Digital Chinese RF Power/SWR Meters? & WHY PL-259 is BAD for UHF.
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- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- Hello
On this video we run a test of an "affordable" Chinese power meter against a reasonable quality analogue meter, I test a number of radios from UV5R through to Icom and Yaesu and see how the results stack up and I find out just how bad PL-259 can be when operating on higher power UHF frequencies, well at least the ones I have here anyway.
Check Amazon or Ebay for the power meters.
Here is a link to the excel file.
www.dropbox.com/s/s2vmn1li6i2...
Here is a link to the PDF of the excel file.
www.dropbox.com/s/j06rvy07v67...
Thanks for such an interesting, well thought out and well put together video. That little meter looks good for the price. I thought about getting one a few times but always put it off. I've got some cheaper ones and they're rubbish so this one is well worth it. Thanks for pointing the UHF issue on high power too! I hear a few amateurs talking about that and it shows in your tests. The spreadsheet is a great idea too, nice to see all the data together to compare. It's great you used high end radios to compare too! Cheers Paul, was well worth the wait!
Thanks mate that's nice of you, it took 4 days to make the video, I tried quality leads and they all failed on high power UHF, even though they are sold as pl259 UHF connectors that was back when 100 MHz was considered UHF, PL259 is only rated at 300Mhz and that's quality silver nickel ones, the ones most of use are only really good for HF.
Thank God! I'm sat in bed in my hotel room and was waiting for this! I'm going to watch now! 73
Thanks for such an informative video! I appreciate the large amount of work it took to put together. This is the first time I heard mention of the working frequency range for PL-259. I am puzzled by why this is used in almost all commercially available GMRS mobile radios in the US.
Very nice review and demonstration. I received my SW-102 yesterday and look forward to using it, especially with my HTs. I do plan on making a ground plane plate to fit on the SW-102. Thank you for sharing.
Your welcome Bill, it's a great meter i love using it, battery lasts for ages between charges and it looks superb, best thing that company have made by far, the owner of the company thanked me personally, I have never been given anything for free apart from a HD1 and the SDR 👍
Appreciate your work (not only this vid). Thanks!!!
Thanks 😎👍
Worth staying tuned for the 'epiphany' moment.
Thanks for the review. It looks a brilliant meter fir the money. It would be interesting to see how it's accuracy compares to a good high quality wattmeter such as a bird thruline.
Enjoying your channel 😀
Thanks and yes you are right, for what it costs and what it can do it's a super bit of kit this is 😎
vale la pena ver todo el video muy instructivo gracias por el esfuerzo
Gracias mi amigo y gracias por mirar 😎
Well this measure other people cb radio watts if im near thim in my semi truck?
Awesome video.
Thanks you 😎
Hi, Thanks for the nice and interesting video. You did grate job. I also thought about getting that swr meter but always put it off. But now i should try that.. Thanks again.
73s 4S6RSP .
It's a super meter, thanks for the comment my friend 😎
Thanks for this video; very informative. One question: does the device need to be power on in order to pass the RF to/from the rig, or what I need to take it out of circuit? Thanks.
Cheers, no it doesn't have to be powered on and can be left in circuit 👍
Where did you buy the Surecom SW-102 V2.06 ?
A very good informative video. Great!
Thanks Mike 😎
Stupid question, I'm sure, but does the radio still operate if the meter is turned off?
Yes
Hi, and thanks for this review! I have a question, at 14:22 what's the name of the connector, between the baofeng and the tester ?
SMA-Female to N-Male adapter
@@M70ACARRY Thank you !
So I have a couple of questions... 1.) Other than possible realities and such, can you test output wattage safely using an antenna rated for the power ouput or must a dummy load be used? 2.) Will one dummy do it all as in is there one rated dummy load that can safely test from zero watts to one hundred watts?
Yes you can use an antenna rated for the power and frequency as long as your swr is ok, I just used a dummy load to prevent transmitting over the air, yes you can buy a 300 watt dummy load for instance that will do up to 300w.
Thank you very much for the info... It's greatly appreciated! :)
Mine just arrived and it's the updated version.. Yippee! it works like a champ... Now I know why nobody can hear me on my BF-888S'. lol. 1.53 Watts. haha. but my old uv5r+ units are thumping out minimum 4.65 Watts in VHF mode... I cannot wait for the rest of my N type adapters to come in so I can test my TH9000's my GD-77's in analog mode, my KT-8900's, my 980Plus units etc etc... this really opened my eyes to frequency vs wattage. I got my unit delivered to my door from China with zero customs/duty costs for around $43 Canadian and it was about 11 days from paying to using!... I'm pleased as punch with this unit! Now to await an economical DMR tester... :)
My Surecom digital reader was a disaster. With my Baofeng UV9RPlus on one end and my Nagoya NA-771 on the other, I was getting 3.73W and an SWR reading of 3.58 with a fully charged radio and device. So I'm wondering if I need a ground plane? Surecom used to include one with previous models, but they stopped due to the cost. The company still recommends you use a homemade one. So did you use a grounding plane plate, or a grounding wire? My readings were not accurate, so I ordered a meter with a needle. Haven't gotten it yet, though.
