Rig Expert Stick 500 Antenna Analyzer

I have taken a few twists and turns on the antenna analyzer quest and ended up with the Stick 500 becoming the go to analyzer.

I started the journey with an MFJ-269-C, which is a good analyzer for use at home but not ideal for field use. It uses external power or 8 D cell batteries for power so it is portable, but not really packable. It uses N Type connectors, so purchasing an adapter for each type of connector is required. Don't make the expensive mistake of using a PL-259 adapter, it will damage the N connector socket which will likely require replacement. The MFJ does have the added benefit of looking really cool with lots of buttons to push, knobs to twist and a needle that moves back and forth.

Next I got a Nano VNA H4 which is also a great analyzer but requires more adapters, more calibration and configuration but has great charting and is extremely versatile. It can be used in the field but apparently SMA connectors are actually made from sand magnets so the configuration and calibration needs to be done at home and then taken to the field. The screen is good but not very useable in bright sunlight.

The Rig Expert Stick XPro went on sale an my problems were solved! Or so I thought. It is also a great analyzer. It has a beautiful display, which is better in sunlight than the Nano vna, but not amazing, uses N type connectors, which are apparently attracted to HF connectors, because they always get mixed together. Keeping the connectors sorted when used away from the shack is possible by marking them with a sharpie, or even better with colored tape, but still not ideal. I really like the analyzer though. It connects through bluetooth or USB to a phone, computer or tablet allowing a much larger display of graphs and data as well as custom frequency ranges. I can also connect the analyzer to my coax at the radio and make adjustments to the antenna and see the results on my phone in real time. Super convenient!

On a SOTA trip I used a friends Stick 500 and saw the light, or lack thereof. It does all the analyzing the Stick XPro does, but uses an E-Ink display that is very easy to read in bright sunlight and uses a HF (SO-239) connector so adapters for my HF rig work on the analyzer. What more could I ask for? I really like both of the Stick Analyzers, and with the Rig Expert Ant Scope software they are very capable and useable. I could easily get by with just the Stick 500 and that is what I would recommend for most hams. It checks all of the right boxes and none of the wrong boxes. If you build/tune antennas to be used on HF, VHF and UHF including GMRS frequencies it is really all you need.

Regardless of the quality and design of the 500 without a good instruction manual it's just a paperweight. That being said it looks like they purposely gave you an extremely poor one-page manual with the device and when you print the PDF from online that is about 10 pages you need a magnifying glass a strong magnifying glass to read the ridiculously small type. Anyway with a decent manual this might have gotten a four or five but with a manual you can't read without hauling out a large magnifying glass I don't think it deserves more than a three-star regardless of anything else.