decent cheaper large face watt meters?

[mr_fx]

I am in the market for a meter with a large face. Something worth owning, that my tired eye can read...

I have an old Palomar 500 meter, seems to work pretty well. It reads within 2 or 3% of my Yeasu FT-890's onboard meter... However, I was not sure if this is peak reading meter or an AVG reading meter.

should I just use this meter? or should I be looking for another meter in the $100 (give or take) dollar range?

 

[binrat]

Well, since you like to tinker as well I would recommend the TenTec 1225 meter kit. Is alittle more than what you wanted but when done its very close to a pep bird. It has active circuitry for true avg / pep reading. I have one and when I was done adjusting it I compared it to a bird up to 1kw, and it was very close.

 

[mr_fx]

thanks for the idea binrat, I had not even considered TenTec

 

[Marconi]

I am in the market for a meter with a large face. Something worth owning, that my tired eye can read...

I have an old Palomar 500 meter, seems to work pretty well. It reads within 2 or 3% of my Yeasu FT-890's onboard meter... However, I was not sure if this is peak reading meter or an AVG reading meter.

should I just use this meter? or should I be looking for another meter in the $100 (give or take) dollar range?

Mr_fx this is just my opinion, but I figure if your old Palomar 500 works even close to what is really technically and perfectly going on...that is good enough.

What would you do different due to the information if your 1kw just showed 950 watts vs a perfect 1000 watts reading on a Bird meter? What would you do different if you Palomar showed you a 1.20:1 SWR, and a perfect reading Bird meter showed you a 1.30:1...after you go to all the trouble to convert from reflection to SWR?

If you're seeing numbers from your inline watt meter that are good enough to be safe in operating your rig, what difference does it make to you or anybody else...if the numbers are perfectly correct? To me an inline watt meter means little more than a typical fuel meter in an automobile, they both should indicate either a caution or everything is OK.

Save your money or buy something that really affects the purpose, quality, or range of your communications.

 

[W5LZ]

The only large face meter commonly found on the market is made by MFJ. It's accurate enough for most purposes and does have a large face. It's an '868' and does both 'avg' and 'peak' reading. It has a 2000 watt scale. It's not automatic, you have to do the setting. I think they make an HF and VHF version now, no idea what it's price is. It used to be close to $100 and I have an HF model. If that thing ain't big enough, just get a little closer!
- 'Doc

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

for general CB use the astatic 700 ain't bad . i like mine .

 

[Mudfoot]

MFJ-868 SWR Power Meter MFJ868

Daiwa CN-801H CN-801HP, CN-801G and CN-801V Meters

HF VHF UHF 2 PORT LARGE DISPLAY SWR-WATTMETER FROM JETSTREAM JTWXVUHF on eBay!

GI JOE'S: Astatic 700 SWR/Watt/Modulation Meter

 

[mackmobile43]

MFJ-868 SWR Power Meter MFJ868

Daiwa CN-801H CN-801HP, CN-801G and CN-801V Meters

HF VHF UHF 2 PORT LARGE DISPLAY SWR-WATTMETER FROM JETSTREAM JTWXVUHF on eBay!

GI JOE'S: Astatic 700 SWR/Watt/Modulation Meter

Please note that the CN-801H has been replaced by the Daiwa CN-801HP which supports peak reading. (Notice: Be especially careful to choose the correct power range on the CN-801HP).

 

[Robb]

What???
You haven't heard?
With watt meters, the last word is the 'Bird'.

http://www.chuckmartin.com/RFShop/RFShopFrame.htm


FAMILY GUY - Bird is the Word! - YouTube



http://www.autekresearch.com/wm1.htm
But for a reliable, inexpensive meter - this is best one can do for under $200. The same meter I will be buying very soon. This isn't junk; and will be a meter that you can use for years to come. Setting up amps/aligning radios and more . . .

 

[mr_fx]

What???
You haven't heard?
With watt meters, the last word is the 'Bird'.

WM1 Deluxe Computing SWR/WATTMETER. Autek Research
But for a reliable, inexpensive meter - this is best one can do for under $200. The same meter I will be buying very soon. This isn't junk; and will be a meter that you can use for years to come. Setting up amps/aligning radios and more . . .

I would love to have a bird, but it would get expensive really fast... I am impressed with the meter you are recommending.