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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
KU4QD Rating: 2002-02-24
A must-have for the avid QRPer Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
OK, I admit it: I didn't build mine. I bought it used. You can also buy it built and tested (at a fairly hefty price) from OHR if you, like me, are one of those who haven't got the time to build a kit or the experience to feel like you'd get it right.

The wattmeter itself is a pleasure. It covers HF and 6 meters with 10W, 1W, and 100mW scales. Finally I have something that gives me a reasonably accurate idea of what my QRPp rigs put out. I'm also using it inline with a Mizuho KX-QRP tuner to measure SWR. It's nice to be able to tune up with a rig that puts out milliwatts. The dial scale is large and easy to read. A 9V battery (or a 12V DC source) is required, but power consumption is pretty minimal. A small QRP rig, the wattmeter, some wire, and the little tuner and I am ready to go anywhere and operate.

The WM-2 is, IMHO, a must-have for the avid QRPer.
WB8CAC Rating: 2002-01-19
QRPers, You NEED this meter! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Another great Oak Hills Research kit building experience. Went together and aligned in just over 3 hours including a lot of interruptions. If you drink 71 cups of coffee to stay awake to build it late at night, you may want to have someone else put the panel labels on. If you shake and get 'em crooked, your "stuck" with it.

I didn't beleive a wattmeter could be calibrated without an accurate RF source... it can. The procedure is painless and quick. A check against the my HP at work shows accuracy well withing the range of reality.

It's great to be able to change power levels and really KNOW where you are. It makes for more of an incentive to keep reducing power to see what you can get down to. Guessing, or using the meter in your 100 KW antenna tuner just doesn't cut it. The WM-2 does.

Order one today!!!!!!!!!
AA5CH Rating: 2001-08-16
Nice kit, good service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
All the parts for the kit were present and the manual is well written. I went slowly and it took me approximately 6 hours to assemble and align the wattmeter. It is a nice looking meter and seems to work well. The service from Marshall Emm and the Milestone Technologies Group has always been good. The WM-2 is an essential accessory for the QRP operator or kit builder.

73,

Brad
AA5CH
KC0FJL Rating: 2001-06-28
Very cool kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Easy to assemble if you know which end of the soldering iron to hold. Excellent instructions for assembly, easy calibration, and an extremely useful, durable, and fine looking product.
G3VGR Rating: 2001-02-18
Very useful kit for the QRP'er Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The kit goes together very easily and I was impressed by the ease of calibration. The resulting product is a fine QRP accessory. I would have preferred BNC sockets instead of SO239's though...
K8RJA Rating: 2001-02-18
Great product Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
An easily assembled kit with both battery and external power supply. I don't know how any QRPer could get along without one.
JL1KRA Rating: 2000-02-21
Standard meter for amaterur Time Owned: unknown months.
Kit itself very easy. Tend to forget it tun off without any power indication LED. Still a battery last long for the low power consumption.
Calibrating with the proffesional measuremant tool, the power indication is not so accurate.
10-20% deviation in power mesurement remained
at mid power level after full scale caribration. This is due to analog meter labeling
and not avoidable.
Its very fun to see swinging meter with QRPp signal.
AD4J Rating: 2000-01-06
Excellent unit; easy to build Time Owned: unknown months.
I hadn't built a kit in many years when I tackled the WM-2. The instructions were excellent and I encountered no problems other than 3 minor errors in the Parts List. Alignment was a snap and the unit worked perfectly the first time. Using the WM-2, I find I can cut the power on my Kenwood TS-870S down to 70 - 250 mW (depending on the band). The trick is reduce the carrier control as well as the power knob. It's amazing what you can work with less than a watt! The WM-2 takes over where my Bird 43 leaves off.
W2RBA Rating: 1999-12-19
Great QRP wattmeter kit! Time Owned: unknown months.
I'd been out of the kit building scene for some 25 years, so I thought I'd start with a smaller, simpler kit. I couldn't have asked for a better kit than the WM-2! Easy to follow instructions and simple yet nice construction made this a good introduction to kit-building in the 1990s. If you need a QRP wattmeter, this is the kit to choose.
K7FD Rating: 1999-09-25
See My Review under WATTMETERS Time Owned: unknown months.
See my review of the WM-2 under WATTMETERS.