Getting back to the topic of test equipment, dummy loads are something that may be good to have, but are definitely not necessary for most people. Now, some individuals may choose to disagree with me on this, but in my experience, I have had very little need for one.

A brief overview of a dummy load is that it is connected to a radio in place of an antenna so that when the radio is keyed, nothing is actually transmitted out into the air waves. When you push the push-to-talk button on a radio, the radio needs to be connected to either an antenna or a dummy load or else it could be damaged.

In many situations, dummy loads are very useful for testing and tuning equipment because you can key up the radio while taking measurements and not have to worry about interfering with other radio traffic and also because you can test the equipment to determine if a given problem is with the radio or if it is an antenna issue.

However, many people do not own dummy loads and get by just fine without them. If you do not have a dummy load, change to an unused frequency (not your local repeater) when testing and and making adjustments on your radio. If you need to rule out an antenna issue, simply connecting the radio to a different antenna and seeing if the results are the same could give the same effect.

Now, this is not a suggestion to get or not get a dummy load, but merely an overview of what they are and what they do and are used for. As with all test equipment, it might not be a bad idea to have it even if you never or rarely use it.