Sark 100

VK4KL · Post by **VK4KL** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 3:18 pm

Just received my Sark 100 antenna analyser off an ebay seller.
First impression was what a heap of crap second impression was what a heap of crap
Cant make and connections via either pc or power, the connectors are hidden behind the enclosure. Thinking it hadnt been screwed down properly I removed the base to find bits of plastic lose inside the case turns out its the power socket as been broken. Doubt it was done in transit as there is no damage to the packaging and it was well packed with lots bubble wrap. This is supposedly a brand new device but a lot of the screen printing as been worn off or it wasnt printed properly.
Waiting on the seller to get back to me about it but wont hold my breath

Adrian

VK3XL · Post by **VK3XL** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 5:12 pm

Hi Adrian, I bought a Mini 60 analyser which is a Chinese knock off of the sark 100. Mine works as I expected. Sorry to hear you seem to have got a dud. Hopefully the seller will make things right for you.

VK4KL · Post by **VK4KL** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 6:20 pm

Mine is a chinese knock off off aswell
It may work I just havent applied power just yet because of the power socket being broken and not accessible. Its fixable but i want a reply from the seller before i fix

Adrian

VK4WTN · Post by **VK4WTN** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 7:13 am

hi Adrian, Ive had a SARK 100 off a chinese seller on ebay for about 1 yr and it has worked above expectations. They do look homebuilt but mine seems to be reasonably accurate. For just over $100 it was worth the risk
regards Wayne VK4WTN

VK4KL · Post by **VK4KL** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 7:40 am

I took the cover off the Sark last night and fixed the power socket. I then did the calibration as per the manual. I used a dummy load for 50ohm and used resistors (150/275 ohm) calibrated no problem according to the lcd. I then put the dummy load back on and it reports the dummy load as 162 ohms and something like 3.7:1 SWR. Not overly happy with purchase so far. I will try to recalibrate today.

Adrian

VK3ZTE · Post by **VK3ZTE** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:44 am

Not wishing to butt in, or teach how to such eggs, but are you sure that your resistors are not reactive? I always struggle around here to establish decent 50 ohm loads with negligible reactance at the sorts of frequencies that we are interested in. I have bucket loads of the old spiral cut Phillips resistors around here and even with a few dozen in parallel, they are still useless at RF. cheers Grant VK3ZTE

VK4KL · Post by **VK4KL** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 3:07 pm

Hi Grant this is a commercial dummy load bought from a HamFest
1.1:1 on a Daiwa cross needle meter so should be good on Sark 100

Adrian

VK3ZTE · Post by **VK3ZTE** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 5:21 pm

Cheers Adrian - good luck with sorting it out.

VK6ADF · Post by **VK6ADF** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:14 pm

VK4KL wrote:Hi Grant this is a commercial dummy load bought from a HamFest
1.1:1 on a Daiwa cross needle meter so should be good on Sark 100

Adrian

but what about the 150/270 ohm resistors? Are they purely resistive? If they are not then they may throw the calibration out and cause an incorrect indication on the dummy load.

VK4KL · Post by **VK4KL** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:45 pm

Carbon resistors with minimum length leads
Will try to find other resistors tomorrow and try again

Adrian

VK2XSO · Post by **VK2XSO** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:04 pm

I bought my SARK-110 direct from the manufacturer in USA.
It doesn't sound like the same unit. Metal case, solidly built, easy to use.
My only complaint is I want a greater frequency range than 200MHz.

VK3BQ · Post by **VK3BQ** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:39 pm

The sark110 is very different from the sark100

http://www.ea4frb.eu/antenna-analyzers/sark100

VK4KL · Post by **VK4KL** » Thu Nov 20, 2014 5:02 pm

Managed to get the Sark calibrated ok now shows 50ohm dummy load as 1.00:1.
Bought some new resistors and worked OK. Now to do some work on my OCF dipole to get it working

Adrian

VK4KL · Post by **VK4KL** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 10:32 am

Anyone know where i can download the Sark 100 software from? I tried the link in the manual I get a server not found error i searched google and only site i can find wants me to sign up for some porn/movie site

Adrian

VK3DXE · Post by **VK3DXE** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 10:55 am

VK4KL wrote:Anyone know where i can download the Sark 100 software from? I tried the link in the manual I get a server not found error i searched google and only site i can find wants me to sign up for some porn/movie site

Adrian

Start by downloading the porn, then work it out

VK5TM · Post by **VK5TM** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 12:19 pm

http://www.ea4frb.eu/antenna-analyzers/sark100/Archive

VK4TI · Post by **VK4TI** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 12:38 pm

I doubt that link will work but use a throw away email like hotmail and solder on

VK4KL · Post by **VK4KL** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 2:00 pm

VK5TM wrote:http://www.ea4frb.eu/antenna-analyzers/sark100/Archive

Thats the site I get server not found

Adrian

VK5PJ · Post by **VK5PJ** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:11 pm

Adrian,
that site / link certainly works, just tried the URL my self, maybe try another web browser if you have one on your PC (even the fire-fox browser is getting tricky with its security) or indeed a friends PC if in doubt.
Regards,

VK2HRX · Post by **VK2HRX** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:29 pm

VK4KL wrote:
Thats the site I get server not found

Adrian

The URL works. Try this one as its the download page for the manual: http://www.ea4frb.eu/antenna-analyzers/ ... #TOC-FILES

VK Logger Ham Radio Forum Archive

Sark 100

Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100

Re: Sark 100