Tuning Your Antenna

Hook up your radio to an SWR meter and the antenna. Set it for a portion of the band that you think you will be using most often. Since all of our antenna length calculations are for the center of the band, the antenna should be slightly longer if you wish to work below this frequency, and slightly shorter if you work above it. Reduce your power down to it’s lowest setting and transmit on a clear frequency. Your SWR meter should now be measuring the SWR of your antenna. You will notice that if you tune up or down, this will change. Try this, and note whether or not the SWR gets higher or lower as you go up in frequency. If it gets higher as you go up, the antenna needs to be shortened.

Back outside again (or get a buddy to stand out there), cut about one inch off of each end of the antenna wire. Rekey your transmitter and repeat the same test over. If the antenna still needs to be shortened, cut off a bit more. Over and over, perform this test until the frequency that you wish to tune the antenna at has a lower SWR than the frequencies above or below it. Now that your antenna has been successfully tuned, you are ready to try making a few contacts.

RAMSEY DA SERIES DIPOLE ANTENNA

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