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Reviews For: Oak Hills Research RFL-100 Dummy Load Kit

Category: QRP Accessories

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Review Summary For : Oak Hills Research RFL-100 Dummy Load Kit
Reviews: 14MSRP: 34.95
Description:
The Oak Hills Research RFL-100 was designed specifically for the QRP operator and builder who needs an accurate and stable 50 Ohm load. Handles 100 Watts continuous (air cooled).
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ohr.com/rfl100.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00145
WA0RJ Rating: 2003-06-14
High Quality Product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm very impressed with the overall quality of this kit. All the parts were organized well in strong reusable plastic snap top bags. All parts present. Circuit board was as described in the literature. Parts quality very high. Case doesn't look "kit-ish," looks more like a commercially made product. Very aesthically pleasing.

Construction was easy. I am just getting back into kit building after a long hiatus. Inspite of unsteady hands and poor eyesight, I had no trouble getting the kit together in 2 hours, including the telemarketer calls.

Documentation is adequate. I found the instructions to be OK for such a simple kit and for someone with prior kit experience.

After circuit board completion measured at 49.7 ohms. Pretty good. After installation in cabinet still measured 49.7 ohms at the PL 259.

I like it, looks professional and it is very convenient.

If you need a dummy load, get it. I think you will like it too.

This being my first Oak Hills kit, I'm impressed enough (realizing not too much can go wrong with a dummy load)to build some of their other ones.
KG4FXG Rating: 2003-04-03
RFL-100 Dummy Load Kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a great Dummy Load Kit. So you want to be a builder? This is a great kit to start with that will prove useful in the shack for years to come. Please read Marshall Emm’s “Electronic Construction from A-Z” http://www.morsex.com/building/atoz.htm A must read if you want to be a builder.

I enjoy my dummy load, and it looks nice with my OHR Watt Meter and DD-1. They just all go together. It is a pleasure to do business with Marshall Emm of Milestone Technologies and OHR. He really cares and has given me great advice about building over the phone.

These kits by OHR are of the same quality as the Elecraft kits. You won’t be disappointed!

73
Bill KG4FXG
WA4FOM Rating: 2002-03-21
Nice RF load; great practice kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm not going to (deliberately) repeat any of
the comments from the previous review(s).
I took my sweet time building this kit, taking
about two hours. I like to triple-check the
directions, take steel wool to each component
lead, and "ohm-out" each solder connection.

Your results may vary.

My RFL-100 measured 50.3 ohms at the connector
once completed. After I bolted the cover in
place, I took my MFJ-250, a Heathkit Cantenna
clone, down to the basement for the "big rig".
The RFL-100 is at the very least convenient;
you don't have to worry about accidentally
tripping over the thing and dealing with
cleaning up several quarts of transformer oil
(not to mention QRM from the Significant Other).
It also occupies much less space on the
homebrew test table.

Moreover, this kit is EXCELLENT for
someone who wants to build one of the many,
many ham radio-related kits out there (such as
the Elecraft transceiver series), but is unsure
of his/her soldering skills. You get a chance
to practice soldering 20 resistors in place,
not to mention inventorying parts, following
directions, and making basic functionality
tests.

It fills a niche as both a low-power dummy load
as well as a practice kit. Buy it.

AA1UY Rating: 2001-11-25
Nice QRP+ accessory Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is a dummy load *kit* primarily aimed at the QRP operator but rated for 100 watts continuous RF output. This means that as well as being able to use it for your 100 watt rig, that it should be rock steady for prolonged use at 5 watts or less (many lesser QRP dummy loads change resistance as they heat up).

Cooling is achieved purely by air convection through the well vented cabinet (no messy oil or noisy fans).

As you may imagine, it's a very easy kit to put together. In the kit, you'll find a good strong printed circuit board with wide traces, 20 stout metal oxide resistors, an S0-239 socket and all the necessary hardware to mount them in the (provided) attractive and solid silk-screened cabinet. The instructions are easy enough to follow and all that's missing is the solder.

Mine came up at 49.6 ohms which is not bad at all. It basically depends how the resistors deviation from their specified values evens out across all 20 of them. Anyway, OHR states that the overall load should be "within a couple of decimal points of 50 ohms".

Works just fine (and cool) at 5 watts as you would expect. I don't currently own a QRO rig so can't comment on its performance at 100 watts continuous.

All in all, this is an attractive and useful addition to any shack and so far, in my experience, I've found OHR a great company to deal with.