Basic watt meter use for CB radio.
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- Опубліковано 6 гру 2022
- Watt meter used in this video amzn.to/3V3SNQz
Dummy load used amzn.to/3AmCjcP
This video is for the basic down and dirty use of a watt meter for a CB radio operator to triage their radio and have a rough approximation of how their radio is working for RF power out. #cbradio #cb
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Music credit @JacobLizotte • Royalty Free Groove Me... Royalty free song title nailbomb
SIC guitar riffs in the beginning 🤘
Nice video too.
#12 Watkins Glen, NY waving 🤘
Ya I bought that royalty free music so I wouldn't get in trouble with youtube.
I'm the guy you were talking about in the video, and you were the hero of the day lol! Thanks for explaining all of this, fantastic video.
🍿👋🐷🖊
Well I didn't want to out anyone. Truthfully the CB business side doesn't do any favors to the public by listing watts and not saying "average", "PEP", or "peak". Some export radios out of the box will let you wind the watts up to unsafe levels and I think some people try to acheive levels of watts the radio is not designed for and a meter not reading PEP. I'm not an expert, but I did want to explain that basic aspect of watts.
976 drifter here. I'm in Lake buchanan Central Texas. On my way to the Grand Canyon, I liked that you don't talk down to people like we were dumb me my self just uneducated, but I'm learning thanks
You're welcome. No reason to make things more difficult than they need to be.
Pilot truck stop carries them. My first one didn't work but they exchanged it for another.
Ya, not the best meter out there but everyone should have one kicking around.
Thank you
I'm currently in the market to get a basic AM mobile CB (with minimal menu and functions). I have a 2017 Toyota Tacoma and would like to use an auxiliary/cig lighter power source for quick removal including a removable magnet mount antenna. Looking to put more into antenna than the radio Total budget of $150-175 excluding SWR/Watt meter and 12v power supply for home base conversion. Use won't be for rag chewing..more for emergencies. What mobile radio and antenna would you recommend based on above criteria? Much appreciated 👍
My recommendation is going to be on the high side of your budget. Check out the president Bill or President Adams. Those radios seem to work great right out of the box. Also, if you're going to go the mag mount, I'd suggest a Wilson 1000. If that's too much I have personally tried them, but they look similar look into the Tram 3500. Resist the urge to go with a "small" antenna because it will hamper your range.
@@radioman2602 Exactly where I have been hovering and considering... thank you!
@@radioman2602 Much appreciated...can you recommend a couple if peak envelope meters?..No rush👍
Radioman 260 knows his stuff but this is my take as i like simple. A cheap little Uniden Pro 510 and a Wilson 2000 magnet mount for the roof of the pickup. I'm a 30 year Trucker and owned most of the radio greats but this little Uniden 510 is my go to for a quick setup. (sometimes i even hook it to a Killer Bee 250) Remember a cheap radio with a good antenna will always outpace a expensive radio with a bargain antenna
Get a Chevrolet truck first thing 😂
You can buy them in any pilot truck stop loves truck stop t/a truck stops
Its a fine basic watt meter
I transmitted with a standard Super Panther II from Darwin to Brisbane with a Magnetic base on a Hatch Back , numbers ain't all their cracked up to be 🤣
But I have a question , say I have 1 radio and 1 antenna and I leave this connected 24/7 to see the power needle bounce just for fun , is it a problem ?
No not at all. Just make sure the range is set so you're not slamming the needle on the end stop. Lots of guys leave their meters in line all the time to monitor SWR.
I agree with everything you said 100%
Thank you for watching my video.
Does this PDC lower the cb wattage (say from 5 watts to 1 watt) that would go out to the linear? Or do i still need to go into say my Cobra 29 and lower it internally?
No the PDC and any watt meter do not lower power out in any way. You would need to open the radio to internally lower the power. You could put an attenuator in line with your coax, but I don't recommend doing that.
@@radioman2602 Thank You for the reply
So let me ask you this, i have an swr meter, a workman external. Im trying to set up my general lee cb radio, while im on low power, the meter works fine but when I kick it up to high power, if I have the meter hooked up, it blows the power cord fuse. Only happens with the meter hooked up. Any ideas?
