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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- An introduction, overview and how-to-use tutorial of the venerable Bird Model 43 Thruline directional RF wattmeter / power meter. The Bird 43 was introduced in 1952, and is still being produced/sold today, largely unchanged from its original design. These meters are basically the standard of the industry, much like Fluke is for DMMs. I review the various aspect and elements of the meter, what the slugs do, and how to use the meter. While this meter does not measure VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio), you can determine SWR from the forward and reflected/reverse power readings.
For more information on this meter and others like it, please visit the Bird Electronic website:
www.birdrf.com
The Model 43 and its brethren can be found here:
www.birdrf.com/Products/Wattme... - Наука та технологія
Nice video. Clear and simple explanation
Thanks for the very informative and well done video. I appreciate the time you put into producing it!
I have two of these meters, one "regular" 43, and another with the peak reading kit installed. Both are great meters. I have always been a fan of Bird meters and have several Bird elements, loads, and attenuators. These meters are timeless, tried and true work horses. 73..
Excellent review. Informative without nonsense. Exactly the information I needed.
Mahalo for your time and videos, I have been involved wot this field since 1960, so much is not new to me, but I have yet to watch one of your videos that I have nor picked up on something new [ or I forgot,I'm a Sr. citizen]. Keep up the good work, this beats main=stream TV hands down !!!!!
When friends ask me which wattmeter to buy, I always steer them to the Telewave #44.
For one simple reason… No Slugs!
They are delicate, expensive and you need so darn many.
The Telewave 44 does 5MHz through 1GHz / 1 to 500 Watts forward and reflected power.
WITHOUT any external or internal accessories or parts required.
I bought my first Bird 43 when I was in my teens and used to mow lawns to earn “slug money”.
Eventually I was guided to the Telewave and I’ve been very happy with it.
There definitely exists a need for the Bird 43, especially when it comes to broadcast video.
Thank you for showing how these wattmeters worked. I had always wondered how the probes worked. Keep up the geeky and technical videos :D
It is the type of instrument that says reliable all over, like a Fluke DMM. Thank you for the video.
Great informational video! I work for a railroad and we use these meters to test antenna integrity. Unfortunately, the company does not provide any straightforward literature or training on how to use these testers. Thanks!
Very informative video Alan on the Bird meters. I have 2 of the 4304 meters. These have no slugs and have adjustable power levels, 15, 50, 150, 500. Also have the RF sample ports. Although both meters are identical in design, one is branded Telewave. Have used plenty of the ones like you shown in my commercial radio days, hope to own one of those one day. Thanks for sharing.
I've never had access to some of the toys you get to play with, so it's great to see what's out there. Great video, thanks for sharing.
I thought I knew all about my meter, I didn't, so as always Alan, your video was a mine of useful info, thank you!
Great video for a simple explanation of the meter. Addressing the scale vs load used is helpful.. thank you
I still have mine from the seventies! 😊
Excellent overview. Answered all my questions!
It is Truly amazing that the "43" has been around so long and as stated, they keep selling them along with the Elements. The older element caps were made of Teflon and then changed to a much harder material. The Older element plates have to be punched or drilled out, whereas the newer plastic style can be lifted "if albeit careful" and calibration can be performed. I also have additional info should anyone need it!
Very timely. I just bought one of these.
Thank you. Your videos helped alleviate the tedium of my recent, month long, hospital stay.
+Keith Burton Sorry to hear of your long stay, but I am glad that I helped to make it more bearable.
I realise that I am a few years late to this video, really enjoy your content, as you said the 43 remains an industry standard piece of test gear. I have 6 of them, unfortunately only one with the PEP module. An advantage of the clone PEP modules is that the generally only require one battery. FWIW I have added a phono socket, resistor and a NiMh PP3 so that it can be conveniently trickle charged from 12v. Unfortunately common amateur perception is that these meters are unusually accurate, in my experience though consistency can be excellent and that is good enough for me.
