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write your own review of the Daiwa CN-801HP true PEP reading meter.
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WH7DX
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 17, 2011 09:12
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Works Well
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased the CN-801HP a couple weeks ago and it's been a huge help in identifying my power watts. It looks like it's working accurately. I have a Ameritron 811H amp and I can see what my true watts are with the different bands. Very easy to tune the amp. Nice big meter. The only thing I wish was different is the light. I wish it was yellow or blue not so bright white. The SWR meter is accurate but I don't need it because the radio auto-tunes.
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N4FBW
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 27, 2011 20:54
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Nice big meter
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased the CN-801HP used and it was really in mint condition when I received it. The meter is big with an excellent white backlight. Daiwa has installed a backlight on/off switch on the back of the meter, which is a nice feature. The meter is well built and looks really good on the operating desk. I have not been able to verify its accuracy, although the readings do not vary widely from the internal power/SWR meter in my IC-7600. I'm glad I bought the CN-801HP!
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W9CIN
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 18, 2011 14:37
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Great Meter, even beter service!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I love the design and looks of this meter !
I aso have some much more expensive digital readout meters.
I checked the Diawa against these and found it quite accurate. Love the cross needle design.
but better yet is the service and backup from the Diawa company in Califorina.
i had a minor problem,called and talked to a very plesant person name "Mick", can"t rember being treated better.Fixed my problem instantly.
I find some of the accesories being made are
truly poor looking. It"s good to see a nice loooking meter.
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KD0NJP
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Rating: 5/5
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May 1, 2011 14:58
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Outstanding Additon to ANY Shack
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is a wonderful meter. Bright, easy to read with outstanding fit and finish!
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W3DS
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 11, 2011 16:13
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Very Nice Meter
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I wanted a meter with a large display that was accurate and easy to read. I previously had a Palstar PM2000A, an excellent meter but the display was a little small. The Daiwa is well built with a large cross needle display in a attractive cabinet. The quality and finish are top notch. The meter is easy to read and is reasonably accurate from low to high power. The meter looks great on the desk. The meter performs nicely and I'm very happy with my purchase. I can recommend the CN-801HP as a quality instrument.
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AC8DE
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 7, 2011 07:00
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Very Good Meter, with Some Limitations That Can be Overcome
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This meter is marketed through NCG in the USA.
http://www.cometantenna.com/
Overall, I like this product and can give it a 4. Only the lack of peak hold and reflected in PEP hold it back from a 5. I have owned this product for over a year now. Here are my observations.
Positives
• Beautiful bright white non-yellow display. Looks to have approx. 4500K LED’s in it.
• Large needles easily seen out of the corner of your eye.
• Accurate (after calibration)
• Mirror strip under the forward power needle.
• Easy to calibrate. Found I could calibrate it to within about +/- 5% across the bands, which is better than the claimed specifications.
• 3 power range settings; 20, 200 and 200 watts. Nice to have the 20 watt setting for tuning and QRP. Too many high power meters omit this low power setting.
• Accurate to well within claimed specifications across all bands. (once calibrated)
• Metal case with nice looking plastic bezel, giving it a good finish. Doesn’t look cheap.
• Once calibrated, measures more accurate and linear than a Bird model 43 and costs 1/6th of what a Bird does, when you consider you have to buy at least 6 slugs to cover the ranges and frequencies of this meter.
• The removable rubber bumpers area nice touch if you want to take the meter out for field day, as it offers this relatively large meter reasonable shock protection.
Negatives
• Out of the box, it was not accurate in PEP mode. Not even remotely close. Whlie the average mode was within 10%, the PEP mode was WAY out reading approximately 40% too high. Mine has a low serial number of 0812. This is lower than the serial number of the unit reviewed by QST. Perhaps the bugs were being worked out of training the people who were calibrating these meters and PEP was just missed in mine. Others here have commented that PEP is dead accurate right out of the box.
• No peak hold. I noted ZL3AG posted a modification here in the reviews to give it a proper peak hold. I may have to do this modification.
