The best Spectrum Analyzers: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I have a MFJ Antenna Analyzer (don't remember the model number off the top of my head). I see a number of people are buying and using ones like in this link. It seems these have pretty good reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/50KHz-900MHz-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B07Y53RCKW/ref=asc_df_B07Y53RCKW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=385267912548&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16652502257177856262&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015384&hvtargid=pla-844422862531&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=76690811697&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=385267912548&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16652502257177856262&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015384&hvtargid=pla-844422862531

I've done a lot of research into antennas.

I have serious doubts that this one pictured, will be any good.

Of course, the only way to know for sure, is to hook it up to a Vector Network Analyzer.

This is the one I’ve got. Apogee MQ-200 PAR Quantum Separate Sensor with Handheld Meter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q2C8C1P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_WPDR7V76G4VS5267PQ70

For photo period plants it seems easier bc you know for a fact which stage you’re in and where you’re limits are on PAR but with autos it’s different especially with how fast Mephisto grow. Basically my light is super powerful and I’m trying to find the right balance of height and dimmer.

An S21 measurement using $50 VNA is one way to measure transmission line attenuation.

https://www.amazon.com/Seesii-Analyzer-10KHz-1-5GHz-Measuring-Parameters/dp/B08132DJLS/ref=sr\_1\_2\_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=vna&qid=1626823349&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExU0JCTkY4S042Rzk1JmVuY3J5cHRlZElk...

I tried installing it just the way you did it. But my antenna is shorter and when I analyzed using VNA kit, I got very high SWR. It was because the antenna is very close to the metal body of the car trunk.

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So I had to move the lip mount to the plastic portion of the trunk just next to the brake lights.

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Do you have a VNA kit? What's your SWR on your setup? u/DrewWith2DoubleYewz

find a HAM RADIO guy. he might have some toys that include a radio frequency analyzer and have the rest of the stuff to and knowledge to use it..

https://www.amazon.com/50KHz-900MHz-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B07Y53RCKW/

are you in orange county california.

there are some cars that get off the freeway next to my cardboard box that jam my bluetooth and wifi.. so you may not be imagining..

FWICT, the NanoVNA-H (Amazon, same seller as OP, Gigaparts) only goes to 900 MHz. They mention on nanovna.com about going to 1.5 GHz. Is there a newer, yet-unreleased version that is capable of 3.5 GHz?

https://www.amazon.com/50KHz-900MHz-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B07Y53RCKW/ref=asc\_df\_B07Y53RCKW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=385267912548&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8117106809667923366&hvpone=&hvptwo=...

I have this one. https://www.amazon.com/AURSINC-NanoVNA-H-Vector-Network-Analyzer/dp/B07Z5VY7B6/ref=sr_1_3?crid=BAPJWER7MI13&keywords=nanovna&qid=1670336560&sprefix=nanovna%2Caps%2C390&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.08f69ac3-fd3d-4b88-bca2-8997e41410bb

It's not as good as my RigExpert but it's also a fraction of the cost and it's what I used to tune my HF vertical after I installed it. It definitely gets the job done. These can be a pretty useful tool and can measure a lot more than just SWR so they're handy to have around. The range on that one is wide enough that it'll do almost everything you need.

Watch some videos on youtube on how to use a NanoVNA. There is a bit of a learning curve and a calibration process to go through. When you start investigating that antenna you can sweep a fairly wide bandwidth to see where the SWR dips and then narrow it down from there. These only measure something like one or two hundred points per sweep so you'll want to narrow your sweep range as you start to zero in on where the antenna is resonant to give you the best resolution.

An SWR meter is not an antenna analyzer, but it can help you a bit. I was thinking more along the lines of this or this.

Amazon $54 usd

https://www.amazon.com/AURSINC-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B07T6LXNTV/ref=sr_1_36?crid=Y8W6B5AQS2AD&keywords=vna+analyzer&qid=1655471275&sprefix=%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-36

If the 1/4 mag mount style will work, you can likely shorten it just a tad and have it work for that frequency range. You can get a NanoVNA and adapters from Amazon while you're at it and sweep it first, some of those have a fairly wide range.

NanoVNA H4

That guy. I also recommend getting the female SMA with pin to SO-239 adapter

I know this doesn't answer your question but it reminded me of these we use at work to test antennae and radios. Rf explorer brand rf detectors. They are pricey but can find off brand for less.

RF Explorer 6G Combo with AluminiumCarrying Case RF Explorer Pro Software for RF and Wi-Fi Analyzing on Windows and Mac https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018WIB3V6/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_9F4NZFMMDNF11KFHQRWK?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

You can use a wireless spectrum analyzer from Fluke to see what frequency your fob is on (test it outside the area) and then check the area to see what else is running on that frequency. Sounds like someone is running a jammer or has a very powerful broadcast on that frequency that you're just too close to (which would be illegal). If you can isolate the source or the frequency, the FCC can come in and take care of locating and shutting it down.

There are often analyzers on the state surplus site and ebay for cheap. I know Tmo techs used to carry them so if you see one of those vans around fixing a tower, you could ask them.

I'm actually pretty interested in this as well.

If I'm not wrong, your fob should be running around 315mhz

This should do the trick https://www.amazon.com/Explorer-Handheld-Spectrum-Analyzer-WSUB1G/dp/B01EWSJP7Y

Just to have a better visual, your is your mount the Firestik DM4/DM4A?

