|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Speak Out
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
You can
write your own review of the Bird 43.
|
W6QE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 31, 2005 15:31
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
The Best there is!
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I've owned several Bird 43 wattmeters through the years and won't use anything else. I have 2 Model 43 wattmeters currently in line. One is on the output of my Amplifier with a 2500C slug and the peak reading kit. The other is on the output of my 2m/70cm radio with a 50 watt slug. When you need a measurement, and want it to be correct, use a Bird 43. I've added a few miscellaneous slugs for weird things but for the most part the "permanently in-line" configuration will not change.
Save yourself a lot of grief and make the investment in a Bird 43.
Milt
W6QE
dit dit
|
|
G8JNF
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 1, 2005 11:46
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Simply the best!
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I have owned a number of SWR and WATTMETERS in the past, but NONE have ever lived up to the performance and operation of the Bird 43. I now own two of them, one for HF and the other for 144/433MHz. I have used them at QRP levels and at 400W with no prblems at all, they are just made for the job. I'm sure if you buy one you won't be disappointed.
73's Duncan
G8JNF
|
|
W8AAZ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Sep 27, 2005 16:26
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
The standard-no substitutes!
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
Look, just buy the danged BIRD and be happy! 'Nuff said!The rest of this is just fluffery. Then swap trade or haggle to get the slugs you need. Or bite the bullet, grimace, and pay full ticket for them. If getting a used one, get a clean sharp one and you will not lose money on it. I bit the bullet and got mine new. Price always goes up and I lose nothing. Got some used and new slugs. Just does the job perfectly, and everyone wants to borrow it! You can tell who your friends are by whom you trust with it. Import and economy meters are good and all, for casual testing, but the Bird is at the top of the heap and everyone knows it. Worth the price, it is the Rolex of power meters. Not the most expensive, or latest, or hi tech, but no one will laugh at you or question your readings! Get a good quality 50 ohm load too. Not some crummy cantenna or something. Will get you respect!
|
|
G3LWI
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jul 28, 2005 01:02
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Glad I did
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I recently purchased a second hand Bird 4314. (This is the model with the peak hold facility and an input conection for charging the internal batteries from the mains power supply. It had four elements, 2 VHF (5 and 50 watts) and 2 HF (100 and 500 watts), a connection lead for charging the internal batteries and its leather case. The cost including postage was about £150 (I think thats just a little over $200) On checking I found the 500 watt element to be dead. After speaking to the vendor we found that we could obtain a second hand one for about £45. We split the cost and completed the deal. After every thing I buy, I look at the object and say "Did I really need this ?" Why did I buy it, after all I had managed 48 years in ham radio without one. So why did I buy it? Well I guess it was because I had always wanted one. Well I am so pleased that I did. It has also told me facts that I should have known but did not really appreciate. Using the internal tuner on
my Yaesu rigs with a G5RV antenna I get very good SWR readings. The SWR reading on 7 MHz being 1:1.3. With a forward power of 100 watts my Bird told me that I was getting 40 watts of reflected power, something I had never appreciated. Yes most definitely one of my better buys for the shack.
John G3LWI
|
|
G0UWK
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jul 22, 2005 04:07
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
The Best
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
I bought a used 43 from ebay a while back
Apart from a fault on the Coaxial lead
linking the directional coupler to the meter
it has been great.
I decided to buy the bird for a few reasons.
1. I could not find a Japanese meter that would handle 400w on 432mhz
2. After running 30 mins of EME on 144mhz my Diawa CN101L was getting rather hot !
3. I wanted to measure my system cable loses
The bird was the perfect answer.