Great Video, I picked up a Bird 43 at Dayton for $75 dollars and then went on to find some slugs. Your overview was just what I needed! I did not know about the dummy slug to use during transport. I also got a small padded case for the meter with room for several slugs. Wish I had known to look for the peak or RF sample variants. You might want to add that there is another company that makes a similar meter with slugs that also work with the Bird meters.
+Scott Johnston Yeah - at least two - Telewave and Coaxial Dynamics.
Great video as usual Alan. Couple of additional points - if you have the basic Bird 43 the PEP mod kit will take up one of the two slug storage spaces but is well worth it (be careful with the on-off switch as it's easy to leave the kit engaged, but there is a LED on indicator; BTW the Bird accessory runs on two 9VDC batteries). Also, the slugs do come out of calibration, especially if they were abused at some point in time in their history if you get them used. They CAN be re-calibrated but of course you must have a standard to compare to when adjusting them. If you have the basic 43 model you can get a sampler accessory that takes the place of the measuring slug which makes it not as quite as user friendly but at least gives you that capability. Finally, watch out - gathering up slugs can get addicting, sorta like eating peanuts! 73 - Dino KL0S
+Dino Papas Excellent points, thank you. I actually picked up a 3rd party peak kit (PR-90). Only takes 1 9V battery, and has adjustable hold time (and cheaper than the Bird kit). I'll be putting that in mine - probably with a video... ;-)
I learned something today, This video answered a lot of questions I had about the bird model 43. Thank you.
Very clear and good video
Excellent video! I personally use the bird model 4410
Thank you for the informative video.
Hi there thanks for reply, yes makes sense, i actually in the end stripped the whole meter completely down to basics and tested everything i could, i think one of the weak links is the inner connection on the coax where it fits onto the bottom casting, looks like just a round pin in the middle that touches a pin like thing inside the plug going across the hole, i tested the meter itself by putting an Ohm meter across is with my finger in series to cut the current down, and i got it to go right across several times with out it crashing across...i tested the coax lead an sprayed some switch cleaner on the connector at the bottom and and the contact inside, i actually have a 10 watt slug that i found and it does actually go up to about 3.7 watts on a 4 watt CB, i assume that's about right they never seem to give out 4 watts hi...so all seems ok now, ok nice video enjoyed it, one of the better ones....from Fred g4vvq in England.
Icon of the radio scene.Expensive habit tho' :) Thanks for the informative video Alan
+Thomas Taylor You can typically find them used in the range of $100-$150, plus slugs. Still expensive, but built like a tank.
Thank you for the great video.
Thank you for your video I really appreciate it.
Thank you for the handy and rare video
Very informative. Thank you
Good video there, well done.
the better explanation video , I think !
Thanks Alan for yet another great video !
I installed one of those PEP mod kits that are available on fleabay that also extend the range of the slug. With my Bird I was able position the board in a way so it would still allow for storing extra slugs on the sides.
73 N8AUM
sorry to be off topic but does anyone know of a tool to log back into an Instagram account?
I stupidly forgot my password. I would appreciate any help you can offer me!
@Ford Bryce Instablaster :)
@Yosef Reese Thanks so much for your reply. I found the site on google and Im trying it out atm.
I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Yosef Reese It worked and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy:D
Thank you so much, you saved my account!
@Ford Bryce happy to help =)
Thanks for sharing
Thanks Alan.
very good video.
thanks
thank you so much for information
Most excellent !!!
Wow, excellent, thanks.
nice work . thank you
Superb video
Nice video thank you
great video + quit informative ....well done
You rocked it.
