[Elecraft] W2 Wattmeter wish

k2zls k2zls at optonline.net
Sun Feb 21 22:14:15 EST 2010


     It looks like the W2 is well on its way, but I just wanted to 
present my case why I can't buy one.  The display is just not presented 
accurately enough for me.   It takes a computer link to present the info 
in detail and thats not what I envision doing.  It seems that the info 
is there in the box almost down to the watt, but you can't be sure what 
your power is squinting at a bar graph to tell you that you are 
somewhere within 100 watts of your target. To my way of thinking it's 
only relative info. Not good for me.

   Here's what I would think would be a KILLER that I would buy in a 
minute.  I would like to see  two windows of  7-segment GREEN LEDS. 
(Thats 4 characters XXXX)  to display the forward power and another 
window to display the SWR. (X.XX)  These LEDs would be large enough to 
read across the room.  I would then buy two directional couplers.  A low 
power at 200 watts is more than enough for the input side of the QRO AMP 
and another for the output side at 2500 watts.   That way both sides of 
the AMP can be monitored with  just one press of the sensor switch.  
But, thats something you can already do with the current configuration.

   The real deal is observing the actual power out of the amp and SWR.  
The current bar graph would supplement these windows and provide and 
easy way to see the trends while tuning.  There are other units out 
there that are, perhaps,  more accurate and even present FREQ readouts,  
but the main problem with these is all the info is cluttered on one 
screen which is hard to decipher.  I like the W2 format but,  it just 
needs to be taken to another level.  LEDs would really standout and 
should be able to present the info as accurate as the computer.

   Thanks ELECRAFT  and I hope it continues to keep getting better.

73  Tony   K2ZLS


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