• As mentioned by many; no reflected readings in PEP mode. Bummer. This can probably be modified, but I have not dug into this either. I would settle for average reflected in PEP mode, which would be better than nothing.
• The needles are a bit slower than I would like and with absence of a peak hold, this adds insult to injury. Obviously, this is due to the lower power of the op amp, dampening and the larger mass of the long needle. It was to be expected I suppose for a big needle with a physically small movement. In order to go faster, it would take a bigger op amp and perhaps a different movement, thereby driving the meter’s cost up. And if they did go faster, you might bend them if you forget to change ranges when you go to high power, which we all do from time to time. Probably a reasonable trade off.
• No proper calibration instructions available from Diawa. NGC will send you the calibration instructions with the warning that it is a poor English translation, and that is the truth. Further, these instructions are just inaccurate and incomplete. The sketch of the board is for the wrong meter! I believe it is for the older version without PEP. It is not hard to figure out the board, but requires removal of the board from the meter or a mirror to look at the front of the board to figure out which potentiometer goes to which readings. I had to write my own calibration instructions for future reference and sharing.
Comment
Is accurate to within specification on a two-tone test and many digital modes as well. But do note it must be in PEP mode for of these modes to read accurately. And of course, you lose the reflected reading when you do so.
Conclusion
This is a good meter at a reasonable cost and can be calibrated very accurately if you have the right equipment. It is the linearity, ability to be calibrated to within 5% and the nice large display that pushed it to a 4. I cannot honestly say if my PEP inaccuracy out of the box was a fluke or not, but it can be easily adjusted nonetheless. I can wholeheartedly recommend it, even with its limitations. Once I mod the peak hold, I will be 90% satisfied with it. If I can develop a mod for it for the reflected in PEP mode and I can say I am 100% satisfied with it. Short of buying a Telepost LP-100A calibrated to a traceable NIST standard or the like which costs A LOT more (but does a lot more), it isn’t going to get much more accurate in an analog meter, once it is confirmed to be calibrated. Plus it looks nice on the shelf and a nice addition to any shack.
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WO8USA
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 13, 2010 17:52
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Nice Meter--highly Recommended
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I love the meter...the only improvement I'd want is the ability to see peak power while seeing SWR. This only provides SWR cross meter on average power. Either way its a nice meter, I have no regrets about buying it from R&L Electronics in Hamilton, OH.
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W4NFR
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Rating: 3/5
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Oct 13, 2010 16:33
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Needs Peak Hold Feature
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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No peak hold or reflected power in PEP mode. Time owned: One Day
The first thing I did was recalibrate it to match my peak reading Bird 43 peak meter. The power levels match up now, but needs a peak hold.
The meter works as advertised and looks nice, but I found two operating conditions that annoy me. 1) No peak hold on PEP mode, have to be quick to read the scale. 2) Reflected power does not read in PEP mode, AVG only - why not Daiwa?. I have been using the Daiwa NS-660PA for years now and I guess that I am just spoiled the way the peak hold works. The meter is a 5 on its own, but with the two short comings I'll give it a 3. Also, Daiwa does not provide a schematic with the operating sheet included. Wish somebody could provide me with or tell me where I could get a schematic?
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KC0GSB
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 28, 2010 08:55
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Excellent
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I used one for several years. I did recalibrate it using the Bird 43P. After that it worked very well. I broke mine by accident and replaced it with a Swan WM-3000. The Diawa has a nice large meter and is well lit, perfect for bad eyesight. I decided not to buy another as other, older, excellent meters are available cheaper. If this meter was all I had, I wouldn't complain.
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G4DYO
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Rating: 3/5
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Nov 4, 2009 11:01
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PEP reading fault
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The meter has worked well since I purchased it about 15 months ago.
Unfortunately today it developed a fault so that the PEP meter constantly reads 1200 watts, even without a transmitter plugged in! When switched off the meter returns to zero; when switched on it jumps to 1200 watts.
If anyone has any idea what may be the cause I would be very pleased to hear at g4dyo@aol.com
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