0.5 ohms from coax to battery terminal is likely fine, depends on your meter but most handheld meters aren't going to read much lower than that anyway. If it's ohming out to the battery terminal it's probably good, but I'd check from the coax shield to the sheet metal around where the mount is installed as well just to be sure.

Before you go to trimming the whip, if you have some alligator clip leads you could stick some at the top of the antenna and see if making it longer helps. Though you can't really extend a whip so not that helpful, but could at least see if you get a different reading. If it gets worse you know that trimming it will likely help.

Also, while that RigExpert AA-600 the one guy recommended is expense as hell, you can get a NanoVNA for like $50 and it'll be good enough 99% of the time. Makes tuning antennas a hell of a lot easier. Here's an old post I made about it a while back.

I've bought from this listing in the past and had good luck, admittedly YMMV since there are a lot of bad quality versions of the NanoVNA out there. Would just need an SMA male to UHF SO-239 female adapter (or whatever your coax is).

A TinySA Pocket sized Spectrum Analyzer. It essentially looks at a range of radio signals and graphically displays them. You can get them on Amazon I have one and they're very interesting and a lot of fun to play with.

I'm a big fan of and had a lot of fun playing with my NanoVNA

NanoVNA-H4 Vector Network Analyzer Kit 10KHz-1.5GHz HF VHF UHF Antenna Analyzer Measuring S Parameters, Voltage Standing Wave Ratio, Phase, Delay, Smith Chart with 4" LCD Touch Screen (4.2 Version) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085CFHTBM/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_2XT3FKSNVRP2RWYQJM42?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

A couple of my guys just bought these, and seem to like them. I haven't jumped aboard yet though, so your milage may vary.

Portable TinySA Spectrum Analyzer

This will help you to build an antenna:

https://www.amazon.com/%E3%80%90Upgraded%E3%80%91AURSINC-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B07Z5VY7B6/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=Nano+VNa&qid=1634308984&sr=8-4

They sell sma connectors to solder wires onto on eBay.

It went down slow, I made a rookie mistake. It definitely didn't overheat as I've been watching the temperature of it. I just ordered this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T6LXNTV/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_glt_i_RMEXJDMY2SNZHXQ3AY5F so I'll see how fucked I am.

There website says to purchase AURSINC manufactured VNAs on Amazon. That’s reliable right? If so I’d purchase this https://www.amazon.com/【Upgraded】AURSINC-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B07Z5VY7B6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=NanoVNA&m=A3KC9Z86M9XWS3&qid=1628045689&s=merchant-items&sr=1-1

The NanoVNA website recommends AURSINC for Amazon purchases. Do you think this would be reliable? https://www.amazon.com/【Upgraded】AURSINC-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B07Z5VY7B6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=NanoVNA&m=A3KC9Z86M9XWS3&qid=1628045689&s=merchant-items&sr=1-1

With an RF Explorer, while I was being hit with intense ultrasonic noise, I picked up a massive 1.6GHz signal spike, orders of magnitude (30x or more, it went well off the top of the display) stronger than any other signals in the area, including WiFi, HDTV, FM, and cellular.

I didn't get any directionality on the signal as I was using an omnidirectional antenna at the time. Anecdotally the intense ringing in my ears would get much louder when I put my head near fireplaces, making it seem as though a signal was being bounced down the chimney.

Please use clean amazon links to prevent your message from being flagged as spam by reddit. Thanks.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z5VY7B6/

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Some are using low cost VNAs for this purpose. Like this... https://www.amazon.com/【Upgraded】AURSINC-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B07Z5VY7B6/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=G00ZBTH02WJA&dchild=1&keywords=vna&qid=1608783416&sprefix=Vna%2Caps%2C246&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcn...

73

I used a spectrum analyzer. They used to cost a fortune, but quick check on Amazon and they're in the $100 range. They make frequency tuning easy because you can see the spike move as you tune and you can see other noisy areas to avoid.

Not a recommendation, just an example:

Portable TinySA Spectrum Analyzer,SEESII Handheld Tiny Frequency Analyzer 100kHz to 960MHz MF/HF/VHF UHF Input,Signal Generator with 2.8 inch Touch Screen Battery https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FB5XT7B/

I looked further into it because of this comment. I was uninterested before because all the SWR meters I saw in my quick search were ~$50 and would only work on VHF/UHF bands, meaning I'd need to buy something else if I later built antennas for HF. But after this comment I found this guy:

https://www.amazon.com/50KHz-900MHz-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B07Y53RCKW/

All the antenna analyzers I see talked about in older threads on this subreddit are well over a hundred dollars, but this one seems to work on all ham frequencies for $60? Is this just junk, or has the price for a reasonable analyzer dropped precipitously? If I can get something that will also work for HF it may be worth it.

It was from Amazon, called AURSINC Vector Network Analyzer....

Make sure you have the proper adapters. It just has the female SMA connector. I happened to already have one for my HT.

I assume there is some pretty big variety in the quality. Here is the exact one I bought (because it was on Amazon Prime):https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y53RCKW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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I haven't had any complaints yet (other than I lost the short USB-C cable.... need to buy another one dangit)