Posted: 3/8/2014 10:26:38 AM EDT
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So... the mailman just stopped by with my FoxDelta antenna analyzer kit.
http://www.foxdelta.com/products/aaz-0713.htm I ordered the PC/USB/Bluetooth kit, SMT components pre soldered. After shipping it was about $80. They sent it by registered mail, so you have to sign for it - luckily, I was home! Total time from order to delivery was right under 2 weeks. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info out there about these kits that I could find, so I thought I would make a thread about it. Here's what is inside: 
First impression is that it's a bit more challenging than it initially appeared due to the very, very simple instructions. I also do not have a frequency counter, so hopefully I'm not completely SOL. Now to start soldering.... |
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Building...
Funny story about those dikes... they are really nice for trimming leads, though. 
All done... 
Voltage checked. LED at the top right means it should be working... 
Now I'm fighting the software. IT says my 50 ohm dummy load has a SWR of 2-3... and my G5RV is off the charts everywhere. Time for some troubleshoooting. Build time was about 2.5 hours. Almost broke an inductor (maybe that's my problem?) Haven't built the blue tooth adapter yet. Beer time! |
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Quoted:
The damaged inductor is my guess. Have and high resolution pictures of it? Quoted:
The damaged inductor is my guess. Have and high resolution pictures of it? Doubt it, i just split the wrapping at the end trying to bend it over. I put in an email to the yahoo group, apparently some people have been getting units with bad components. Quoted:
is it even cheaper without the surface mount parts installed? You save something like $3 or so, but that's about it. |
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Quoted:
...snip... Now I'm fighting the software. IT says my 50 ohm dummy load has a SWR of 2-3...snip... I got strange readings with my dummy load as well. And also similar readings with a 1:1 balun as well. but read the dipole directly just fine. I've been meaning to go back for more troubleshooting. Keep us posted about how the bluetooth works. |
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Quoted:
I got strange readings with my dummy load as well. And also similar readings with a 1:1 balun as well. but read the dipole directly just fine. I've been meaning to go back for more troubleshooting. Keep us posted about how the bluetooth works. Quoted:
Quoted:
...snip... Now I'm fighting the software. IT says my 50 ohm dummy load has a SWR of 2-3...snip... I got strange readings with my dummy load as well. And also similar readings with a 1:1 balun as well. but read the dipole directly just fine. I've been meaning to go back for more troubleshooting. Keep us posted about how the bluetooth works. How strange? IT also gives me whack readings on my G5RV... tells me the SWR is infinite below 10 Mhz 
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Quoted:
I got strange readings with my dummy load as well. And also similar readings with a 1:1 balun as well. but read the dipole directly just fine. I've been meaning to go back for more troubleshooting. Keep us posted about how the bluetooth works. Quoted:
Quoted:
...snip... Now I'm fighting the software. IT says my 50 ohm dummy load has a SWR of 2-3...snip... I got strange readings with my dummy load as well. And also similar readings with a 1:1 balun as well. but read the dipole directly just fine. I've been meaning to go back for more troubleshooting. Keep us posted about how the bluetooth works. Well, I can say that the bluetooth most certainly does not work because they did not include the module. 
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Quoted:
How strange? IT also gives me whack readings on my G5RV... tells me the SWR is infinite below 10 Mhz Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
...snip... Now I'm fighting the software. IT says my 50 ohm dummy load has a SWR of 2-3...snip... I got strange readings with my dummy load as well. And also similar readings with a 1:1 balun as well. but read the dipole directly just fine. I've been meaning to go back for more troubleshooting. Keep us posted about how the bluetooth works. How strange? IT also gives me whack readings on my G5RV... tells me the SWR is infinite below 10 Mhz Once I removed my 1:1 balun my fan dipole read as expected; the dummy load was always wacky. I will run it tonight and get some specifics. I have a G5RV-JR but it it not in the air so I can't run that. |
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Ok, so the bluetooth module just arrived today. Think I ordered it on the 9th or 10th, so it took a while to get here from China.
I fired up the module and an old android phone, pairing was immediate. Without connecting the analyzer to the BT module, it was showing a SWR plot... for nothing? Once the module was connected, it still gave me no reading. I also could not hit the "start" button unless I turned the phone sideways and back to vertical. seems the software is very poorly written. Think I'm going to write this off as a failure. |