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WANTING TO PURCHESING A DIGITAL METER

Stellasstillarat

Stellasstillarat

Active Member
Aug 14, 2014
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Is the MFJ 826b a better meter than say a Dosey type meter?
If a Dosey type meter is just as accurate or maybe I should say unacurrat then the workman I own and use every time I operate my station then I'll just stay with what I've got.
Truth be told if I'd known for the $60 more I could've purchased the mfj 826 as opposed to the workman I bought, I'd be using the 826b now.
If the mfj 826b's gonna read the same 1.2:1 swr and 400 watt readings that my workman does what's the point?
The frequency counter on the 826b isn't a big selling point to me as I've a frequency counter already.
I do like the idea that the 826b holds the peak output for a second or two but that's not enough of a selling point especially if the accuracy isn't any better than the pos I already own.
last month the 826b was on sale for $149. Now it's $179. If there's a meter similar to the 826b that's fairly accurate and is around the $200 price range please let me know.
It's the accuracy I'm looking for. I'm not interested in bird.
I know I can get a used one in my price range but I'm just not interested in any meter that needs to change slugs.
Switches and knobs are what I need to go with.
So what you say?
 

The MFJ models are okay. The LP100A would be the one I would get. Save money in the end and have a really good product. JMHO. I beleive Mudfoot had one and got rid of it for some reason. Read the reviews about them as well. I too looked into the MFJ digital meters, but after some research that buying the LP100A would have been a better deal in the end. Again just what I have read and research I did myself. Never had any real experience with either, but going off what I have researched the LP100A is way better meter. It all depends on what you're wanting in the end I suppose. I have come to one realization, but once good and screw fiddlin around if you're gonna be into the hobby. I don't use an external meter at the moment, but I use a radio shack meter when I need to test VSWR and make sure that radio has output. Other than that it comes off once all is checked and I use the internal meter on my Icom. if you are wanting a good digital meter the LP100A is the one to look at though. JMO.
 
Just buy a good cross needle meter and call it a day. An expensive digital wattmeter isn't going to make your equipment work better.
The quality of Workman meters is not consistent to say the least.
 
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The Daiwa is a very good meter and built very stout. The MFJ digital meter is a novelty. I had a LP-100A a few years ago. Awesome meter in it's own right, but the Daiwa would serve u well.
 
Digital meters like the LP100A are nice but I can't justify the expense. The software that comes with that meter really expands the measuring capabilities of that meter with SWR plots, smiths charts and more if you really want to get in to antenna theory. But for a little more money, I think a good cross needle meter and a good antenna analyzer will do the same and be more useful since the analyzer will do all of that and more but portable for field use.

All those doseys and others like it are for the CB crowd which is obvious enough since there frequency range is usually 26 thru 30 MHz. Most of those you have to calibrate for the SWR reading and the Modulation meter also which is a waste of time since a real HF rig usually has an ALC meter for this purpose.

Cross needle meters like the Diawa's and others are generally used for serious HF operators who like good quality and reasonable accuracy.

Here's a copy paste from a previous thread on what I use and what makes this particular model worth considering.


I use and like the Palstar PM2000AM cross needle meter. It is accurate enough if you don't need something scientifically absolute.

At first I didn't think I would like cross needle meters much until I used them. At one glance, you see the forward power, reflected power, and SWR which is relevant to the reflected power reading shown without doing any pre-calibration that most single meters require.

The best feature is that it has a remote sensor so you don't have to route your coax cables to the meter. This lets you install the meter anywhere in your home shack or mobile and you only have to run the single detachable 14 ft. sensor wire up to it. This is only available on their AM version, not the A version.

This is a Peak reading meter along with switchable average, peak hold, and 2 power ranges, 300 watts and 3000 watts.

These sell for $200.00 new.

One thing I forgot to mention is that this meter isn't for measuring low power like 4 watt CB radios. The nature of cross needle meters is the more accurate and easy visual readings occur at 1/3 scale and above which on this meter that would be 100 watts on the 300 watt scale and at 4 watts, the 300 watt scale is too high to give a reading on. This meter would need a 30 watt scale option to at least read 10 watts accurately which it does not have.

pm2000am_front_1_.jpg
 
.Here is a copy paste from the same thread showing how to read a cross needle meter.

For those who are skeptical about using a cross needle meter, here is a basic tutorial on them.

A cross needle meter is a meter that measures SWR, forward and reflected power at one glance. One good advantage over single meters is no pre-SWR calibration is necessary. Also many of these are quality made devices for amateur radio operators since they cover the amateur bands in HF and VHF/UHF versions.

Looking at the pic below you can see different readings and see how it works.

Assuming these pics are on a 100 watt scale, multiply the numbers on scale by 10.

Pic 1 is showing 50 watts forward power by the right needle, the left needle is is showing 4 watts reflected. Where the 2 needles cross is the SWR reading which is value of 1.8.

The true power reading is the reflected power subtracted from the forward power so the true power reading here is 46 watts. This is because the SWR isn't a perfect match and 1.8 SWR is about 8 percent power loss. So you can see here 50 watts forward power with a SWR value of 1.8 equals 4 watts reflected loss for a true power reading of 46 watts.

Pic 2 shows a nearly perfect reading. 80 watts forward power and a very minimal reflected power since the SWR is at 1.1.

1.0 is perfect but not always attainable. The other 2 pics show SWR values at 4.1 and 1.4 and there corresponding forward and reflected power readings.


SWR.gif
 

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