| Author |
Message |
    
BT
| | Posted on Sunday, May 12, 2002 - 9:33 pm: | 
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hello all! i have a cobra 2000 and everyone around here says it sounds "perfect." but i can only seem to get it to show 7 or 8 watts on my Palomar peak reader. i was wondering if it could be the meter or what?? i know the radio has been tuned because i know who i got it from. also, a friend of mine here in town used to work at hy-gain and actually designed many of the schematics for a lot of the swr meters, watt meters, switch boxes, etc. - when he had his CB shop running in the 80's and 90's he swore by the hy-gain watt meter that he used on his bench - "nothing is more true, accurate (dead key and mod)." anyway, i got one of them from him and it reads the exact deadkey as my bird meter and the mod tops out around 8 or so so i'm thinking my cobra 2000 may not be doing what it should. any ideas?
BT |
Bullseye
| | Posted on Sunday, May 12, 2002 - 10:14 pm: |
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If everyone says it sounds "perfect" I would'nt worry about it. All that technical information a meter gives you is useful but I mainly use them to monitor SWR's. If it sounds good and your getting out without any problems then the radio is doing its job so I would leave it at that. Just my opinion for what its worth |
ss8541
| | Posted on Sunday, May 12, 2002 - 11:49 pm: |
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bt, what do you get for ssb power? the reason i ask is to eliminate some possible causes b4 i tell you where to look. |
bullet/151 southern Indiana
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 1:06 pm: |
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bt,
if it reads 7-8 watts on a bird 43 its doing its thing.....and doing it well... running perfectly!
dont sweat the low reading from that meter its not as generous as cb types that would show it at
around 17-20 watts +- ive seen 2000's on birds that only showed 5-6 watts with modulation, that sound awesome on the air!
73's bullet |
BT
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 1:10 pm: |
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on ssb it gets around 10 on that meter.
BT |
RCI2990
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 10:01 pm: |
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If i were you id get a Dosy. They show the real swing. Those kind of meters are mainly RMS and will not show the PEP like a Dosy or a PDC will. I know some of the guys on here will probably say a Dosy is not as good as a bird or whatever but i swear by Dosys because i like the PEP on them....
JMHO! |
409
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 3:39 am: |
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The swing looks good on the meter......but that's about all it's good for. |
RCI2990
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 5:56 pm: |
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For the average joe the Dosy and the PDC line are great IMHO. Id never have a bird meter given to me because well,, i dont like them! They dont swing like a Dosy will and i like to see the forward pep on my meter... |
antenna man
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 7:53 pm: |
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Wanna start a argument on the forums?? Just start a meter swing post and Viola'! There you go! Grounds for a long argument over whats the best meter and what cause harmonics and on and on and on! Best thing to do? NEVER mention on a forum what your own personal meter shows YOUR radio doing! Kep that info to yourself then the forums will be better off for it! Another thning to keep in mind is to never mention over a forum that you own a PDC or Bird meter! That will undoughtly start a argument!!! LOL |
bullet/151 southern Indiana
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 1:27 pm: |
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meters made for cbing are made to just give you a
general ball park reading "realitive".
they are made to be sold to the general cber that
dont want to spend much on equipment as a rule.
and thats fine for those that KNOW that and just want a low cost realitive meter.
to those that think your dosy is a better meter
compare the insides of a dosy/pdc and a bird.
look at the quality of materials and the rf sampling sections, the meter it self, at a quick 1st glance if you dont see the differance, then you should be quite happy with any meter that sits on your desk. that shows you what you want to see (big swing)/and not what is (reading w/o harmonics)
does your meter use a power soarce/ic board to compute pep averages? no it dont! thus the exaggerated swing ratios due to the low buget and construction on these meters. not to mention the peak/tunes some guys do! thats a hole other post.
pdc/dosy meters are fine meters for what they are
but are not in the same class as a bird or other like meters.
like comparing a chevy chevette with a rolls royce
not even close!
but both have thier place on the market, as it is with these meters.
i like both meters and own a dosy tc 4001 or 4002 (cant remeber witch)and a dosy made firebird 500, 2 bird meters and a struthers meter. all have thier place but in differant classes |
Bigbob
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 5:35 pm: |
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For what its worth,finally a man who can put into simple english what I been thinking,I'm not very articulate.Bravo Bullet/151 Southern Indiana |
Hook948
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 5:50 pm: |
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Unless you are doing mods/repairs for a living or part time, Does it really matter how accurate your meter is?(except swr's) It wouldn't bother me a bit if I woke up one morning and all the numbers were replaced by letters.For the general user thats all you really need. If you normaly hit a "G" on the meter and it changes to something else you will know something is going on somewhere. If you normaly hit a "G" and do a mod and now it hits a "M" then you've improved right?? Or maybe added a new amp and it hits a "W" instead of a "J", your putting out more. Catch what I'm saying? For the average user, Just look for the size,style,light/no light etc that you want and no matter what the meter shows...you will be able to keep tabs on what's going on. Just my 1/2 cents worth |
Rci2990
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 5:55 pm: |
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Hey Bullett how about a swan and a yaseu meter? I had a OLD OLD Yaesu meter(the kind that were available back about 1976 or so when the FT 101 series was going strong)) i think it was a YS 2000 or something of the kind but it was the best meter i ever had hands down! I sold it for 20.00!!!!! :-( |
Tech671
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 9:29 pm: |
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The most important aspect of the meter is accurate carrier. Most will accomplish that. SWR or reverse power can also be tied for most important, most are fairly close at that. |
Don123
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 11:32 pm: |
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Hi BT:
What do you think your Cobra should be doing? 7 or 8 watts I think is above and beyond what it should do on AM if that is what you mean. Almost all Meters will not be able to keep up with the 12 watt PEP power a radio will put out in SSB so if you are reading the meter in SSB mode then do not be alarmed at all if the meter is reading low. I think at times also we all get into wanting to look at the meter swing and the like or maybe wanting to get that last watt out of the radio...but you are risking the radio's life span and finals when pushing it to its limits of just one more watt or so ....so why do that...a few watts will not make the difference in making the contact or not making it....if the radio is putting out normal wattage and you are getting good reports then I would call it good...meters are of course great checks and also good for SWR readings...but what really puts you signal out is your antenna so if you want to make any improvements or tweak something then improve your antenna and your signal and your contacts will be greatly improved!
Have fun
Don123 |
BIG FOOT
| | Posted on Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 11:02 am: |
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i hve a P D C 700 and it shows some swing on my GALAXY SATURN TURBO, but so far as my OPINION of the accuracy of swr watt meters I had rather it SHOW that I had 3 watts swing and REALLY do 15.... than to SHOW 40 watts swing and really do about 6 - 8 watts..........swr functions here are done with a M F J 259 B digital swr analyzer...tells you the antenna OHMS and all sorts of other " stuff " that may NOT be necessary but nice to know ( cost was around $200 but it is worth it...had it 4 years and still looks new thanks to the bag it fits in with holes for the knobs, etc. ) ... but back to the watt meters... it is like vehicles some swear by ford and swear AT chevys and others prefer toyotas over ferraris...use what ever type of watt / swr meter fits your budget and general knowledge...remember that RADIO is supposed to be FUN ( if I can not have FUN, I will walk away and do something else that may turn INTO fun ) |
bullet/151 southern Indiana
| | Posted on Friday, May 17, 2002 - 10:49 am: |
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big foot,
you got the rite idea,its all about enjoyment no matter what gear you run, witch is not as important as the contacts or conversations you have on it. |