Thank you
You get a “subscribe” for this video, my friend! Also, proud to be comment #100. 😎👍🏻
Thank you… very helpful……
Nice explanation on the "Bird". I never owned one due to the price. I see a 6BE6 on the bench! A spare for the IC-703? lol
Hi Alan, another brilliant video that does what no manual can do and breaks down into easy to understand blocks. Just one question, I know my radio is out putting 100w and on FM that's what I would expect to see On the Bird but it's showing low at about 80w. Tested my radio on another meter and its 100w. I know the element is good as I tested it on another amateurs Bird 43. Is there any calibration method that you know of without touching the 25k potentiometer inside the elements? Many thanks in advanced, kind regards Spence M0STO
I have a Bird 43 with Array Solution AS-43AP digital meter in it. I like it. I also have the Coaxial Dynamics analog meter which takes the Bird Slugs. My Bird had a bad meter movement so I put in the new digital one. And the Coaxial Dynamics meter is much easier to read than the Bird meter. I would be curious to see these put up against a very accurate power meter to check the accuracy of them. Bird claims 5% of full scale.
I have been into Radios since 1965 & Today October 1,2021 I finally got my First BIRD 43 wattmeter.I have owned a couple of other models of the BIRD meters but I always wanted a BIRD 43 & now I have one.I also got Three slugs with it & they are the 250E,500H,& 1000H so I will be getting a VHF slug of 250 watts next. {:>)
The contacts on these BIRD slugs/meters can sometimes get crud on them and they need some cleaning so the meter will read. Had that issue more than a few times with this meter. The 43 is an industry standard not unlike the Simpson 260 VOM.
No fluff...nothing but meat and potatoes here. An amazing video about an icon of the RF world!
Great !!! 73s from EA3HWU
Is there an easy way to zero out the meter such as a calibration knob? I see two small black knobs on the sides. Someone has one for sale but the picture shows the needle not resting in the 0 position. I'm not sure if I should go for it.
The small screw at the bottom-center of the meter is the zero-ing screw.
Hi Sir. Do you know the screw pitch of tread for bird connectors
Hi there!
Thanks for the video. I've a question: may I measure a 20W reflected power with a slug 25H where the Forward power is 1KW? or the 25H slug will be damaged?
The book you are showing in the video that shows the list of elements is this in the manuel ? Because I am looking for listing of elements I can buy for my meter. Thank you.
Yes, the table of the available elements is in the manual.
Further to message below i left, i found a 10 watt, 25 to 60 mhz slug and it still didn't work, i had the whole meter to pieces and tested everything with an ohm meter and i had no continuity from the meter inner coax to the sensor casting, so i took the connector off and tested the lead and casting and both were fine, put it back on and it worked, just a poor connection from the contact to the socked on the casting, or should i say on the plug that screws on..works ok now...prob lack of use...from Fred in Uk
Likely dirt or oxidation - sounds like you have it sorted out now.
What is your opinion on the quality of a new Coaxial Dynamics slug for the 43 versus a used one? I have a few used 43 slugs for VHF/UHF ranges but those guys who have the used 100H's for sale are awfully proud of them and I can get a brand new Coaxial Dynamics slug for less than a used 100H.
I think the Coaxial Dynamics slugs are perfectly fine.
The "plastic caps" on all my slugs are made of PTFE. It has a lot of capacitance BTW. Thanks.
The insertion loss of the line section is specified with the slug installed, so the effect of the PTFE isn't something that you normally have to worry about.
Sure. Just commenting as to what the "plastic" material was and in
reference to it's electrical properties. We used PTFE in high power RF
cavity amplifiers as a mechanical dielectric tuner because it makes a
great sliding RF short because of it's C.
Good video, just the other day I was having a conversation about Bird Watt meters on the local repeaters (70cm) with a new Ham, he was really fixated about knowing his exact output power to a high degree of accuracy and felt that a bird watt meter was the end all solution to his concerns. So, what can be said about their accuracy? Are they significantly better then say a 100.00 MFJ meter? Personally I am just happy to know that I have RF leaving my rig, if it is 22.5 watts vs 25 watts is purely academic and not a big concern to me. I would like to know what others think?
learn your friend on dB
Hi there this is prob a daft question but i have one of these 43 meters and i have never used it, i tried out out on a 4 watt cb fm 27mhz and the pointer doesn't move when i key up, i am assuming i have the wrong slug i it, i have a 500 watt one that goes from about 1 to 30 mhz, i assume i need something like a 10 watt slug from Fred g4vvq in England.
