Lessons Learned

LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE ARRL MATCHBOX SHOOTOUT

A few things were immediately apparent.

There were some very interesting surprises.

 

At first I will simply list the interesting things I have learned from the shoot-out, in bullet form. The bullets will be listed as I discover them and in no way represent the importance of the subject stated.

 

Over time I will evaluate the results of all 5 of the Matchbox Shootouts in this section of my web and summarize the lessons learned.

 

For now, here is just a list:


  • COST does NOT appear to be an indication of goodness. BUYER BEWARE!


  • Almost all matchboxes are better in the middle bands than they are on 160m and 10m. Apparently this is just too large of a spectrum to try to cover effectively with a single unit.


  • Several matchboxes appear to be very good because you see a lot of "green" in the Power Loss space. A closer look reveals that they only have a limited matching impedance range. Yes, they are good, but they are not good at everything.


  • Clearly the outstanding reputation of the old E.F. Johnson Viking Matchboxes is not substantuated in these tests. I will elaborate in detail on this topic later.


  • I will also describe a method for upgrading the Viking Matchboxes, adding changes similar to those made in the Annecke circuitry. This will significantly improve the matching range of this tired old veteran.



Share by: