RescueRandy
Member
Folks,
Looking for some real world feedback on coax & antenna analyzers. I know there was some discussion here recently about this, but I wanted to ask for some additional feedback. Our shop is an in-house radio shop for a commercial company. We maintain 4 sites with VHF or UHF repeaters currently, but this will be expanding to around 15 sites this year. All our radio systems used to be maintained by a 3rd party, but we have recently been given the opportunity to bring a lot of this work in-house. Luckily we have also been given some budget for equipment and training as well.
We have been getting by with a basic RigExperts antenna analyzer, but I want to get some additional quality test gear for testing antennas and feedlines.
I am familiar with the Anritsu Site Master analyzer line like the S331d/e, but I recently discovered the Bird SiteHawk analyzers at a trade show (didn’t know they made an analyzer). Not sure how they rate in quality, but was intrigued by their small size. I have also heard some recommendations of nanoVNAs. I have never used them, but thought that they were more in the hobby category then commercial gear?
Question for folks:
-Does anyone have experience with the Bird SiteHawk analyzers?
-What are you using for field testing at repeater sites? I’m guessing that folks are not taking bench test equipment to tower sites?
-Do you all find having an antenna analyzer with a tracking generator useful vs a dedicated spectrum analyzer?
Thanks for taking the time to read and feel free to point out if I’m missing something.
Looking for some real world feedback on coax & antenna analyzers. I know there was some discussion here recently about this, but I wanted to ask for some additional feedback. Our shop is an in-house radio shop for a commercial company. We maintain 4 sites with VHF or UHF repeaters currently, but this will be expanding to around 15 sites this year. All our radio systems used to be maintained by a 3rd party, but we have recently been given the opportunity to bring a lot of this work in-house. Luckily we have also been given some budget for equipment and training as well.
We have been getting by with a basic RigExperts antenna analyzer, but I want to get some additional quality test gear for testing antennas and feedlines.
I am familiar with the Anritsu Site Master analyzer line like the S331d/e, but I recently discovered the Bird SiteHawk analyzers at a trade show (didn’t know they made an analyzer). Not sure how they rate in quality, but was intrigued by their small size. I have also heard some recommendations of nanoVNAs. I have never used them, but thought that they were more in the hobby category then commercial gear?
Question for folks:
-Does anyone have experience with the Bird SiteHawk analyzers?
-What are you using for field testing at repeater sites? I’m guessing that folks are not taking bench test equipment to tower sites?
-Do you all find having an antenna analyzer with a tracking generator useful vs a dedicated spectrum analyzer?
Thanks for taking the time to read and feel free to point out if I’m missing something.