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Reviews For: Kuranishi BR-510D

Category: Antenna Analyzers

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Review Summary For : Kuranishi BR-510D
Reviews: 4MSRP: 699
Description:
Standing Wave Analyzer for HF, VHF, UHF
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.kuranishi.co.jp - or - http:// www.natcommgroup.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0044.8
KH6MP Rating: 2007-02-22
Great build quality, easy to use, accurate. Has one quirk Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had been wanting a good, solid dependable SWR meter for quite some time. I decided my money would be better spent an analyzer rather than a decent watt/ SWR meter for the sake of speed and convenience.

After seeing the dismal reviews of the MFJ and Autek products which would cover almost the same frequency ranges and after reading the reviews here on the 510D, I decided to try and hunt one down. The bad news is they do not distribute these in the US. They only have the the more basic model which only covers through VHF (no UHF).

I ended up finding mine on the Yahoo Auctions Japan site. With the help of a Japanese friend, I purchased it and had it sent to his mother who then sent it to me via EMS mail (very reasonable price). Total cost to me after the Yen conversion, and the 2 shipping charges was $410. It was here in 1 1/2 weeks from the time it was purchased online.

The unit is very well built and feels solid in the hand. Controls are smooth and tactile. The red LED freq. display and lit buttons give it that lab equipment look. Operation is self-explanatory so you need not worry about the Japanese only manual. In case anyone is wondering what the type N coax connector is for- it's only function is for UHF impedance measurement. All other freqs impedance and SWR as well as UHF SWR are read through the SO-239. Included is a small dummy load just to double check the accuracy of the unit. It runs on 6 AA batteries.

Also, the unit seems to perform fine outside the specified freq ranges. My unit will go as low as 1.56 mhz and up to 170.9 in the normal range and for the UHF range, it goes 252 to 525 mhz. Of course, accuracy may be an issue outside the published spec range.

The ONLY flaw I've found when using the unit is that it is sensitive to nearby transmitters. I live in a very dense VHF/UHF RF area and found that when nearby base stations (within 1000 feet) or repeaters key up, the unit goes a bit crazy. In most cases, it causes the SWR reading to indicate higher than the actual reading. You can watch the needle move up and down as stations xmit. In these cases, I always take the lowest reading.

In extreme cases, the LED freq display will completely change to a totally different frequency than what you were on and show the frequency of the offending transmitter. I used this newfound 'feature' to tune my VHF rig to the frequency of the cab company base station next to me. I listened to the rig and watched the 510D and everything correlated. Every time they keyed up, the 510D would show the xmit frequency and the SWR indication would go high. I managed to tune my antennas in between their transmissions.

My guess is this near-field RF problem is something that you just have to deal with while using a low-tech frequency generator and counter. I'd imagine competing analyzers have this same problem as well.

Aside from this quirk which may be pertinent to all low cost antenna analyzers, the 510D is a very good unit and if you can get it for the price I did, it's worth the little extra over the competing brands.
W4CKH Rating: 2005-06-22
The 510D has an analog meter which is unique. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this unit in Tokyo as a souvenir. My friend, JJ7BON, took me to Akihabara Yaesu Radio shop and I bought the 510D there. My motivation for buying is the quality of workmanship apparent in the equipment. Although I like the complex impedance offered by MFJ, the 510D has the analog meter which is unique. The purchase price was $450 from the Yaesu shop. So far I have no complaints about the unit.
G3VDZ Rating: 2004-03-03
well built easy to use Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased unit in UK on 03/03/04 for £430 GBP. Arrived with faults: 1 - meter terminal securing nuts inside almost falling off. 2 - connections to batteries soldered the wrong way round!!!!! luckily it did not blow up my unit. I corrected the faults myself and sent e-mail to manufacturer, so they may now have tightened up on their quality control. No decent UK instructions available on purchase date, but they are supposed to be on their way. Bit expensive in UK for limited functions as compared to MFJ269, but apart from the faults, build quality very good. Comes with good quality dummy load for calibration check. My MFJ269 I bought several years ago has now ceased working (looks like logic fault, display locks up).The build quality of my MFJ unit was very bad and I wanted something built a lot better. LED display nice and bright, smooth tuning with good feel. Only has an analogue meter for SWR and impedance display - makes it quick to use, and being from the old school I quite like a meter.
KB7GH Rating: 2003-10-02
Excellent Build Quality! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This SWR analyzer has proven itself to be an easy to use and accurate tool. The case is built like a tank, yet, is not sized like one. Battery changes are a snap. I also own an MFJ-469 which has many more bells and whistles, however IMHO, repeatabilty and accuracy of measurement are a couple of areas where the BR-510D outperforms the 469 ... particularly when working on UHF antennas (e.g. no discernable capacitive coupling of your hand to the case). Although the manual I received was in Japanese only, I had no trouble using the unit immediately. The entry cost may seem a little steep, but for critical antenna measurement I'm real happy that I jumped-in!