Some interesting information for those not aware, the high power plug in elements (500w & 1000w for example) have a large overlap of frequencies. For instance a 1000E covers 400-1000mhz but will happily read almost perfect on 144mhz for further details check out the bird manual there is a graph that will show what works & where (no guarantees but it may just save you some cash on purchasing another element)
Also i bought a used (and very old) element from ebay and found
that the readings were intermittent,
I used a heat gun to remove the front aluminum cover of the element (the heat gently melts the glue that holds the cover in place)
There is a small potentiometer inside that allows calibration adjustment of the element, the wiper in the pot must have been dirty because after moving backward & forwards a couple of times it has worked fine ever since. (please note i needed to loan another element of the same type to recalibrate my original one)
All was not lost !
Measuring cable losses is so easy now,
with other meters i found that the results
were inconsistent but the bird with a lower power element (5W) rings true to Andrew Fiqures on known lengths of LDF4-50
I am now waiting arrival of a 43P
If you can afford one and are interested in VHF upwards this is the meter for the job
I have even used it to realign The PA stage in my 432mhz transverter at 20mw levels !
|
|
WA7SCH
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 5, 2005 00:31
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Essential Tool
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I bought mine several years ago and have several HF and VHF slugs for it. As I've moved my station along this is one piece of equipment that has always stayed.
I looked at some of the "new" gadgets and This still does what I need it too. My Bird, I guess I'll keep it.
|
|
K8LEA
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Dec 25, 2004 11:56
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Superb
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Many years ago, when the wife and I had little spare money, we went to the Warren Amateur Radio Association Hamfest.
I bought a very second-hand 2M transceiver (whole thread there) for the $75 we could spare, and didn't tell the wife that it would take $100 worth of crystals to actually use the thing.
Being broke, we left....
Next morning I got a call from a friend of mine. I'd won a Bird 43 in the "door prize" drawing. That was great news - they were $100-$125 at the time. Then my buddy told me that they weren't supplying a slug because they decided that the winner would have a preference and....
Explaining to the wife that I'd won a nice prize that would need $40 to actually use was interesting....
That was somewhere between 1975 and 1979.... The 43 is still here, and has been used extensively since I got it. Not to mention loaned out to deserving and trustworthy friends from time to time.
Only one problem - the connectors inside the Bird got munged somewhere along the line, and getting it working took some detective work.
I wouldn't call it indestructable, but close.
I just wish they'd print that VSWR chart on the back [grin]. Good thing I never brag about that sort of thing anymore. I'd like the "sampling" jack, too, but it's not a necessity.
For the guy who doesn't like the packaging - it's not supposed to be a desktop tool. I _think_ you can re-box the thing into a panel if you want to. Seems to me I saw that someplace a long time ago.
(I loaned a cheap frequency counter to a friend once. He managed to put it across an HF transmitter's output. Sure smelled funny when I got it back.... A little resistor gave it's life for it, though - nbd to fix. He didn't get the Bird [grin].)
Stu K8LEA
|
|
AF4O
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Dec 25, 2004 09:22
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Always wanted one
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I always wanted one of these since I saw my Elmer using one of these many years ago. I bought one off Ebay about a year ago. No you can't have it back !
|
|
KC2CT
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 17, 2004 23:29
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
The LAST wattmeter you'll buy
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
After playing around with "high-tech" looking wattmeters, 28 years ago, I decided on a Bird 43. I still have the same meter. I've since collected a number of elements, carry cases, connectors and installed the peak reading kit. The meter is beautiful in all its ugliness!
Local hams bring their wattmeters to me so I may calibrate them and you would not believe at how far out of calibration some of these meters are!
The Bird 43 was not the first wattmeter I've owned, but it certainly is the last.
73
|
|
N7KZZ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 17, 2004 20:11
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Fine meter and a bargain at used prices
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
Nearly all of the local microwave enthusiasts use the Bird 43 with a 50E element so when I decided to try 1296 MHz it was clearly time to shop for a Bird. Fortunately, a referance to www.NM3E.com showed up on the moon-net reflector just as I started shopping. This site has a great selection of meters at good prices as well as a good selection of slugs and other accesories. The meter that I bought looks fine, works great and came in the best foam packing system that I have seen. The meter lives up to the Bird reputation, wish I had done this years ago.
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
