Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Yaesu YS-60 Peak-Reading Wattmeter

Category: SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Yaesu YS-60 Peak-Reading Wattmeter
Reviews: 24MSRP: 129.99
Description:
True peak-reading wattmeter
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/meters/0672.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15244.5
KB0GU Rating: 2010-03-01
Had higher expectations! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Looks nice, prior reviews are pretty much right on in most points, however, I have two on the work bench that are burned out. The ferrite pick ups inside soldered enclosures are fried and cracked and the unit is a rubics cube to take apart and put back together. I have not found replacement parts, or even specs on them. Have not tried very hard either outside of asking around, they just sit there dissassembled. Have not been able to bring myself to throw them out. One day... I'll get around to them.

----------------------
Earlier 3-star review posted by KB0GU on 2003-07-15

All previous posts are pretty much right on. Bulbs are wear items and difficult to replace, the ones I put in drew more current and were brighter and then caused melt of the top face plate which required small holes drilled to ventilate their heat, should have increased the resistor to them to drop the voltage a bit. It was acurate until an antenna fault smoked the toroid pick up and associated circuitry. It is in junk now as can't find parts to repair it. Worked good for several years but did not like the abuse of backed up near legal limit power. Do not think I will purchase another one.
K3CN Rating: 2009-02-05
works fine Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This meter is great and has been in constant use since 2001. The PEP readings are accurate and dependable. I monitor SWR on my Drake MN 2000 it is easier than switching the meter back. I find it very useful when tuning up my amps to full output and monitoring while operating. The lamps have burned out a year ago but I have no plans on replacing them. With the light in the shack I have no problems reading it. With a lot of years and almost daily use it has been very durable for my use. I have run linear amps at 600W and 1KW with no problems. I would buy it again if needed.
NL7FK Rating: 2006-10-22
Yaesu got it right with this meter Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my meter is line now for years and in line is where it is going to stay. I love the weight of this little meter. It stays put when you use RG8 coax, and the PEP function is right on. I checked the readings with my Coxial Dynamics meter and there is not a watts worth of difference. The swr is right on with my antenna analyzer and has been stable for over three years of use.
I love the backlit feature and I get my power from my radio so when I power down my rig the meter powers down as well. This my be why my lights have not burned out..
I use the meter in all modes including RTTY, PSK-31,and CW. In the digital modes I do not run more than 400 to 500 watts and not for any extended amounts of time. I have run legal limit on SSB with no problems what so ever.
I hated to see Yaesu get out of the meter business because they hit the mark with this little gem.
One can still find this meter at hamfest and online. If you see one you had better jump on it quick because if someone who knows what this meter can do sees it you can rest assured it will be gone. Do not snooze when you get the oppoprtunity to get one of these little meters because you will surely loose out..
Would I purchase another one? You bet I would...
OE3SGU Rating: 2006-10-15
Good but could be better Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Mine worked ok with 800 watts maximum, but I found out that on this rating it was not accurate, but which needle meter in this price range is? I remember that I liked the design and the simpleness of the unit and its very compact case. I dont know if they are still available, but I would buy again.
K7NG Rating: 2006-02-13
Fair to mediocre Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have toted my YS-60 here and there in portable and mobile setups for a long time, as well as using it in fixed station installations. I found that the CW forward power readings are quite close to those seen on a calibrated commercial dummy load/wattmeter with errors greatest between 16 and 22 MHz, still within about 3 to 5 percent. The peak power readings are at least in the ballpark above 3 MHz. I do not trust the meter VSWR readings however. I discovered that it is very inaccurate on 17M at all power levels, and the meter shows different VSWR indications depending on incident power across most of the HF range. It shows different numbers depending on RF on the coax shield and grounding, dependent on frequency. I choked the input and output coax right next to the meter with ferrite blocks and caused widely different VSWR readings, some became more accurate, some less - compared to a commercial meter and directional coupler. Grounding the meter case at the coax connectors also caused a change in readings, again some more and some less accurate. Doing both did not improve the confidence of the readings overall. In other words, trust the power readings and be cautious of what you read for VSWR. This said, I will keep my YS-60 and use it where it works best.
73, K7NG
VA7ACA Rating: 2004-11-18
Works Great Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought mine used and it works as advertised. I use it with my FT817, so its used in a low power mode. Not much to add other than its accurate and it works for my application.
W9AL Rating: 2004-07-22
Excellent, Accurate Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The YS-60 is a terrific little wattmeter, as is the matching VHF/UHF model, the YS-500. It reads all power levels accurately and the active PEP circuitry works very well.

Those who've posted reviews complaining about the YS-60 not standing up to long duty cycles at the legal limit, obivously didn't read the manual, as it specifically states that the average output power should be limited to 700 watts from 1.6 to 3.5mHz and 1kW between 3.5 and 60mHz, if transmission times exceed 10 minutes. It's always a good idea to read the manual before using a product and complaining that it doesn't do something that it wasn't designed to do in a product review is foolish.

If you want a nice little wattmeter that's compact, relatively inexpensive, accurate and works well over a wide range of frequencies, then the YS-60 is a very good choice- as long as you can read the manual.
N7ZDR Rating: 2003-01-25
Nice Meter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
If you don't mind fipping the switch to read the swr, This is a very nice meter. It very close to the bird PEP meter. The PEP reading is right on. Small but quite heavy
KA7GKN Rating: 2002-09-13
nice size, works great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
compared to other power meters in the shack the YS-60 is right on. I find the pep peak reading mode excellent and also very accurate, compared to other meters in the shack.
the only issue are those darn micro lamps they use! they burn out and are miserable.
I plan to replace the lamps, when the second bulb goes with white LEDs as I have done with all my other meters.
By the way anyone notice the similarity of the YS-60 and the REVEX W560????

Marty ka7gkn@arrl.net

N4MIT Rating: 2002-09-12
NOT for RTTY Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Meter is not designed for High Duty Cycle modes (rtty, sstv) at high power. I have burned up the sensor twice with rtty. Last time was 1100 watts out into a well matched th5dx on 20 meters. The torids get saturated at Hi Power and "chernoble". Parts are $80 so I won't fix it again. Works great for SSB or CW, fairly accurate but not a RTTY meter... Never buy another or even fix this one again. Sad to see it go in the trash!