[TowerTalk] Radio Shack remote-reading wattmeter

[morel grunberg]

Hi,

What modes does have this meter ? Average, PEP, PEP Hold ?
How precise is the PEP measurement in SSB ?

73 de Morel, 4X1AD

Rolfe Tessem wrote:
> 
> I was unaware of this product until Jim Miller of Comtek Systems brought
> it to my attention recently. It turns out that Radio Shack is closing
> them out so if you are interested you may want to call your local store
> and see if they still have one in stock. The catalog number is 21-527
> and the price is around $50.00 I think.
> 
> This is a digital wattmeter with remote pickup head. The connecting
> cable is three-conductor, about number 24 wire.
> 
> The reasons I'm bringing it to the list's attention are twofold. First,
> I think Radio Shack did a bad job of advertising this unit -- I'd never
> heard of it until I went into the local store and asked about it.
> Second, if you are using a phased vertical array with Comtek's hybrid
> coupler to accomplish the proper phase relationships, you know that you
> need to monitor the power being dumped into the dummy load. So, you have
> a choice of running lots of coax from the coupler unit back to the
> shack, putting the dummy load there, and monitoring the power with a
> conventional wattmeter. Or, you can use something like this Radio Shack
> unit.
> 
> In my case, the run from the shack is 500 plus feet, and the choice of
> 500 feet of RG-213 or 500 feet of cheap telephone wire was an easy one.
> 
> The wattmeter has three ranges -- 20 watts, 200 watts, and 2000 watts --
> as well as an autosensing position. With the touch of a button, it will
> also read SWR directly. The control head display consists of backlit
> LCD's about 1/2" high and the head itself is about 4" wide by 1 1/2"
> high. It has a bracket on it that suggests that it was intended to be
> used in mobile applications. There is also a front-panel button to
> switch between peak and average reading. The remote head looks
> well-sealed and relatively weather-proof, but the manual suggests
> sealing with one of the compounds designed for that job if it's going to
> live outdoors fulltime.
> 
> So far, the unit works as advertised and seems to fill a missing niche.
> 
> As always, YMMV, but to me -- especially at the closeout price -- this
> seems like an excellent value.
> 
> Rolfe, W1VC
> 
> --
> Rolfe Tessem           |       Lucky Duck Productions, Inc.
> rolfe@ldp.com          |       96 Morton Street
> (212) 463-0029         |       New York, NY 10014
> 
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