4W would barely move the meter using a 500W slug - think about it, it would move the meter
can these be used to connect 2 transceivers together for tx/rx testing?
No, you can't connect a transmitter directly to a receiver - receivers can not accept the full output of a transmitter.
Question for anyone... if I wanted to take a more accurate measure of reverse power, could I use a slug with a lower power rating (more sensitive) with a higher forward power? For example, a 10W slug (measuring reverse power) with 100W actual RF going forward (and less than 10W of reflected RF).
Yes, that will work fine.
boa tarde novamente, pode ser uma placa usada.. mais teria que ser igual a essa .
outra pergunta... de qual pais você é?
One stupid question what will happen we put 10w slugs and accidentally tx 100w .
Any protection?
According to Bird, the slugs can withstand up to 2x their rated power. So this means that a 10w slug won't be damaged by a 20w signal. 100w into a 10w slug can damage the slug and/or the meter movement.
DEAR
i have Motorola 4601 ,the maximum transmitted power is about 4.0 watt but in the device manual it was written 27 w how can i increase it to the maximum?.
thanks
I have no idea, I know nothing about that radio.
The radio is DMR. It's like TDMA and would need a peak board to sample it. The PA is firmware programmable but not recommended. Mine is factory 40w. You need a firmware that's written for 40w.
Is it true you can get these for $300~ or so? I'm a new HAM but I've always been a geek with RF stuff and now that I'm a HAM I can sort of justify wanting a nice new toy, need something to measure VSWR and power (watts) and I love the design of these, they seam a bit more robust, I have a spectrum analyzer that will handle a 5watt input but I prefer not to do that. I just see these for around $300 and it seams like such a good deal.
+nateo200 You can usually find a used 43 for $150-$200 depending on condition, then you have to get the slugs (typically $30-$100, depending on frequency and power needed).
Do you have a link to the manual ?
Easy to find on their website: birdrf.com/~/media/Bird/Files/PDF/Manuals/920-43.ashx
A bit of nostalgia there indeed but having checked the prices out, very expensive nostalgia. I suppose the prices would be ok if it looked a bit more 21st century.
I know people say 'If it 'aint broke, don't fix it' but everything gets a make over eventually, doesn't it?
Who uses Avo 8's nowadays? From the same era but things move on, or at least they should.
Enjoyed the look back in time and liked the video by the way Alan, thanks
Respectfully, the 43 and variants are timeless standards whose appearance connotes their accuracy and ruggedness. (Although they *are* expensive! Mine was a gift from my late father.) I got the third-party peak reading mod but didn't apply it for fear of honking up the little beauty.
Thanks for the video, Alan!
+Michael Hawthorne You mustn't be an engineer if you think these things are bought for their looks!
+TheHue's SciTech
I just prefer modern tech to old tech
+Michael Hawthorne Bird has more modern meters too. But, since the 43 is still a big seller, they've kept them in the product line. It's the same reason that Tektronix is still selling TDS2000 series oscilloscopes - old technology that is easily eclipsed by modern instruments, but it is durable, reliable, and more importantly - there is still customer demand for them!
+Michael Hawthorne What can a modern power-meter do that the Bird can not? IMHO modern stuff has proprietary connectors (i.E. Boonton, Rohde & Schwarz, Agilent), and the modern ones are almost impossible to repair or calibrate, specially after 10 years when the parts for repairing them will be obsolete.
Hello Alan. I am currently in the market for a Bird wattmeter. I am looking at the 4304A rather than the 43 only because I do not want to be dealing with separate slugs and because we mostly would us it for VHF and UHF land mobile radio applications. Can you provide your expert insight on this decision? Thank you for the wonderful content.
The 4304A is a nice meter solution if you don't want to have different slugs for different power levels and bands - but it will cost you a lot more money! I've seen the 4304A units cost 3-4x more than a 43 with a couple of slugs... If you can find one at a good price, it will serve you well.
