Which Power Meter

[longhaireddwb]

There are so many power meters out there I just don't know which one to go with. I can't afford a Bird meter. I have an Astatic 600 but it just don't seems to be reading power like I think it should. It works great for SWR. What Power meter is rated the best under the Bird?

I'd by a Bird if I could find one cheap but that just isn't happening with the slugs and not broken as far as I can find.

Help me to find the right meter.
Thanks for your help, Jerry...
PS. I only do 11 meter stuff.

 

[fnkycoldmedina]

the astatic 600..thats a 3 window job isnt it ?sounds like you be more happy with a 1 window large meter .myself i run a rf limited pw-3000 ...to me its the best single window peak reader i ever owned .and i owned near everything as far as meters go .
i tried all the dosys meters ....and a single window dosy would do ya i think .they read peak pretty well if you like to see a meter swing.
the pw3000 is not made anymore and i only seen 1 come up on ebay in the last few years .
mfj makes a real nice very large window meter .havent tried that one but i would like to .

what are your needs?
run a amp?
just a radio?
any of the single window dosy meters would do ya if you like to see swing .
the 3 window meters have short needles ,they dont swing as much as the large needle single window meters .on that same note the larger needle swings more because of inertia and its sheer size ,not because your doing more watts .so do not be confused by this .
good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[W5LZ]

Is there any particular 'style' or brand that you like the looks of? Get one. There isn't enough difference between watt meters as you might think, or that advertisements say. If you buy a $1.98 meter you will get a $1.98 meter. It depends entirely on what you plan to do with them. If there's any particular need for accuracy, then I think I'd do a step or two above that $1.98 special. I have an aversion to buying a 'name'. In almost every case, that 'name' alone is very over rated. Not a thing wrong with Bird meters, but there's also nothing particularly great about them either. The one thing I think they have going for them is that they are rugged. Accuracy is actually no better than what's typical for any brand meter (except for those $1.98 specials), about 10% in most cases. And when you get right down to it, what makes you think you need that kind of accuracy? Oh well.
- 'Doc

 

[Cotton Mouth]

Here you go, check this one out. This maybe a better meter for what your looking for and being your looking for something you can use to start tuning radios like your wanting to. This meter does it all.

Check the link out here of this Forum:

http://www.worldwidedx.com/forum-swapshop/34990-fs-dosy-tc-4002-psw-test-center-new-bf-2000-a.html

Cotton Mouth.

 

[longhaireddwb]

I thank you all for the info. I guess I just don't know what I want. Thanks for the offer on the meter there C.M. The test center looks like a good thing but I'm just still not sure about what I need yet. Thats why I'm asking about them.

I did find a Wawasee meter with a frequency counter built in for a low price. Does anyone know anything about these?

 

[Moleculo]

I have a Bird43P with 6 different slugs. About every other week I look over at the money that is tied up in those and think about just selling the whole mess and getting something that I would use more often.

I like big, cross needle meters because they're easy to read and especially make loading up antennas easier. I use a tone to tune up the amplifier and the meter works fine for that.

 

[Cotton Mouth]

I sure don't know anything about those meters to help you at all. That Dosy I have for sale that Test Center really has it all for a good beginner set up and the nice thing about that is you can plug in the headphones and actual here yourself when you modulate to check the quality or course next you would want to step up and get you a nice O Scope but those are very expensive and really not needed for what your going to be doing to start with. So you are on the right track though, keep us posted.

Cotton Mouth.