start reading.i"ll be using MFJ monster triple mag mount with my predator 10K.i understand its not a swr meter its just that about a year ago when a friend was using his analyzer i was on top of car taking care of the stinger adjustment and he was below i thought i seen him hook both jumpers from my astic 600 to his analyzer like i got.

i see now that he was just using the ant.coax from the meter box.i played a little with my analyzer and i like it alot,sure glad i got one now.

 

[Beetle]

Be sure you never have an antenna connected to the analyzer during an electrical storm, or if there's a strong RF field nearby. Quite a few folks have found their 259Bs dead after doing just that. Don't know if MFJ has changed things with the 269.

 

[coondog]

yea for sure Beetle,i have 4 days off this xmas weekend and i thought i"d be able to hook all my equipment and use the analyzer but with the mag mount on back order and low and behold my 0 gauge power wire from my other car is about 2 feet short.

that blows,but hey,its xmas morning and i like to say MERRY CHRISTMAS to all.