@@w2aew Thank you for the valuable information. Best regards.
@@w2aew As an update. I was able to buy a new 4304A for $695 so I think I got a good deal. I saw them for as much as $835. Again Alan thank you for the valuable knowledge.
boa tarde, sou do brasil gostaria de comprar essa placa, mais a firma que fabricava ja fechou.. você saberia me dizer aonde encontro? desde ja grato.
Unfortunately, they look like they are out of business.
There are a few available on ebay. This one looks like it is pretty good, but I have no experience with it:
www.ebay.com/itm/325404816238?hash=item4bc3a3736e:g:pH0AAOSwgSFignV4
but how it works physically
how it measure only one direction?
Nice meters, very pricey for a device that was engineered so long ago. I think Bird made their investment back a few times over.
How do I find the value of mine to sell it.
You can check current selling prices on ebay, or on radio-centric classified sites like swap.qth.com. Generally though, the Model 43 unit (without slugs) ranges from about $75 in poor physical condition to about $150 in pristine physical condition. The measurement slugs will be about $75-$125 for the HF units, and typically about $40-$75 for the others. All of this assumes perfect working condition.
Why do the frequency range for such devices stop at 2.4Ghz, 5.8Ghz is not catered for. In the RC world a SWR meter for 5.8Ghz is DIY only, utilizing a diode from a microwave and an ammeter. BTW an excellent video as always.
+TheRogerx3 When these units were introduced (1952), there was very little activity at 5.8GHz, so the line section and element design simply did not take that into account.
+w2aew I thank you for your time.
how much fir the price
Have you ever seen the Motorola 43?
I think I've seen one of them - not surprised that Bird made a Motorola branded one.
Why slugs on the sides?
Simply convenient storage for frequently used slugs.
Great meter until you have 2 of them. Trying to calibrate 1 slug and 2 meters to get similar readings is a very difficult process esp if one meter is a 43P. The circuitry of the 43P interferes with power values. It does. I have the genuine Bird board in there and got a replacement genuine 43P board and it yields yet another reading. None of them read the same as the other meter and when I remove the board and from the 43P so it acts as a 43 then this gives another reading again.
Add to that, I have 2x 50w slugs and they read completely differently.
Imagine then, what happens when inserting different wattage slugs results in different readings again between the two peak reading boards.
I dunno what to do. I try to calibrate them from the flouro meter on my FT1000MP but that introduces another variable.
I think one needs a master meter with like a Meterbuilder or Array Solutions with known accuracy to calibrate your Bird slugs and check meter and peak board accuracy.
It is a non issue with one of Bird 43 since all values are relative but introducing a 2nd one is a kind of descent into madness when trying to get them to read similarly.
What does all this mean? Well they (meters or slugs) ain't that accurate unless regularly tested against a known accurate meter.
So long as they read within a few % of each other I don't really care but 10w difference with a 50w slug between meters, and a further + or - 4w between peak boards drives one insane when trying to get to the bottom of why.
I have half a dozen or so of these, one is fitted with an aftermarket PEP board, I have not seen any significant disparity in readings between them. The DC offset and gain of the PEP boards does need careful adjustment though.
Make sure your 43P board is adjusted to read the same full scale value as you get with the board turned off on a CW or FM signal. If the same slug gives different readings in two meters, that means the meters need calibrating.
Are there similar devices that do 5 GHz? (for measuring 5GHz wifi)
You're looking for a microwave RF power meter, something like this: www.atecorp.com/products/keysight-technologies/436a for a few hundred bucks used on ebay. Make sure to get the right power head for the frequency and power level you need. Expect the head to cost as much or more than the meter.
The R&S NAS Is Better, the only problem Is that It Is a Little bit rare to found
Those 12 dislikes must be bots and misclicks.
bird is made in solon ohio
Yes, right next door to Keithley.
Thanks for a very informative video I see you at tektronixs and you do great with other videos. thanks wb7qxu