SWR Stuff Every Ham Radio Beginner Needs to Know!

[@survivalcomms]

Excellent ! Lossy transformers and feedlines give good measurements because they are lossy. The forward energy is measured at the transmitter where the loss is minimal and the reflected is measured at the same location after it's run the gauntlet of loss. It is a simple phenomenon to replicate and I have done so several times. The popular high dollar commercial " multiband " antennas take full advantage of obfuscating reality for marketing purposes. Thanks for keeping it real and spreading the word. Thanks for sharing !

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey SC, thanks for watching!

[@houseofhamradio]

Well said Ape! I have tried to explain this simply to hams but your description is the best I have seen. Keep up the great work 73 Bob WV7W

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey Bob, thanks for checking it out 👍

[@KK6USYHamRadioAdventures]

Good stuff Ape!! As usual!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Chuck!

[@ChrisRobinsonKF6NFW]

You lightly ever so lightly touched on the topic of ladderline. You can place the ladderline in a tube such as even a foam tube like that of pipe insulation foam and that is generally large enough to protect it from other objects. There are some rules about the spacing of the ladderline from objects that are easy to achieve. 300ohm ribbon is the easiest considering how thin it is, and even 450ohm window line is easy. I am not sure I would really attempt 600ohm Ladder-line. However, whatever the spacing is between the conductors of the line, keep that spacing as well from the objects nearby. If the 450ohm ladder-line is 2 inches wide, keep it 2 inches away from the nearest objects. the easy way is to place inside insulation foam and let it lay where you desire. You can even place this inside a metal tube or pipe such as up the inside of the rainspout so the neighbors dont see (ask me how I know). Lay it across the metal roof of the house to the vertical. Dont forget the 9:1 BALun on each end if you desire a 50 ohm install. You can also lay this on the ground across the bushes, it can even be buried taking care not to crush it. The result is creating a tri-axial cable. if you install it in a metal pipe or tube its much closer to true tri-axial cable with its shield. You most certainly can install twin-lead of any kind inside a metal pipe so long as you keep the spacing. I use pipe insulation, as the "dielectric". (I edited for clarification) There are a couple YT vid's on the topic as well floating around. good video mate. 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the info Chris!

[@Joe_KS1I]

I currently use 450-ohm ladder line. One alternative to using ladder line is to install a 1:1 current balun at the end of the line, similar to the setup with the ZS6BKW antenna, and then connect the coax directly to your shack.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey Joe, that is probably what I would do.

[@Swamp-Fox]

What a practical, concise, common sense discussion on SWR! I would love to see a deep dive on the various tuner designs. 73!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey SF, I will add it to the list... thanks for watching

[@jasonlockwood7395]

Ty ape for everything you do brother

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for watching Jason, glad you like the videos!

[@Pioneer936]

I love Walt Maxwells description of how a tuner tunes out reactance of the whole system including the antenna

[@TheSmokinApe]

@@Pioneer936 Who doesn’t, it’s wonderful reading…

[@M0RMY]

Beautifully done Ape. Happy New Year to you.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks and same to you!

[@KS0JD]

Good coverage of the topic. Too often we only look at SWR. You need to look at the system as a whole and looking for the best way to radiate the most amount of signal at the desired frequecy. Thanks for the videos! 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for watching Jeff 👍

[@Siskiyous6]

There is an LMR 400 clone cable, I use some of it as well as the real thing. Ladder line difficulties are exagerated. As usual, your smooth delivery is how ya get us

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey LC, thanks for giving it a gander 👍

[@SailboatDiaries]

Very helpful

[@TheSmokinApe]

Glad you liked it 👍

[@DaDitDa]

A topic for a future video: How an impedance matching network composed of reactive elements transforms the load's R to match the source's R, in addition to canceling the load's jX. In other words, an impedance match involves more than simply canceling reactance (jX). Hint: recall that R is the ratio of V/I, and that a network of C and L components can change the phase relationship of applied V and I.

[@TheSmokinApe]

I might just have to do that...

[@jonhoyles714]

thanks 🙏 SA nice video 😊

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks Jon 👍

[@nateitkin8279]

Happy New Year Ape. Looking forward to your videos in 2025. 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

Happy New Year to you too! 👍 Thanks for watching Nate

[@subramanianr7206]

Wow, that's a wonderful and crisp presentation on the topic, very well done. Thank you, ape. De VU2RZA

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for watching VU2RZA, glad you liked it 👍

[@LifeAtTerminalVelocity]

Professor Ape is on it.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for checking it out Carlos

[@LifeAtTerminalVelocity]

@@TheSmokinApe I'm always down for more learning.

[@TheSmokinApe]

@@LifeAtTerminalVelocity well, I’m glad you stopped by for it 👍

[@robertmeyer4744]

Great job APE. Their is a Z match tuner as well. MFJ had one but never got into it . I see some outher manual tuners hitting the market now that MFJ is gone. 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

I’d like to get my hands on a good Z match. Thanks for watching Robert

[@a6b59ghj51d]

What about the reflection coefficient from a smith chart reading? Just kidding, I could read about that for hours and still have no clue what I'm looking at. All good point present in this video.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Haha, thanks for watching!

[@Steven_VE9SY]

Another great video. I keep telling people the same thing/ But there are a lot that love to brag about there swr, meanwhile their impedance is 89 ohms,

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for watching Steven, glad you liked it 👍

[@DC6NS]

Thanks for the information. But wouldn´t it be more practical to simply post the text, i.e. as a PDF-File? Or are you afraid Hams would not be able to read for themselfes? Happy new year!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Great suggestion!

[@drocles]

If you're on a budget, watch 75ohm ham guy. Coax should not be a barrier to getting on the air

[@TheSmokinApe]

I know Ziggy quite well…

[@karlbesser1696]

Is artificial intelligence your assistant now? ;}

[@TheSmokinApe]

Yep, it’s backed into every tool that I use 😮

[@karlbesser1696]

@@TheSmokinApe I understand. I wish you a happy new year. 🍾🎇

[@TheSmokinApe]

you too Karl!