Also, Surecom recommends against using its little meter horizontally, but says to use it vertically with a ground plane for best results. But nearly all UA-cam reviewers use the meter horizontally. The instruction page shows it horizontally, then has one of those circles with a slash through it, to show it's the wrong way. Based on the results people get, it doesn't seem to make a dif.
I've not had any problems with this meter, the antenna I use it on is roof mounted but it's on a pole which does act as a ground plane, using a dummy load swr is always 1:1 might be a calibration issue with your one, there is a procedure to calibrate it in the manual.
I tried adjusting frequency counter in that calibration menu, to get it to agree with the radio, but it doesn’t actually do anything :D
Ah right I'll be honest I've not tried that, have you got the latest firmware on it and have you tried contacting the manufacturer
@@knoxieman To be honest, I think it’s junk and I’m not hung up on it. It also reports higher output power for UHF than for VHF with the same radio.
Brek Martin which swr would you recommend
Hi. I tested this item too in UHF with a 991a and saw too that using the same little coax with a PL and 1 1/2 foot long completly degrades the results. Connecting directly the antenna the 991a shows 45W and 1.35 SWR through one little coax and a switch but adding a second little coax and the Surecom gives a disaster,, SWR = 2 and the protection included in the 991a reducts the power to 15W. Always use a good coax, Aircell, .. in UHF and N connectors even if the length is only 50 centimeters.
Its LMR-240 (RF240) Belden good cable?
Antenna MUST be vertical when testing.
Why does everyone measure power with a dummy load? With a base antenna at home the results are different?
Use a dummy load so little to no power is reflected, reflected and distorted harmonic power fed back causes poor performance from these meters, labs also test in to dummy loads, you can't get a better match for the output stage, no antenna will come close to a well made dummy load.
@@knoxieman So a dummy load is used to measure the power of a radio as accurately as possible? I'm interested in an example. If measuring a radio with a dummy load shows us 40w. And with a good base antenna it shows 30w ... How many watts does it get to the antenna? 40 or 30w?
40 watts gets to the antenna but 10 watts is reflected because the antenna is poorly matched, it's the standing wave ratio, hence the name SWR meter.
Why sell UHF radios and antennas with UHF socket rather than N socket if UHF socket is not good?
Exactly cheaper radios have pl259 quality ones use NType
@@knoxieman Due to the UHF connector, the power meter shows less w. Does that mean less w goes to the antenna or just that the power meter alone can't accurately read the power?
@@marinmarin7187 the first one you said
For years, every mobile radio, I have seen, in the USA comes with a PL259. Maybe the Type N connectors are new, and better? But I still see Yaesu, Alinco, Kenwood with the PL259' on the radio.
Does this work for CB radios ?
No sadly
6:56 You’re suppose to use the ground plate
The newer versions firmware is now v2.7
Проверил прибор Surecom SW-102 v. 2.06, я расстроен. Сравнивал с прибором Alan KW-520 и пытался калибровать. Прибор Surecom SW-102 вообще показывает не верные показания. Пытался калибровать, H VHF L VHF и H UHF L UHF, настроил мощность(50ом эквивалент) на определённой частоте VHF и UHF. На частоте на которой настраивал, мощность прибор показывает верно, но только на этой частоте. При переходе на другие частоты мощность вообще не верно показывает. Я заранее сделал контрольные замеры мощности на Alan KW-520 на разных частотах и записал их. SW-102 нигде мощность правильно не показывает, кроме частоты на которой калибровал. Про КСВ я вообще молчу, оно совсем не верное, ни на каких частотах. Для проверки КСВ подключал контрольные эквиваленты на 33ом(КСВ должно быть 1.5) и 100ом(КСВ должно быть 2) и близко нет, показывает КСВ 1.1 на 33ом и 1.13 на 100ом.... Прибор не пригоден для использования, хоть в помойку выкидывать что-ли... Я разочарован. Теперь вообще не знаю что делать. :-(
Can it be used with am Cb
nope. CB is 27mhz. This unit works from 125 to 52MHz
Does it work at HF?
No sadly not
I believe they make a similar unit for HF
To Poster: I'm sure this is cool as hell to somebody into it. You done a real good video explaining the subject with a clear in focus video.
To UA-cam: I don't give a flying fuck about this. I finally watched it will you please quit fucking suggesting it to me.
Hmm. I received this meter with PL259 connectors. Think I’ll return it.
I wonder if you got the HF version of the meter... For HF the PL259 would be perfectly fine...
ratings are ..... close. Have to remember it is a "cheap" meter. For the price, it will do, to make sure you are transmitting and the SWR seems to be very close. Here again, you are using a cheap meter. It will get you by but, not as your main meter for real antenna work
I sold mine. It was junk and mostly inaccurate.