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write your own review of the Oak Hills Research WM-2 QRP Wattmeter Kit.
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K1FPV
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 31, 2006 07:28
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Excellent QRP Accessory!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I built and have used my WM-2 for nearly 5 years now. It is accurate, and great for the price. I will add that when I built mine, not only the box smelled of tobacco smoke, but the components themselves also had the odor. Aften a month or two, the odor finally dissipated. It has worked great all the time I've owned and used it.
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AI4IK
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 30, 2006 18:35
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You'll like it
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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This is a great wattmeter. I also like my heathkit qrp wattmeter but it doesn't read down into the milliwatts but is very accurate.
As for the cigarette smell in the box???!! I want to take you hunting with me and I'll leave my dog at home. You got a better nose than she does.
You girlie men need to get a life. People have to put up with the smell of your nasty alcohol habit. At least you don't see smokers with their head in a toilet throwing up like drinkers. Now that's a nasty habit!
Get one of these wattmeters. You'll like it.
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POOBA53
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 2, 2006 17:39
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Nice Product
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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All kit parts were present, instructions were for the most part easy to follow, and the finished product looks nice and performs as it should.
What more could ya' want?
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KD6WD
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 13, 2006 08:59
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Great-a must have!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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If you are into QRP you must have one. I feel its mandatory to have one if your going to claim 1,000 miles per watt. It beefy enough not to slide off the bench and has an excellent size meter for interpolation.
By the way to the guys who complained about cigarette smell. Get a life! Those comments were (in my humble opinion) just politically correct crap. It kind of reminds me of a fellow engineer who used to smell his armpits several times a day. Finally I said,"Take a shower daily, use some deoderant and you will not have to worry!"
I personally do not smell every box I receive from a supplier. In many cases everyone uses newspaper from neighbors or other recycled material to protect what you get from shipping damage. Personally I hate those damn plastic peanuts that go all over when you open a box. Also I do not care if the UPS guy smokes as long as he doesn't throw my deliveries on the porch from the end of the driveway like the US Postal Service does. So in rebuttal I just sent the wife out to get me a Monte Cristo cigar.
Enuff said on P.C. stuff.
Because it easy to forget to turn the meter off, add one of those little chip kits for switching off the battery automatically after 45 minutes or so. It will save you replacing the battery unnecessarily. In conclusion, its a very welcome addition to anyone getting into QRP. Get a kit, build it and enjoy. Its really a one of a kind setup you will find diffcult to find elsewhere if at all.
Over the years I have built quite a few Oak Hills kits and have never been disappointed with the performance. All in all its just plain "cool".
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NR7F
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 5, 2005 15:24
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Nice meter, could be improved
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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It's been about a year since the last review of this product, and I just built it, so I'll add my two cents....
I wanted to build this wattmeter primarily because I know of no commercially available QRP wattmeters that are accurate and measure at this level of detail. Based on reviews here and the opinions of several QRP’ing friends, I felt this meter would be a valuable addition to the shack. I think the solid reviews this product gets are warranted based on my experience. I personally could not build it in a few hours (as others have), but I just build slow and carefully. When I take that approach, the products typically work without a hitch, as this one did.
I will add a few criticisms. These gripes do not “make or break” the product, but I think they are valid points to consider. I would buy this product again, but I’d still wish for a few improvements. First, the quality of the materials is nothing great for a $100 item. The cover and the chassis strike me as, maybe not flimsy, but not high quality (jagged edges, fragile paint). The black paint on the cover was already chipping off at the corners when it arrived. The circuit board is adequate, but I suspect it will take very little in the way of abuse from correcting errors, so solder carefully. It does not solder as nicely a clad-through boards, but hey, it works. A previous comment among reviews here about the product arriving with the smell of cigarette smoke was also what I experienced. That was annoying. I swear there was cigarette ash in some of the packaging. The vinyl adhesive covers for the front and back panel must be carefully applied or you end up with a cockeyed-looking panel. I avoided this by placing hex wrenches through several panel holes, taping them into place (on the back side of the panels, and then using them to guide the adhesive cover right into position (ie, bring the adhesive down toward the panel, letting the hex wrenches come right through the appropriate hole in the adhesive, and you're aligned right on target).
That said, the end product looks nice, if maybe a little “retro” (not necessarily a bad thing). It aligns well, and as far as I can tell, it is accurate. It is only because of some of the materials issues that I give this product a “4”, rather than a “5”.