Wow that's a head scratcher! My guess is there some sort of RF getting into the line. If you had some ferrites you could try a few wraps around the DC cord?
@@radioman2602 Thanks for answering!! I actually discovered that I used the wrong power cord. I bought both me and my wife radios, hers a cobra classic and mine a "peaked and tuned" general Lee which came with a cord that had a 10 amp fuse. I unboxed them together and mixed up the cords, they are identical except for the fuse inside lol. I called Walcott who explained that there should have been a 10 amp fuse, I kept blowing 2 amps. It's an export modified for CB and I actually got both mine and hers installed and the SWRs down to about 2:0 so it all worked out. Thanks again for taking the time to respond, not many radio savvy channels do!!!
@ericthiel4053 oh geez why didn't I think of that. Such a simple fix! Great news.
They do sell them at the truck stop but they charge an outrageous price 39 dollars or something like that
Ya that's a lot of money for such a simple meter.
So I bought a radio on ebay and this exact meter your showing on Amazon. Supposedly "peak and tuned". He says it's doing 12 - 14 watts but didn't clarify if that was peak or pep or whatever. At the time I didn't know the difference. My meter says my dead key is about 6 watts and since I don't know shit I thought I was ripped off. This video suggests it's putting more out is that correct?
Let's start here. What kind of radio did you get?
@@radioman2602 it's just a cobra 29 lx. I know he's been inside it he also installed a EC2 echo board with a dual nob at delta tune
@@radioman2602 I'm not sure if it's putting to much out to add a KL203P. Apparently I don't know how to read my pdc1 swr/power meter correctly
@Eli5047 yes your meter reads average power. So going by the 4 to 1 rough guesstimate. That means your radio is doing about roughly 24 watts PEP. Definitely too much power for a KL203. You'd need to find the adjustment inside the radio and turn back to a one watt dead key to run a kl203.
@@radioman2602I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I know it probably gets redundant answering questions for beginners. This is the first video I found that actually addresss the power portion of the meter. Pretty much all of them just talk about the swr. Hopefully you don't mind I have one more question. If I find a video that shows me how to do that will I need to have the rest retuned as well? And is that just a modulation adjustment or something else. Like, what is a variable dead key mod adjusting, the power output or the modulation
hope someone replies! what if you running SWINGMOD with the liner amp do I need an advanced power meter to get a proper reading?
I try to match the radio based on the amps specs. You could do it with either meter.
The "4 to 1" ratio seems very important. Can you explain the justification for it a bit more? Subscribed with notification.
4 to 1 is just a rough rule of thumb when operating AM. The idea is a CB that is rated for 4 watts on AM means that the "dead key" on a average reading meter will show 4 watts with no whistle or speaking. If you have a true peak envelope reading meter "PEP" if you were to whistle you should see approximately 16 watts. The FCC rules state you must not exceed 12 watts PEP. Most times a stock CB out of the box rarely makes 4 watts and is usually closer to 2 or 3 watts dead key and they rarely hit 100% modulation and that is how they stay legal.
Just remember the 4 to 1 is just a rough rule of thumb to give you a rough idea of where your numbers should be dont get wrapped up over being a watt or two high or low.
I am new to this. Beside the fact this meter test swr, will it test power over 100 watts? I know it states that it is a 100 watt meter. So if I am testing output power on AM and the needle goes to number 2 , does that mean you’re putting out 200 watts?
I would appreciate any clarification on this. Thanks.
So do you have the same meter in this video? To answer your question the meter will only read up to 100 watts average power. What type of radio are you using and are you using an amp? What are your switches set to when you are reading a "2"
@@radioman2602: I have the Ranger Rci-x9 . No external amp. And yes, I am using the same meter. The right switch is on power and the left switch is down on the 100 W Ref.
@@freddie3159 Ok that would mean your radio is putting out 20 watts average power which is exactly what that radio should put out. So when your in the 10 watt position that meter would read 0-10 watts with the 2 being 2 watts, but in the 100 watt position it now reads 0-100 watts. With the 2 now reading 20. Does that make sense?
