Suggested Watt/SWR Meters

[Jeff Frank]

I was looking for opinions on good quality Watt/SWR meters that would cover both HF and VHF. After browsing the reviews at eHam.net, I wasn’t seeing any standouts. Feedback received from the Technical Forum earlier this evening (Thanks!)…Good: Comet, Daiwa and Diamond, Better: Bird and Coaxial Dynamics.

[W4US]

Jeff, I think you are right on with the choices you listed. What kind of radio and tuner are you using? If you haven’t bought your tuner yet, many of those have a meter built in. Then you may only need a meter for VHF/ UHF which is less expensive.

Just a thought.
Fred

[John Ferrell]

You pay dearly for professional grade tools. If you really need it there is no getting around it. As an old timer, Byrd Watt meters have always been the best.

OTH, I have an old Palstar meter that was once popular among the CB crowd. It serves my needs up to about 50mhz.
Heathkit once built a vhf/uhf unit that worked very well at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, a visit from the Bird Wattmeter lawyers ended that source.
In most cases for the Ham users accuracy is not a big issue, the real use is in making comparisons. The swr value is not as important as setting up the match for the transmitter in use.
de W8CCW John

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