[Amps] Time for New Power Meter

[Gerald Williamson via Amps]

Hi All, I also use a Bird 43 as a gold standard. Why? Because I have it  
already. A 5% error amounts to about .2 dB which is close enough for my 
amateur  needs. 
 
The capability of easily changing connectors is a plus not available on  
most if not all of the other meters.
 
Maybe we should call the 43 a "Brown Standard"? 
 
73,
Gerald K5GW
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 5/1/2015 9:58:01 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
drkirkby at kirkbymicrowave.co.uk writes:

On 20  April 2015 at 19:01, Colin Lamb <k7fm at teleport.com> wrote:
> I  have a number of wattmeters, but have always used the Bird or 
Dielectric as  the gold standard.  One model allows you to switch power  levels.
>
> For one station, I purchased a used Bird Hammate and  added a PEP adapter 
to it.
>
> 73,  Colin   K7FM

Why would anyone use a Bird as a gold standard? The specification  on
them is an uncertainty of 5% of FSD, but in practice they are  rarely
that good - even new elements.

I bought an element new from  Aspen Electronics who are a Bird
distributor. I took it into where I worked  (a national calibration
lab), and it was out of spec the day I got it. I  took it back, said I
was only interested in performance at 432 MHz, and  they adjusted it.
Then it was ok.

If all you want to do is get an  approximate idea of power, then a Bird
is good. But it is never a gold  standard. I'm measured 100's of
elements, and know they they rarely meet 5%  of FSD when new. You can't
even guarantee 10% of FSD, although most will  meet that.



Dave,  G8WRB
_______________________________________________
Amps mailing  list
Amps at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/amps