[NLRS] RF power meters - response

[jim.k0mhc]

The Daiwa CN-801S is my choice.  It has 2 or 20W ranges, dual crossed meters 
for forward, reverse, and SWR.  It covers 900 MHz through 3.5 with 
acceptable accuracy (=/- 10%) - although only advertised to go to 2.5 GHz. 
Drawback is cost -  it is about $300 new.

Come to the Central States VHF Society 40th
Conference in Minneapolis on July 27-30, 2006!
Info at www.csvhfs.org

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John P. Toscano" <tosca005 at tc.umn.edu>
To: "NLRS List" <nlrs at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 8:55 PM
Subject: [NLRS] RF power meters


>
>
> 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
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