I am a brand new tech hoping to get some experience making homemade antennas under my belt before getting into HF and getting a general ticket. I'm currently working with a Baofeng UV-5R and was hoping to make a 2m dipole antenna and a 2m yagi. I'll make the dipole first.

I looked into getting an SWR meter, but they seem to cost about 2x the price of the UV-5R itself, so I'd rather take a small risk of ruining the Baofeng than buy the meter. Doesn't make sense to spend $50 trying to protect a $25 investment. That said, I don't want to be totally reckless so I figured I'd make sure I'm not making any obvious mistakes.

My understanding is that so long as I cut the right lengths for the 2m dipole, I should be ok. Is this still true if I attempt to use the dipole somewhere that has metal in the near field? I am operating from a ground level apartment and do not have any ideal location for this dipole--I'll probably end up just taping it to a window (which has an aluminum frame) or something. Obviously I could just go to a park but I'd prefer to be able to try this from my house too, acknowledging there is going to be losses and that any location will be a compromise.

If I can't get an SWR measurement before trying whatever dipole location I come up with, am I bound to burn up this radio? Again--I'm fine with edge case risks of destroying this thing (it's a UV-5R, not an expensive piece of equipment) but I don't want to be completely foolhardy.

​

EDIT: Bought the NanoVNA, which seemed to be worth the cost since it will also work on future HF antennas. Thanks everyone!