ANTENNA DETAILS

BEST CASE:     ALL of these measurements should be repeated on a few different types of antennas in order to get a complete picture of how well the ATUs work with different impedances on the different bands. 


BEST CASE: The antenna should be mounted in a wide-open space, with no obstacles within a couple of wavelengths of it. 


REALITY: Not enough Space, Not enough Time. Take a look at my QTH! (below)


The information you find here took me a couple hundred hours to create and upload to my web and it is for just one antenna.


I live in a "beautiful" area called "Naturpark Spessart".  In English: "Spessart Nature Park".

"beautiful" =  NOT conducive to Antenna Tests!


Naturpark Spessart is a nature park in central Germany.  The park spans into the states of Hesse and (northern) Bavaria, and covers an area of 2,440 km² (942 square miles) within the German mountain range known as the Spessart.
The photos below give you an idea of what I'm dealing with when erecting antennas:

This is what it looks like near my house on the mountainside. RED Rectangles = Metal Fence.

I used ca. 10cm spacers in the home-brew Ladder-Line.  It runs down the fiberglass pole to a height of about 8 ft. above the ground, then bends and runs horizontal to the patio - almost perpendicular to the antenna.

Unfortunately, there is a wrap-around balcony on the floor above the patio and it has a metal fence and guard rail.  I'm certain it influences the antenna but no telling how much.


The 15m band's balance was horrible with all ATUs probably from this fence. 

And this is what it looks like for a hundred miles in all directions.  Dark green stuff is trees.  We really have no flat ground for miles and miles.  Anyway, It's only convenient to run tests at home.

Regardless, all ATUs are subject to the same environmental issues, so it is a fair comparison.  Keep in mind that an unbalance in RF current in balanced-line means the feedline is radiating!  As you will see in the measured results, there was a lot of unbalance in various combinations of band and ATU.

NOW THE NITTY GRITTY:


True RESONANCE of the Antenna:

MORE NITTY GRITTY:


Antenna Parameters by Band:

Measured with a RigExpert AA-230 ZOOM Analyzer.

OK, so it's not beautiful; SORRY.  But as the old sailors say, ANY PORT IN A STROM!