Committee Members of FAMPARC

Executive Committee for 2000

President   Peter Brennan  VK3TE   9789 9028
Vice-president  Greg Treble   VK3KV   9785 1313
Secretary   Brian Rich   VK3VBJ   9870 4437
Ass-Secretary  Gerard Werner  VK3GER  9773 6313
Treasurer   Craig Hewett   VK3JCH   03 5998 2300

General Committee Members

Committee   Jan Brennan   VK3HJB   9789 9028
Committee   Bill Grypstra   VK3MMM  9781 2886
Committee   Andrew Wilson  VK3FIX   7799 3202
Class Coordinator  Peter Brennan  VK3TE   9789 9028
Class Instructor  Peter Repschlager VK3YG        03  5978 6487
Public Officer   Jeff Fletcher   VK3EUL              03  5983 9257
QSL Manager  Bill Grypstra   VK3MMM  9781 2886
Equipment Officer  Fred Turner   VK3DRX   9787 2866
Publicity Officer  Greg Treble   VK3KV   9772 6679
Building  Supervisor Craig Hewett   VK3JCH             03  5998 2300
Note: These are after hours numbers!

The SWR Meter, friend or foe?

Checking old CQ-magazines a while ago I found an article from Bill Orr W6SAI in the June 1993 issue which described results of experiments which I myself had stumbled on by accident, rigging antennas for HF while away from home. 
'A casual listener to the amateur bands hears a lot of talk about SWR measurements, and there are plenty of SWR graphs in magazine antenna articles extolling the SWR performance of a particular antenna. In addition, many modern rigs have a built-in SWR meter. And if you read the adds in the amateur magazines, you will see a plentiful supply of SWR meters on which to spend your money. You might get the idea that the SWR meter is an indispensable piece of gear and a vital addition to the shack.

The SWR meter environment
As we have learned in earlier days the SWR meter actually measures the SWR of the antenna system as a whole, not just the antenna itself. That is to say, and SWR reading in the shack is revealing the SWR on the feedline at the end of the line. The reading is a function of the feedpoint impedance of the antenna, the line loss, impedance 'bumps' in the line caused by mechanical joints, and any spurious RF coupling between the field  of the antenna and the shield oif the coax line. Thus, the SWR reading at the shack may or may not bear a resemblance to the actual SWR measuremed at the antenna feedpoint.
So what? Why should a high value of SWR upset the experimenter? Many amateurs spend hours diddling with their antennas to reduce the SWR from say 1:7 down to 1:2 and then work harder to get the SWR down to 1:1 or less. Does all this effort make their signal louder, or does it make them more capable of hearing weaker signals? Hardly. In most cases, such an exercise is a waste of time!

        (cont. page 5)

FAMPARC News May 2000  Page 4