[HCARC] How To Analyze An Antenna

[Kerry Sandstrom]

Gary,

These are my opinions, others may think differently.  The antenna 
instruments I've used as a ham are an SWR/Power Meter and an RF noise bridge 
(MFJ).  The two things you really want to know are how close to a 1:1 match 
is your antenna and what is its resonant frequency.  The location of the 
resonant frequency tells you whether the antenna is too long or too short. 
The SWR tells you when the match is good enough.  The new antenna analyzers 
tell you a lot more, like what the real and imaginary parts of the impedance 
are.  The more information you have the better of course, but I'm not sure 
how a ham could use that information.  You really need to talk to guys that 
actually have them to find out how they use the measurements.

Kerry