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| Reviews Summary for Heathkit HM-102 |
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Reviews: 12
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Average rating: 4.6/5
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MSRP: $39.95 (25 years ago!)
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Description: 1.8-30 Mhz Watt/SWR meter
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Product is in production.
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More info: http://
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write your own review of the Heathkit HM-102.
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KC2CT
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 22, 2010 03:51
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Great and a bargain
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I bought this meter a little over 6 months ago.
I have built numerous Heatkits over the years from WX stations to the SB-220 amplifier. So I understand the Heathkit philosophy of design and their construction practices. I miss Heathkit.
Anyway, I found a reasonably priced, well-built meter in working condition and added the K4DPK PEP adapter:
http://home.comcast.net/~k4dpk/index.html
I calibrated the meter against my Bird 43 and I am as happy as a pig in mud with it!
Output power and SWR readings are well within the 10% factory specs.
The only negative that I can find is that the meter is not illuminated. I am sure that some enterprising individual has solved this and I would be interested in hearing from them.
This is a timeless measurement instrument and with the PEP adapter it is as functional and accurate as any modern day power meter.
A bargain with or without the additional PEP adapter. Grab one!
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NE4L
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 15, 2010 19:19
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Old Reliable!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have probably owned a dozen of these over the 33 years of my hamming career. Every one of them worked and were in passable calibration. I use a watt meter as a tuning aid and a trend instrument. I never run the legal limit, but I can tell if tubes are going soft in an amp or if I forgot to turn up the mic gain etc. in a hurry.
The only downside from my point of view is that Heath picked the most awful shades of green on the planet. I've bead blasted the cabinets on mine, created a new panel layout in AutoCAD that matched my Omni VI & Corsair II setups. I then painted the case in colors to match and made a water-slip decal for the panel from the CAD layout. I'm very pleased with the result & glad to be rid of carbuncle green.
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KC7NOA
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 13, 2009 20:46
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Still a good work horse
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I was looking for the manual because Bama was told not to host heath manuals anymore... found it here http://pdf. textfiles. com/manuals/ SCANNERS-F-R/ Heathkit-HM-102. pdf
hope it stays there for a while ..
Ps .. i added a few spaces to the url
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K2LGO
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Rating: 5/5
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May 31, 2009 05:23
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OVER 30 YEARS & STILL PERKING
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The HM-102 is indicative of the great stuff that used to come out of BENTON HARBOR..I have used mine for over 30 years, and if I don't see that familiar face in front of me when I'm operating, I feel lost..
As one previous reviewer mentioned the SWR trimmer cap can go west with high power, and a high SWR, so maybe his hint of a piston type cap is indeed the solution..Its been so long since I replaced that cap in mine I have forgotten what I put in there..Bottom line...great instrument, that has proved itself over time..BOB
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KO0T
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 23, 2009 10:45
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Good classic meter
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I picked one of these up several years ago on Ebay. It is a good addition to any ham shack. It has a nice large meter display that is very easy to read. The calibration is quite easy and within the accuracy specifications. The only real problem that I had was a failure of the SWR null trimmer capacitor, which I replaced with a small air variable unit. One limitation of the meter is the lack of a peak detector, making it less useful for SSB service. I've recently added a peak detector circuit and the old meter rivals the new models now.
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AE5X
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 11, 2007 15:26
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Just built!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I recently bought an unbuilt HM-102 still sealed in its Benton Harbor box. I had one of these meters as a novice many moons ago and have always regretted selling it at some point over the years,so the idea of destroying whatever collector value an unbuilt meter might have did not concern me.
The meter went together in about 2 hours and, true to Heathkit's reputation, the instructions were complete and both clearly written and illustrated. The simple calibration procedure took all of five minutes. My dummy load during the cal was a calibrated communications test set and I was pleased to see a close agreement between the indicated powers on the two pieces of equipment.
I calibrated the HM-102 on 40 meters as per the instructions. The power output as indicated on the test set was 104 watts - the Heath showed just a hair under 100. I then went to 10 and 160 meters to compare reading again and found the greatest difference at the 100-watt level to be 7 to 8 watts, ie within the 10% spec.
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W5RKL
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 14, 2006 09:28
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Very good
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I recently aquired an HM-102 on eBay for $20, included shipping, in excellent physical and electical condition. Now I'm not a purist so simple imperfections such as chipped paint are not show stoppers for me. Since my station is primarily Heathkit, the HM-102 was a very nice addition.
I've read a few posts saying the alignment was a bit confusing or the accuracy is not very good. I found this not to be an accurate assesment of the HM-102. First, the accuracy is 10%. That's a difference of 10 watts using 100 watts or 100 watts for 1KW as the baseline. As to the alignment being a bit confusing, well the alignment section in the manual should be read and completely understood first before stating the alignment. Failure to connect the coax on the rear "correctly" will cause the alignment to fail. My HM-102 aligned within 5 minutes and was well within 10% as stated in the manual.
So, if you're looking for a nice looking and easy to use Watt/SWR meter, the HM-102 will fit the bill nicely.
73's,
W5RKL
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N0CGF
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 5, 2004 08:18
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Dependable
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Mine is 26 years old, just as accurate as any
SWR meter I have compared it to.
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W6TH
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 4, 2004 21:05
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Great working meter.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Have been using mine for many years. Worked so well I installed a 50 ua meter in place of the original meter and changed a couple of resistors. Worked great before and now after with changes. Will look around for a second one if the price goes down on eBAY.
The original factory model was very accurate and never had a problem; the push switch was no problem to get angry over. If I could find many with the original price I would fill my shack with them.
.: W6TH
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