Understand Your Tools: Finger Exercises

A dip meter is basically a coil of wire that, when you excite it, you can use to tell if something inside that coil is resonating along. This lets you measure unknown radio circuits to figure out t…

A NanoVNA As A Dip Meter

A staple of the radio amateur’s arsenal of test equipment in previous decades was the dip meter. This was a variable frequency oscillator whose coil would be placed near the circuit to be tes…

Vector Network Analyzer Demo And Teardown

[Kerry Wong], ever interested in trying out and tearing down electrical devices, demonstrates and examines the SV 6301a Handheld Vector Network Analyzer. He puts the machine through its paces, noti…

The Dipole Antenna Isn’t As Simple As It Appears

Dipole antennas are easy, right? Just follow the formula, cut two pieces of wire, attach your feedline, and you’re on the air.  But then again, maybe not. You’re always advised to cut t…

NFC Performance: It’s All In The Antenna

NFC tags are a frequent target for experimentation, whether simply by using an app on a mobile phone to interrogate or write to tags, by incorporating them in projects by means of an off-the-shelf …