‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  
REACTANCE IS NOT DISPLAYED ON THE CAA 500MARKII.  USING THE CAA 500MARKII
THE CAA 500MARKII IS VERY EASY TO USE IN THE DEFAULT SINGLE FREQUENCY
MEASUREMENT MODE.  THE BAND SWITCH SELECTS THE FREQUENCY RANGE OF INTEREST,
AND THE FREQ CONTROL SETS THE MEASUREMENT FREQUENCY WITHIN THIS RANGE.  SWR
AND THE MAGNITUDE OF THE IMPEDANCE ARE INDICATED ON THE CROSS NEEDLE METER,
AND THE LCD PROVIDES ADDITIONAL DIGITAL AND BAR GRAPH SWR AND IMPEDANCE
INFORMATION.  BOTH THE AUTO AND MANUAL S

ANYMORE.  I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS RADIO TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN DISCOVERING
OR REDISCOVERING THE GREAT 222 MHZ BAND.  COMET CAA 500MARKII ANTENNA
ANALYZER  REVIEWED BY PHIL SALAS, AD5X  COMET RECENTLY INTRODUCED THEIR
NEXT GENERATION ANTENNA ANALYZER THE CAA 500MARKII.  LIKE THE ORIGINAL CAA
500, REVIEWED IN THE MARCH 2012 ISSUE OF QST, THE CAA 500 MARKII HAS A
LARGE ANALOG CROSS NEEDLE METER FOR DISPLAYING SWR AND IMPEDANCE MAGNITUDE.
THE MARKII, HOWEVER, ADDS A 1R4 X 1R15 INCH FULL COLOR TFT LCD SEE FIGURE 1
THAT DISPLAYS THE OPERATING FREQUENCY, FIXED FREQUENCY SWR AND IMPEDANCE
DATA, AND SWEPT FREQUENCY SWR DATA.  OVERVIEW THE CAA 500MARKII IS A FAIRLY
LARGE INSTRUMENT ALMOST AS BIG AS A BIRD 43 WATTMETER.  CONNECTORS ARE AN
SO 239 FOR 1R8 300 MHZ, AND A TYPE N FOR 300 500 MHZ.  POWER REQUIREMENTS
ARE SIX AA SIZE ALKALINE OR NIMH CELLS NOT INCLUDED OR EXTERNAL 8 16 V DC,
250 MA POWER SOURCE DC CABLE INCLUDED.  THE CAA 500MARKII ALSO INCLUDES AN
INTERNAL TRICKLE CHARGER FOR NIMH BATTERIES, AN UPGRADE FROM THE ORIGINAL
CAA 500.  TYPICAL CHARGING TIME IS 15 HOURS, AND TYPICAL BATTERY OPERATING
TIME IS UP TO 9 HOURS THERE IS A BATTERY INDICATOR ON THE LCD.  AN AUTO

ERGONOMICALLY, THE UNIT FELT GOOD IN MY HAND.  THE BUTTONS WERE LARGE
ENOUGH TO BE MANIPULATED EASILY, AND I COULD READ THEM EASILY DUE TO
SUFFICIENTLY LARGE LABELING AND BACKLIGHTING.  FIVE WATTS IS A LOT OF RF
POWER OUTPUT, AND WHILE ITS A LONGSTANDING AXIOM THAT A BIGGER ANTENNA
TRUMPS MORE POWER, I FOUND THAT THE HIGHER POWER OUTPUT GOT ME INTO A
RATHER DISTANT REPEATER, DESPITE THE RADIOS SMALL RUBBER FLEXIBLE ANTENNA.
I FOUND ALL OF THE FUNCTIONS, ADJUSTMENTS, AND OVERALL USER FRIENDLINESS TO
BE MORE THAN SATISFACTORY.  CONCLUSION I ENJOYED GETTING TO KNOW AND
OPERATE THE BCH 220.  IT WAS FUN TO GET BACK ON A BAND THAT I HADNT USED IN
MANY YEARS.  THE RADIO IS WELL DESIGNED, WELL ENGINEERED WITH A PANOPLY OF
FEATURES, EASILY PROGRAMMED FROM THE RADIO OR BY THE PROGRAMMING
CABLE/SOFTWARE, WHICH WAS ALSO EASY TO USE AND WORKED VERY WELL.  THE
INSTRUCTION MANUAL IS WELL WRITTEN AND WELL ILLUSTRATED, AND I DIDNT HAVE
ANY PROBLEMS FINDING THE INFORMATION NEEDED TO PROGRAM AND USE THE RADIO.
AT A PRICE OF JUST 85, THE COST OF A FEW GAS FILLS AT THE PUMP, I FEEL THAT
THE RADIO IS A REAL BARGAIN.  ALTHOUGH NOT QUITE AS SMART TO GET STARTED
WITH AS QUICKLY AS SOME OTHER RADIOS IVE USED YOU HAVE TO PROGRAM THE SPLIT
FREQUENCY AND DUPLEX MODE, FOR EXAMPLES THATS NITPICKING.  ONCE YOUR
FAVORITE FREQUENCIES ARE PROGRAMMED, YOU DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