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Reviews For: FoxDelta Dual Channel LCD SWR Meter By I2TZK, K7SFN & VU2FD

Category: SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

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Review Summary For : FoxDelta Dual Channel LCD SWR Meter By I2TZK, K7SFN & VU2FD
Reviews: 3MSRP: 54 LCD unit kit; Assembled $64.
Description:
Project & Firmware for Dual channel LCD SWR Meter presented here is exclusively developed by Antonio Alfinito / I2TZK for the ham community. Purpose is to encourage radio amateurs to build their own SWR Meter at a low price. Although, rated at 100W HF, this meter & bridge works very well at a KW or two, on all bands. Readings were very accurate compared to commercial SWR Meter. A simple powder coated case for CPU and bridges (HF Simple, Dual scale & VHF) are now available and offered free of charge with kit or assembled
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.foxdelta.com/products/swm2.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0033.7
KF5Y Rating: 2019-05-05
Nice looking kit - better if it worked Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Purchased SWM5: Dual Channel SWR Meter and 30MHZ Frequency Counter + HFB5 RF Bridge early 2018. SWM5 was factory assembled for a small extra fee. However neither the schematic of calibration instructions agree with what I received. The PWR reading appears to be fairly correct but the SWR when measured against SWAM WM-2000, Daiwa CN101L and their own AAZ-0217MX antenna analyzer is not even close. I know known of the comparison items are not +/- 10% or so but the SWM5 doesn't even come close. When looking at the DIP for instance pins two and 3 are forced to GND which does not agree with cal procedure. The boot window doesn't agree with the Tech documents. Sending emails to designers is fruitless. Save your money and go with the ones that work .
VK2FRO Rating: 2012-10-30
Nice kit - with one tiny caveat Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a good quality kit, and if you follow the instructions, and use some common sense (I installed the resistors and low profile chokes first) you can put the display module together in one sitting, and the bridge in another. Hardest part was preparing the thin coax sense jumper that goes into the bridge. The length supplied is very short, so have GOOD sharp tools to prepare it. It also needs a known radio (e.g. one that does 100W on FM, at 100%), and a known calibrated meter to calibrate it to. I've used mine with a 400W radio with no drama's. I have the usb version.

Due to the fact that its cheaper these days to toss out a printer and get a new one each time the ink runs out, you are bound to have an A-B usb cable. You can lop the A end off and attach it to any 5V 600mA source to drive the meter in stand alone mode, or simply connect it to the shack PC, and monitor your SWR and power on the PC screen. In stand alone mode the shack pc doesnt even detect it, yet meter powers. Mine is on now even though I don't have a HF rig at the moment (awaiting my FT-950!)
N8CBX Rating: 2012-05-08
You build it, calibrate it, and performs very well Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Kit is intended for experienced Radio Amateurs, although I built it in one night. If a ham wants to learn about SWR/Power meters and don’t have the money for a $300 meter, this is a good option to get the capability. The kit is shipped from India, via airmail, and delivery time is about 2 weeks. A very nice kit, comes with quality components. This is the RS-232 serial com port version. They also sell a USB version. Be advised the documentation is sketchy & scattered about on the website, and could be written down more concisely into a few pages. I would buy another one of their kits. Its fun building them