Best SWR/Watt meter for around US$100

[K7SGJ]

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

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.

[W5BRM]

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.

[w8nsi]

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?

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.

[kb2vxa]

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

[KI6LWI]

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.