Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 21

Thread: swr and watt meter

  1. #1
    SK Member 8/11/2015
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    N.E Ala
    Posts
    144

    swr and watt meter

    Anyone know if it hurts anything to leave a swr and watt meter hooked up while transmitting?

  2. #2
    Administrator N8YX's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Out in the sticks
    Posts
    26,114
    Quote Originally Posted by kk4fpx View Post
    Anyone know if it hurts anything to leave a swr and watt meter hooked up while transmitting?
    Assuming the meter is of decent quality (low insertion loss), it doesn't hurt a thing.

    I have several Kenwood SW-2000s with sampling heads that are attached to various VHF/UHF transceivers, HF transceivers and amplifiers in the shack. They're never disconnected. If I had a Bird 43 or other lab-grade instrument it wouldn't be used as a "shack accessory", however.
    "Everyone wants to be an AM Gangsta until it's time to start doing AM Gangsta shit."

  3. #3
    Pope Carlo l NQ6U's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Maritime Mobile
    Posts
    30,011
    Mine are built into my tuner and so are always hooked up when I'm transmitting. Never hurt anything. I think it's a good idea to keep one hooked up, in fact—it will help you spot a potential problem with your antenna system before you fry the finals on your radio.
    All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.

  4. #4
    Island Godfather NA4BH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Posts
    10,933
    I keep a Daiwa CN-801 inline. It has saved my butt many times.
    "Friendships come in strange packages
    The best ones are opened with a smile"

    NA4BH '15

  5. #5
    Conch Master W5GA's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Posts
    8,550
    If it's not hooked up when you transmit, it doesn't tell you anything.
    When the government's boot is on your throat, whether it is a left boot or a right boot is of no consequence. — GARY LLOYD

    The nation we live in is the nation we have built by design, each successive generation raising the wall of tyranny a little higher. - Chris Griffin

  6. #6
    Orca Whisperer n2ize's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Crestwood, New York
    Posts
    33,899
    Quote Originally Posted by KJ6BSO View Post
    Mine are built into my tuner and so are always hooked up when I'm transmitting. Never hurt anything. I think it's a good idea to keep one hooked up, in fact—it will help you spot a potential problem with your antenna system before you fry the finals on your radio.
    Well, with these new fangled solid state finals you gotta worry. With the kind of finals I use all you need to do is look at them. If you see the plates glowing bright orange-yellow it might be a sign that something is a bit out of tune. If they are just glowing a ruddy cherry red your good to go and you can probaly lean on them a bit harder..
    I keep my 2 feet on the ground, and my head in the twilight zone.

  7. #7
    Whacker Knot WØTKX's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Lakewood, CO
    Posts
    26,758
    Quote Originally Posted by W5GA View Post
    If it's not hooked up when you transmit, it doesn't tell you anything.
    Has anybody told you you're such a smart-ass, you could sit on an ice cream cone and tell us the flavor?





















    I kid, I kid!

    "Where would we be without the agitators of the world to attach the electrodes
    of knowledge to the nipples of ignorance?" ~ Professor "Dick" Soloman



  8. #8
    Silent Key Member 5-25-2015 W1GUH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    10,471
    Quote Originally Posted by n2ize View Post
    Well, with these new fangled solid state finals you gotta worry. With the kind of finals I use all you need to do is look at them. If you see the plates glowing bright orange-yellow it might be a sign that something is a bit out of tune. If they are just glowing a ruddy cherry red your good to go and you can probaly lean on them a bit harder..
    Or you're running a 4x1 WAY over it's limits on linear AM! Such a pretty glow!

    Go ahead and leave it in line all the time. Good monitor for what's going on out there.
    If it's a war on drugs, then free the POW's.

  9. #9
    Conch Master KJ3N's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    A secret cave in northern Delaware.
    Posts
    9,124
    Quote Originally Posted by N8YX View Post
    If I had a Bird 43 or other lab-grade instrument it wouldn't be used as a "shack accessory", however.
    You ain't got no watts iff'n you don't have dem Bird watts! ;)

    No excuses.... :rofl:
    "People Who Don't Want Their Beliefs Laughed at Shouldn't Have Such Funny Beliefs" -AD5MB

    "If someone tells you he believes in and talks to an invisible bunny named Harvey, you put him on medication and a regimen of therapy. If someone tells you he believes in and talks to God, well, that's perfectly acceptable. Why that's the case is impossible for me to fathom." - WP2XX



    Latest ClubLog entries.

  10. #10
    Conch Master KJ3N's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    A secret cave in northern Delaware.
    Posts
    9,124
    Quote Originally Posted by WØTKX View Post
    Has anybody told you you're such a smart-ass, you could sit on an ice cream cone and tell us the flavor?
    :rofl:
    "People Who Don't Want Their Beliefs Laughed at Shouldn't Have Such Funny Beliefs" -AD5MB

    "If someone tells you he believes in and talks to an invisible bunny named Harvey, you put him on medication and a regimen of therapy. If someone tells you he believes in and talks to God, well, that's perfectly acceptable. Why that's the case is impossible for me to fathom." - WP2XX



    Latest ClubLog entries.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •