Charles,

I would only worry about it if you are installing "handmade" antennae. If
you are installing commercially made antenna, then for all of your radio
equipment, I can only suggest that you talk to your local ham radio shop and
find out if there is a ham in your area who might have or be able to get the
proper equipment to sweep through the bandwiths that you want tested.  If
you are using commercially made antenna, then I would just take your cables
and get them swept to see if you have a problem with them.  Or you could
test them out during your test flights and rate your signals with each
flight and log them.

I don't believe that you have to SWR test every radio in your plane when you
build them unless you are handmaking your antenna.  Then it is a good idea
to test them before you close out the areas.  Commercially made antenna are
designed and tested to work before they are sold.  The only thing that you
can really screw up is the cable and the installation.  By installation I
mean to say that you can install it in the wrong place to interfere with
it's operation,  ie next to metal or under carbon fiber panel etc.

If you are really worried about your install, make sure that you install all
your antenna in a manner where you can totally remove and replace the cable.
That will save you most of the grief that you will encounter.

Curtis


> Curtis Krouse    ---    Your 27 Aug. post raised a couple of questions:
>     1)  For COMM antenna we can use our handheld to provide a signal,
> but what can we do for passive antennas like VOR or MB, or transponder
> antennas?
>     2)  You suggest shortening or lengthening the coax cable to adjust
> the SWR. I would assume that while doing either the SWR would rise and
> fall sinusoidally as the length increases or decreases. Do you have any
> idea of what kind of cable length we would see from one minimum to the
> next? (You must enjoy installing and removing BNC connectors.)
>     Charles