It is theoretically possible to check the quality of the antenna match without transmitting (which isn't the most social thing to do) by making it one leg in an impedance bridge and tweaking for peak noise in the receiver
Small correction just for the sake of it...
The target for tweaking is for NO noise at all.
At that point (aka frequency at which the antenna resonates), the noise bridge will indicate precisely the impedance and reactance of the antenna.