Best SWR/Watt meter for around US$100

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Originally Posted by n2ize

You can probably check around ebay and find a Bird wattmeter for somewhere betweem $100-$200.

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And the slugs for HF (H series) are about the same, if not higher than the meter itself. UHF and VHF are much more reasonable.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Much appreciated. Havent bought anything yet. Been real busy at work and no time to research any of the newer suggestions.

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Originally Posted by N2NKW

need recommendation for a good HF swr/watt meter for around $100. Been lookin on EHAM but the ones in that price range are all low review scores. Anyone know of a good one for that price range?

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Well, the last watt meters I bought were the Drake HF and VHF watt meters about 35 years ago. I still have both and use them.

Gotta love that cartoon, Republican all the way. (;->) That having been said just one thing about those Bird meters. They are highly accurate lab grade instruments but there is a down side, you have to refer to the chart to convert forward to reflected power to SWR. That brings to mind a certain FCC Field Engineer (I use the word engineer lightly) who tried to screw an F connector into an SO-239 and was frustrated until I handed him the proper jumper cable. Then he tried to read the output of a CB set with a 100W 450MHz slug until I handed him the proper one... but I digress.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KZMg-fvn-s

I use a Motorola-branded Bird 43, I think I paid about $130 for it. Elements can add up though. I'm not on HF except for 10M, but have elements in range A (25-60), C (100-250), and E (400-1000), which cover every amateur band between HF and 1GHz. Can't beat it for rock-solid reliability though; at my old shop we had one that was made in 1956, still in service.