@@radioman2602 : Yes, it makes sense now. Thanks for explaining it.
It's just a cobra 29 lx.
Very helpful and useful info.👍 Amazon has an Astatic PDC2 which is AC powered not DC battery. Are battery powered meters preferred/recommended?
If you can afford it, I would definitely recommend a peak envelope reading watt meter. Those usually require some sort of power supply like a battery. They usually start at about 100 dollars and go up from there. "peak" reading meters are not the same thing as "peak envelope power" meters.
Can I use only the watt meter to test my tyt mobile radio watts power??? can I use it on any frequency to test the watts on my mobile radio
No watt meters are designed to work within a specific frequency range. If provide me with the model # of your TYT I could make some suggestions. Also you need to have something attached to the antenna port of your watt meter. Either the antenna you plan to use or a 50 ohm load like I was using in the video. You can not test your radio output with just the meter only.
@@radioman2602 tyt th9800 mobile radio with a HH-9000 Antenna Quad Band…….I want to buy this swr/ watt meter from the video to check the watt output from my radio???
@@warzone7571 you need a watt meter designed for VHF/UHF such as Workman 104 SWR / Power Meter for VHF / UHF Ham / CB Radio a.co/d/5XHbYzU
@@radioman2602 ok thank you I will try to buy this one you suggested me
@@warzone7571 don't forget you need an antenna or a dummy load connected to the output of that meter. You'll need some patch cable to go between the radio and meter.
I have watch four videos so far and halfway through yours and I haven't seen how to even hook the cables up in the back of the meter.
Ok maybe I didn't cover that but usually the meter will have a port labeled "antenna" so the cable connected to your antenna goes to the antenna port. The other port may say something like "transmitter" or "radio" that cable goes from your radio to that port. Does that explain it?
I own one
On FM you would know 100w from 200w over distance it may not have an effect on the S Meter but it will strengthen your audio and thats all i use a linear for..really to strengthen audio i dont really care what the S meter says. If you can hear me and make sucessful contact thats all that matters. An extra 100w might pull your audio out of the noise floor on FM. Im from the UK so im acustomised with FM.
Yes, you guys have been using FM on CB for quite some time.
What I don’t like is when you talk to people about checking SWR or power and people say Go Buy a Bird Meter for power and an antenna analyzer. I tell them not everyone has that money. A cheap SWR meter as long as it’s not dropped or had to much power through it will work for SWR. Like you said we aren’t a shop trying to make money
Agreed, sometimes good enough is just good enough.
My meter doesn't show the modulation?
The meter in this video will not show actual modulation. How ever some radios when you whistle or hit loud peaks it will cause the watts to go up slightly. Some guys call this swing. So any meter movement seen on this meter while speaking is just the output increasing on voice peaks.
My radio in SSB DOES show peak-modulated-up power swings, but, NOT in AM mode, only the basic carrier power... WTF over????
🍿👋radioman lol 😂😂😁😁😁😁
I guess you enjoyed it 😆
@@radioman2602 if it wasn't for you telling us we would have been going back and forth and would have sent that radio out to be fixed we do appreciate listening in and letting us know
Seems like if you use a dummy load you are only testing part of the system, which is a good thing.
Yes, the dummy load at least helps you rule out coax, and should show up on your meter as a perfect match. That was you know your antenna system needs work.
How can the average guy without anything except my SWR meter test my SWR meter for accuracy. Ty
Well a couple of ideas. Do you have anyone local with a antenna that is known good? You could hook your meter up to their antenna and compare results. If you dont have that you could purchase a dummy load like this one amzn.to/3Lja4lw Then you'd hook that to the antenna port of your watt meter and you should see a 1 for a SWR that dummy load will simulate a perfect SWR to qualify that meter. At the end of the day you need something attached to the antenna port to give you a nice 50 ohm load.
@@radioman2602 Thank you very much I appreciate that you reached out to. I will give it a try Ty and God Bless
Can I reverse the normal coax connections at my wattmeter to correctly measure the reflect?