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Decent reasonably price power/swr meter?
- Thread starter SLR_65
- Start date
Radio shack swr/watt meters are good for the price, at $40 they work well.
Times two on 222DBFL suggestion about R/Shack meters. I have the older larger watt/swr meter which is very accurate and makes a nice addition. I think it is a 21-121 or 21-151 model, often found on E-Bay. JMHO
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These are great little meters for the money, I would run one of these before the Rat Shack.
http://customcbradios.com/Workman-HP-201S-1KW-Meter-This-Meter-Works-Great-P669465.aspx
http://customcbradios.com/-Workman-HP-202-1KW-Meter-This-Meter-Works-Great-P2621166.aspx
http://customcbradios.com/Workman-HP-201S-1KW-Meter-This-Meter-Works-Great-P669465.aspx
http://customcbradios.com/-Workman-HP-202-1KW-Meter-This-Meter-Works-Great-P2621166.aspx
If you can find cheaply, I love the older Drake W4 wattmeters. I have one as a spare just in case I need a back up.
Thanks guys!
I'm keeping an eye on fleaBay, but I'm leaning towards the Workman. I like the wattage selections and it being backlit (I even prefer it over the next model up Workman that has auto calibrating swr simply because of the better power ranges). The reviews are generally good and a friend of mine pointed me to a radio shop near here and I contacted them - they're a couple bucks higher than ordering off the net, but they'll let me hook it up and compare it to a Bird.
The shop agrees that they're good for the money - the swr is accurate, but the power is not exactly accurate for ssb, but neither are the Radio Shack ones (they carry all the popular ones, but the Workman is the best seller).
The RS ones go used for about what the Workman does new, and when buying used, especially untested as most fleaBay ones are, I always wonder how abused they've been.
I'm not in a hurry, I'll keep an eye out.
It's been a while since I've been into radio, back in the day I used my brother's station - a full Yaesu FT101E setup (he had ALL the accessories for it!), so scanning fleaBay for radio equipment is bringing back a lot of nostalgia!
I wish HeathKit was still in business!
I'm keeping an eye on fleaBay, but I'm leaning towards the Workman. I like the wattage selections and it being backlit (I even prefer it over the next model up Workman that has auto calibrating swr simply because of the better power ranges). The reviews are generally good and a friend of mine pointed me to a radio shop near here and I contacted them - they're a couple bucks higher than ordering off the net, but they'll let me hook it up and compare it to a Bird.
The shop agrees that they're good for the money - the swr is accurate, but the power is not exactly accurate for ssb, but neither are the Radio Shack ones (they carry all the popular ones, but the Workman is the best seller).
The RS ones go used for about what the Workman does new, and when buying used, especially untested as most fleaBay ones are, I always wonder how abused they've been.
I'm not in a hurry, I'll keep an eye out.
It's been a while since I've been into radio, back in the day I used my brother's station - a full Yaesu FT101E setup (he had ALL the accessories for it!), so scanning fleaBay for radio equipment is bringing back a lot of nostalgia!
I wish HeathKit was still in business!
Good SWR readings are the priority, knowing exactly how many watts you're putting out isn't as important as some people think it is.
Besides, if one really wants to get an accurate picture of power readings, you will need to use a 50 ohm dummy load. But it will still depend on the quality of the meter used - too.
Sooooo tired of some of these clowns whistling into their mics just to see the meter swing.
Ugh . . . dumb . . . get a clue . . .
If they really wanted to do it right and get a more accurate picture, they would get a dummy load and use an antenna switch so they may switch between the dummy load - or their antenna.
Sooooo tired of some of these clowns whistling into their mics just to see the meter swing.
Ugh . . . dumb . . . get a clue . . .
If they really wanted to do it right and get a more accurate picture, they would get a dummy load and use an antenna switch so they may switch between the dummy load - or their antenna.
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Treked over to the radio shop my buddy recommended today.
They had Astatic, Dosy and Workman meters for sale, and a couple Birds back in the shop. They let me pick one of each and hook it up to compare to their Bird...the winner was the Workman. The Astatic and the Dosy showed the SWRs a bit higher than the Bird, the Workman was spot on. The Astatic and Dosy had the power about 25% less than the Bird, the Workman had it about 10% less.
I could buy the Workman online for around $35 delivered, they wanted $39.99 and I had to pay tax, fair deal for letting me hold them in my hands and actually use them once to evaluate them.
I have no doubt there are better meters out there, but it's hard to pay more for your meter than you did for your radio and for the money, the Workman seems to be a decent contender. For SWR it's spot on and though a little low for power, usually we don't need to know power to a high precision so I think it'll do for now. I'll post a follow up after I've used it for a while.
They had Astatic, Dosy and Workman meters for sale, and a couple Birds back in the shop. They let me pick one of each and hook it up to compare to their Bird...the winner was the Workman. The Astatic and the Dosy showed the SWRs a bit higher than the Bird, the Workman was spot on. The Astatic and Dosy had the power about 25% less than the Bird, the Workman had it about 10% less.
I could buy the Workman online for around $35 delivered, they wanted $39.99 and I had to pay tax, fair deal for letting me hold them in my hands and actually use them once to evaluate them.
I have no doubt there are better meters out there, but it's hard to pay more for your meter than you did for your radio and for the money, the Workman seems to be a decent contender. For SWR it's spot on and though a little low for power, usually we don't need to know power to a high precision so I think it'll do for now. I'll post a follow up after I've used it for a while.
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