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N7KZZ
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 10, 2004 20:28
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Terrific Kit!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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The OHR WM2 is a good looking little meter and a fine addition to any QRP shack. The kit went together without a hitch and has been rugged and reliable so far. Pictures and more comments on my website http://www.qsl.net/n7kzz/wm2.html
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K2JN
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 3, 2004 08:23
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Essential for QRP Ops
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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After some research, I found that the WM-2 wattmeter is one of the few affordable professional instruments available to measure low power levels. Anyone serious about QRP operation should own one of these little gems. The quality of the kit is superb with decent components and high-grade printed circuit board. In fact, Oak Hills provides a really nice looking custom meter assembly, professionally labeled with range settings in the 10W, 1W and 100mW scales. The front and rear panel use thick stick-on labels. If done properly via the instructions, these two labels will not come off for the life of the box. Although I prefer silk screen printing on cases, the labels gives the unit a really nice look.
The kit can be accomplished by beginners. However, I’d recommend that you tackle a couple of easy projects before this one to learn the art of good soldering skills and coil winding. Assembly requires that you wind two toroid coils and some point-to-point soldering of wires. One helpful hint: I prefer to solder wires to the switches before mounting them in the case since it is really tough getting a hot solder tip into confined spaces. I also recommend working the kit in stages with breaks between each section. I worked on mine over a week-long period and took time to double-check each stage along the way. This is especially important when doing the final wire connections.
The kit comes with a thorough 19-page assembly manual, featuring illustrations of parts, winding instructions and board layout. Like the old Heathkit style of manuals, there are convenient check-off boxes for each step of the kit and a parts inventory list.
Alignment requires a simple voltmeter and steady hands to tweak the lower power level setting. It took me a couple of attempts to finally get the levels set properly. Once alignment is complete, you cut a small jumper on the board and you are good to go.
The kit comes standard with SO-239 connectors on the back plane. However, BNC connectors with special mounting plates are optional and can be purchased during your initial order. Milestone Technologies appears to be a good company - they quickly processed my order, as well as, answered my query during my initial research. It’s nice to see good customer service and I don’t think you can go wrong with this outfit. Overall, I had no issues with my kit. All the parts were present, I had no big surprises on assembly and my shipment arrived quickly.
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KB4ZVM
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Rating: 3/5
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Mar 17, 2004 01:47
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Good and useful instrument, but...
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is a very difficult kit for me to review.
When properly constructed, this kit yields a beautiful (and beautifully designed) instrument that is very useful. In fact, I would call it essential if you are going to get seriously involved in QRP.
The manual is excellent. If you follow it closely, you will be successful. No parts were missing. The alignment procedure is very easy and logical. If you have a reasonably accurate voltmeter, your wattmeter will be accurate.
As pleased as I am with the finished product, however, there were quite a few things about the kit which I did not like.
To begin with, the kit reeked of cigarette smoke when I opened it. That was a great put-off. I spread out the parts and the manual in my basement garage, and let it air out for a few days before I even began construction.
The circuit board was not top quality. It appeared to be phenolic, and not epoxy. The copper traces were not very thick. The solder mask was thin, and not uniform at all. The holes were not plated through. Don't use flush cutting pliers, or you will pull the foil off of the board.
Be careful when you cut the coax to make the pick-ups. There is not enough supplied for a second try.
You are given a cable (that looks like rotor cable) for the necessary wires. You are told to pull the colored wires out of the cable to prepare the wires you need. I found this impossible to do. I ended up cutting the sheath off of the wire bundle, and I cut myself in the process. When I got the sheath off of the bundle, I saw why I couldn't pull the wires out. The wires are spiral-wrapped around a fiberglass tape that runs through the center of the bundle. King Kong would not be able to pull those wires out! For $99, I believe individual wires could be provided!
After alignment, you cut a jumper to use the instrument. After the jumper is cut, you cannot re-align the instrument, so do it right the first time. It would be far better to put a header pin here. Then you could re-install the jumper to do the alignment again.
It's a wonderful instrument. I'm glad I have it, and it is very useful. However, for $99, the kit leaves a lot to be desired. Hence the "3".
Dan Allen
KB4ZVM
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KT6LA
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 25, 2003 01:15
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nice kit
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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nice kit to build.. all the part were supplied..nothing missing on mine.....the only problem that i have is the rotoary swithc on/10w
etc. in the 100mw position i have to hold the knob over slightly from the indent to make it read... a faulty switch i suspect..... the r6 control was rather hard to set correctly while cabibrating unit.. a little sticky.... other that that all went well............ but i havent used the watt meter yet........... tomorrow i will use the unit........... i would recommend this kit to all...
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KG4FXG
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 3, 2003 13:18
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WM-2 QRP Wattmeter
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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The OHR Wattmeter WM-2 is a great kit. This was my first real kit and it worked! If you want to build, you need to start with this or the Dummy Load kit. They will give you the experience and feel of the bigger kits. You need small successes to continue on the building path.
I have never meant another ham that didn’t like this Wattmeter. This is a fine piece of test gear to add to your shack. Dealing with Marshall Emm is a pleasure. You won’t be disappointed.
73
Bill KG4FXG
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