I know some of you all warned me about cheaper meters not being accurate. I think I’m seeing some of that now.
Originally, I ordered a Surecom SW-114 meter and tuned my antenna with it. I do get good results for reception, and today I talked to a few people on the radio and they said it sounded good, so I guess I didn’t do too badly with this meter.
But I’m not crazy about the physical set up of the meter having the coaxial connections on each end. It makes it cumbersome to use in the truck with the limited amount of reach of the antenna coax. So I thought I might prefer the smaller Surecom SW-111 with its coaxial connections on the back. I ordered one to see what I thought of it, and tried it out side by side with the other one.
To do this, I took SWR and wattage readings on each meter in two locations, my driveway, and the field where I set the SWR before. Oddly, my driveway surrounded by brick houses and cars in close proximity seemed to provide slightly better SWR readings than an open field with nothing but grass where the closest tree was 100 yards away. There is a large metal building across the nearby highway but my location to that was at least 300 yards.
Ok, as for the measurements, according to one meter, my SWR is balanced. According to the other, it is way off. For reference, the radio is a President Johnny III, and the antenna is a K30. Here is what I recorded:
Surecom SW-114 driveway readings:
Channel 1 - SWR 1.6, power 2 watts
Channel 40 - SWR 1.6, power 3 watts
Surecom SW-114 field readings:
Channel 1 - SWR 1.7, power 2 watts
Channel 40 - SWR 1.7, power 3.5 watts
Surecom SW-111 driveway readings:
Channel 1 - SWR 1.8, power 2 watts
Channel 40 - SWR 1.1, power 3 watts
Surecom SW-111 field readings:
Channel 1 - SWR 2.0, power 2 watts
Channel 40 - SWR 1.3 and slowly rising, power 3 watts
So, I’m for sure returning the small one I just bought because I’m not going to redo my antenna based on what it says when I am getting good results now. But I might just return the other one also and look into a better meter. Someone suggested a used one on ebay that would be better than these two new ones. I’ve never been one to go for used items, always preferring new over used. But I don’t want to break the bank trying to get into a new hobby either, so I might have to consider it. Would anyone have any suggestions on a reasonably priced SWR meter that would be dependable and accurate? I don’t really need it to show power since I know this is a 4 watt or less radio, and both meters seem to agree that it does 2 watts on the lower end of the spectrum, and up to about 3 watts on the higher end. I believe this old Radio Shack Micronta (link below) was suggested before. Is it more reliable than what I have now?
While I’m asking, is it worth it or even possible to have this radio’s wattage output bumped up to the full legal limit? What about going beyond the limit?
Originally, I ordered a Surecom SW-114 meter and tuned my antenna with it. I do get good results for reception, and today I talked to a few people on the radio and they said it sounded good, so I guess I didn’t do too badly with this meter.
But I’m not crazy about the physical set up of the meter having the coaxial connections on each end. It makes it cumbersome to use in the truck with the limited amount of reach of the antenna coax. So I thought I might prefer the smaller Surecom SW-111 with its coaxial connections on the back. I ordered one to see what I thought of it, and tried it out side by side with the other one.
To do this, I took SWR and wattage readings on each meter in two locations, my driveway, and the field where I set the SWR before. Oddly, my driveway surrounded by brick houses and cars in close proximity seemed to provide slightly better SWR readings than an open field with nothing but grass where the closest tree was 100 yards away. There is a large metal building across the nearby highway but my location to that was at least 300 yards.
Ok, as for the measurements, according to one meter, my SWR is balanced. According to the other, it is way off. For reference, the radio is a President Johnny III, and the antenna is a K30. Here is what I recorded:
Surecom SW-114 driveway readings:
Channel 1 - SWR 1.6, power 2 watts
Channel 40 - SWR 1.6, power 3 watts
Surecom SW-114 field readings:
Channel 1 - SWR 1.7, power 2 watts
Channel 40 - SWR 1.7, power 3.5 watts
Surecom SW-111 driveway readings:
Channel 1 - SWR 1.8, power 2 watts
Channel 40 - SWR 1.1, power 3 watts
Surecom SW-111 field readings:
Channel 1 - SWR 2.0, power 2 watts
Channel 40 - SWR 1.3 and slowly rising, power 3 watts
So, I’m for sure returning the small one I just bought because I’m not going to redo my antenna based on what it says when I am getting good results now. But I might just return the other one also and look into a better meter. Someone suggested a used one on ebay that would be better than these two new ones. I’ve never been one to go for used items, always preferring new over used. But I don’t want to break the bank trying to get into a new hobby either, so I might have to consider it. Would anyone have any suggestions on a reasonably priced SWR meter that would be dependable and accurate? I don’t really need it to show power since I know this is a 4 watt or less radio, and both meters seem to agree that it does 2 watts on the lower end of the spectrum, and up to about 3 watts on the higher end. I believe this old Radio Shack Micronta (link below) was suggested before. Is it more reliable than what I have now?
While I’m asking, is it worth it or even possible to have this radio’s wattage output bumped up to the full legal limit? What about going beyond the limit?
Micronta Field Strength SWR Tester Tuning Antenna System 21-523 for sale online | eBay
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