[NLRS] RF power meters

[John P. Toscano]

Hello, all.

I've been thinking about obtaining a reasonably accurate RF power meter 
that covers the higher frequencies.  I have relatively inexpensive 
SWR/power meters that cover 50-450 MHz, and one slightly more expensive 
model that has switch-selectable coverage of the 902 and 1296 MHz bands. 
  I don't know how accurate it is, but at least it is actually designed 
for those bands, and probably good enough for what I need on those bands.

I would like something that will work on the 2304, 3456, and 10368 MHz 
bands, and if economically feasible, my ideal meter would be one that 
would work properly from 900 MHz to 24+ GHz (in case I ever get that 
high in the bands) and measure power levels from 1mW (0 dBm) to 100 W 
(50 dBm).

My first thought was a Bird model 43 with appropriate slugs, but there 
don't seem to be any slugs that cover 3456 MHz or higher, and a few 
dealers I checked made no mention of having a slug for 2304.

I have found a used Aeroflex 6960B meter with the 6912 power sensor, all 
supposedly in excellent working condition, on eBay.  This sensor covers 
30 KHz to 4.2 GHz at -30 to +20 dBm.  Although it misses 10 & 24 GHz, it 
otherwise covers any frequency I'd expect to need for the near future, 
but the 100 mW maximum is of concern, since I'd like to be able to 
measure higher power than that.  There exists a type 6930 power sensor 
that covers 10 MHz - 18 GHz at -5 to +44 dBm (0.3mW to 25 W), which 
seems like excellent coverage to me other than not going up to 24 GHz 
and not quite reaching my target of 100 W.  But I have no idea what such 
a sensor would cost.  Googling around the internet yielded some places 
claiming that a good used one would be 595 British pounds (around 
$900?), and others claiming to have this sensor available for a mere 
$2500, and lots of places that refuse to quote a price!  Yikes!

Anyway, I'm looking for opinions on this.  The Aeroflex 6960B + 6912 is 
being auctioned with a starting bid of $499.99, but the listing does not 
mention whether or not there is a "reserve" price, so I assume that 
there is.  So I don't know what the item would actually sell for on eBay.

If there are better choices out there, perhaps an HP model that is 
abundant in supply and therefore low in price, with decent prices on 
power sensors, I'd love to hear those opinions also.

Thanks in advance.

P.S., even if I don't actually buy any such thing soon, I will probably 
want to get someone's help in setting up the drive levels on my 2304 and 
3456 transverters so the PyroJoseph PA's (60W and 50W out, respectively) 
don't go up in smoke when I get them on the air.  But I'm not ready for 
that just yet...

W0JT