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Reviews For: Oak Hills Research WM-2 QRP Wattmeter Kit

Category: QRP Accessories

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Review Summary For : Oak Hills Research WM-2 QRP Wattmeter Kit
Reviews: 41MSRP: 89.95
Description:
QRP wattmeter: 300 kHz to 54 MHz in 10W, 1W, and 100mW scales
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ohr.com/wattmeter.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00414.8
W8BBM Rating: 2008-10-02
QRPp Must Have Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought and built my kit several years ago and it is an outstanding little piece of equipment. It went together just as the instructions said it would and I had no difficulties at all. Like building any kit, all one needs to do is take their time and double check EVERY step BEFORE it is made. None of it is rocket science and I would say that a careful 11 or 12 year old could easily do the work.

I love this little meter and if you are planning on doing QRPp, it is great to know, document and say with confidence that you are putting out a 20mw signal. The actual meter is nice, large, easy to see AND adjust. Next to accuracy, that is a critically important feature that even most full power meters don't offer.

This is a solid little piece of equipment that is recognized by the established QRP community as essential and accurate when built and calibrated to manual specifications.

Build and enjoy!

Peter W8BBM

IW3FZQ Rating: 2008-05-07
Great Wattmeter ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I also have 2 Daiwa meters and one Bird 43 but WM-2 is very funny to use! I've built it in some hours, if you read the included manual it is impossible to mistake or obtain bad behavior. It has a good nquality meter while all components are medium quality. Very low consumption, it works with 5 Volts too!!! I haven't found cigarettes ash inside like many HAMs !! It works until 70 MHz. After alignment, I compared it to my Bird 43 with a very minimum difference on HF and without difference between 28 and 70 MHz. OAK, well done! 73 de Enrico, IW3FZQ
N6HI Rating: 2008-04-25
See Link for step-by-step photos of kit construction Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Oak Hills Research WM-2 QRP Wattmeter is a great kit building experience for beginners and a VERY useful accessory item for any QRP station or test bench. Before I built this kit I had no way to really measure the output of my QRP rig accurately, and had to "guess" at my output power.

The guessing game is over, and the WM-2 is a great addition to my station. I am a dedicated QRPer, and have not used more than 5 Watts on ANY band or mode in the last 12 years. I don't know how I ever got along without one of these meters!

As digital photography is one of my "other hobbies" I decided to photo-document the entire process of building the WM-2 Kit, and have published the results on my website. If you are considering building this kit, you can see exactly what the process will entail if you go to my website at at:

http://members.cox.net/jrehak/

... then click on "The Joy of Kit Building"

I highly recommend the OHR WM-2 Wattmeter to all QRP operators!

"72" John N6HI
K2JJ Rating: 2007-11-18
Nice unit with a few construction caveats. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I wouldn't recommend this as your first kit but if you are reasonably careful and have some help it could certainly be done. A few construction hints. Clean the PC board solder side carefully before you begin to remove any oxidation. This will help solder flow quickly and cleanly, The lands on the board are not uniform and only have a small area for the solder to stick in some places. A brown paper bag material is abrasive enough for the job, add a little contact cleaner to the paper if you wish.

On the external power/battery switch solder the wires to the switch BEFORE you mount it to the rear panel. The terminals on the switch are small and are easily shorted together or to the retaining tabs on the switch. This will allow you to inspect it easily. Very hard to see after it is mounted.

If you are not familiar with winding the coils get some help or use the the OHR contractor to do it for you. It is very important that these coils are wound properly.

Inspect the board carefully for solder bridges after installing each component particularly the 2 IC's. This step will save you trouble later as it is not that easy to remove the board for troubleshooting after it is installed.

Other than that everything goes together very easily. Alignment is easy but the pots can be a bit touchy to get the exact voltage you need. The meter works very well and is quite accurate as compared to my HP-436A power meter. All in all I think you'll be very satisfied with this product
NU4B Rating: 2007-04-07
Very nice Kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a great kit for QRP'ers. My kit had all the parts. The instructions were easy to understand. Everything went together well. Alignment was also easy to do. I ended up with a nice looking piece of equipment that has already come in handy measuring milliwatt levels. If your running QRP or QRPp you will enjoy this kit.
OE3SGU Rating: 2006-10-01
Must have for the QRPer! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I am not an experienced builder but the WM-2 was a great experience. It was no problem to build it and it works very fine. A very useful tool in the QRPers shack. Highly recommended!
former_AE6CP_LH Rating: 2006-09-25
Must have for kitbuilding Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Not much to say, the kit is well put together. Worked fine the first time. Makes TX alignment a snap.
K1FPV Rating: 2006-08-31
Excellent QRP Accessory! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
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.
AI4IK Rating: 2006-08-30
You'll like it Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
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.
POOBA53 Rating: 2006-04-02
Nice Product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
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?