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G9A04

ANTENNAS AND FEED LINES · - Feed lines: characteristic impedance and attenuation; standing wave ratio (SWR) calculation, measurement, and effects; antenna feed point matching

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What causes reflected power at an antenna's feed point?

  1. AOperating an antenna at its resonant frequency
  2. BUsing more transmitter power than the antenna can handle
  3. CA difference between feed line impedance and antenna feed point impedance
  4. DFeeding the antenna with unbalanced feed line
Why A transmission line has a characteristic impedance (commonly 50 ohms for coax used in ham stations), and power flows smoothly down it only when the load it sees equals that impedance. When the antenna feed point impedance differs from the line's impedance, part of the incident wave cannot be absorbed by the load and is reflected back toward the transmitter. That reflected wave interferes with the forward wave to create standing waves, which is what an SWR meter reports; a perfect match gives 1:1 SWR and zero reflected power.
Watch out Operating at resonance only makes the feed point reactance zero, it does not guarantee the resistive part equals 50 ohms, so an antenna can be resonant and still show reflected power. Using a balanced antenna with unbalanced line causes common mode current on the coax shield, a separate problem from reflection, and excess power damages parts rather than creating reflections.
Reflection is a mismatch, not a resonance or a power problem: line ohms must equal antenna ohms.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
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The rest of G9A

  1. G9A01 Which of the following factors determine the characteristic impedance of a parallel conductor feed line?
  2. G9A02 What is the relationship between high standing wave ratio (SWR) and transmission line loss?
  3. G9A03 What is the nominal characteristic impedance of "window line" transmission line?
  4. G9A04 What causes reflected power at an antenna's feed point?
  5. G9A05 How does the attenuation of coaxial cable change with increasing frequency?
  6. G9A06 In what units is RF feed line loss usually expressed?
  7. G9A07 What must be done to prevent standing waves on a feed line connected to an antenna?
  8. G9A08 If the SWR on an antenna feed line is 5:1, and a matching network at the transmitter end of the feed line is …
  9. G9A09 What standing wave ratio results from connecting a 50-ohm feed line to a 200-ohm resistive load?
  10. G9A10 What standing wave ratio results from connecting a 50-ohm feed line to a 10-ohm resistive load?
  11. G9A11 What is the effect of transmission line loss on SWR measured at the input to the line?
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