SWR Analyzers

  I thought I would say a little something about an important tool that every Ham operator should have in their shack. It comes in quite handy for testing your antenna or if you like building or home brewing antennas it will be extremely helpful. I my self have an MFJ 259b antenna analyzer and it has helped quite a few times.
                                              MFJ-269 SWR Analyzer

By User:しまでん (A photo taken by the contributer User:しまでん) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

  It runs on battery power or an ac adapter. I would recommend getting some rechargeable batteries so you can use it when you are out doors. If you are using it in the shack ,then I would use the ac adapter. There are a number of videos out there on you tube that you can watch to give information on how to use the swr analyzer.
  There are also some accessories that you can purchase for the swr analyzer. Usually you will see grid dip coils, which can be used in the design of traps for a trap dipole antenna for a multiband antenna. There is also a handy carrying pouch that will protect the analyzer from the weather. You can also purchase the ac adapter from any of the distributors on the internet such as universal radio, ham radio outlet, dxengeering or  mfj.

  There are quite a few different MFJ SWR Analyzer models to choose from depending on the frequency range you are working with whether HF, UHF or VHF. Aside from MFJ there are also a number of other manufacturers out there selling SWR Analyzers. They tend to range in price due to features for the analyzer. I would recommend checking   http://www.eham.net/reviews/ for information and reviews for the various analyzers out there. Here is a  SWR Analyzers made by Palstar Inc. There are other manufacturers out there as well. 

                                      Palstar ZM-30 SWR Analyzer

By Dimitri Aguero (user Daguero) (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

  Well Thanks for reading. All comments or additional information are welcomed. 73s from KC2YTI