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Reviews For: Elecraft DL1 Wideband 20-watt Dummy Load

Category: QRP Accessories

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Review Summary For : Elecraft DL1 Wideband 20-watt Dummy Load
Reviews: 7MSRP: 25.00
Description:
The dummy load can handle a full 20 watts (continuous). Its SWR is less than 1.3:1 through 225 MHz. It includes an integral RF detector for use with a voltmeter, allowing you to accurately calculate transmit power.

Product is in production
More Info: http://www.elecraft.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0074.9
KB2NAS Rating: 2011-06-11
Very Useful Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Great item to have around for QRP builders. The ability to connect a multimeter and get RF power measurements makes it very useful when aligning QRP transceivers. And you can say you own an Elecraft!

Too easy to build for five stars.
W2EEC Rating: 2010-05-28
Awesome/Easy :-) Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This was an awesome project to build and in return you get a very useable piece of equipment too.
It took me all of 30 minutes going slow to build this kit. It can be built much more quickly but where is the fun in that.
All of the parts sent are of the best of quality and clearly marked.
In the morning I am going to use the DL1 to align and set the power output of a Small Wonders Lab SW+ 20M CW QRP kit I just got done building the other day.
This is a very useful product if you like building and using QRP kits. I may build another one soon just to keep it in my "go-kit". The price of the kit and a BNC-male to male adapter shipped was $37.20 to my QTH. Not bad at all! The BNC male to male is made by Amphenol and looks like it is of excellent quality.
In my opinion you can't g wrong with this piece of equipment in your shack.

W2EEC
Eric
AB4BC Rating: 2006-12-12
Perfect match! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this kit to use in the alignment of the 222 MHz transverter kit I purchased from Elecraft. It was a quick and easy build and is a perfect 50 ohm load. Perfect SWR on all bands up to 1.25 meters! Lots of fun to assemble and works as specified.
OE3SGU Rating: 2006-10-01
Nice Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The kit was nice to build and is a good acessorie for the QRPer, recommended!
AK2B Rating: 2005-04-04
A little winner Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this dummy load mainly because of its ability to measure power using a DC voltmeter. You can calculate power using a formula or a supplied chart. It takes a lot of guessing out of the dubious accuracy of my wattmeter. I like the kits from Elecraft. They are fun to build and are always of the highest quality. This kit is pretty simple and didn’t take long to build. I like the easy clip points for attaching my DMM.
AK2B
W7OX Rating: 2003-12-05
Great QRP Accessory Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I built the DL-1 in about 20 minutes. There is not much to say about dummy loads, in most cases. But this one also lets you use a DMM to measure voltage and calculate power out using a simple equation, very useful for a builder/experimenter. The power measurements in the 3 to 5 Watt range I tested agreed with my best power meter (3% spec accuracy) to within 0.05 W. The DL-1 is a worthwhile addition to the arsenal of any QRP kit builder or operator.
NC4RT Rating: 2003-11-05
Easy, inexpensive, works great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've built a few QRP dummy loads in my day, and my designs have been hit-or-miss when it comes to their SWR performance.

Elecraft's new dummy load is a breeze to build, and does a wonderful job. It uses a printed circuit board, with plated-thru holes. The 8 3-watt resistors mount slightly above the PCB, to give better air conduction. I have pumped 15 watts into mine for 10-15 seconds, and notice very moderate warming. At the QRP frequencies for 80 meters thru 10 meters, it returns 1.0:1 SWR readings.

The RF detector is a real plus. By connecting the probes from your DC voltmeter, you can very accurately measure the output RF power of your rig. Elecraft provides the conversion equation; I loaded it into an Excel spreadsheet for quick calculations.

The DL1 comes with a female BNC connector. If you intend to attach it to your rig's female BNC connector, be sure to buy a female-to-female adapter (Elecraft will sell you a very high quality one for $5.00).

I run an Elecraft K-2, which has 2 button-selectable antenna outputs. I like to connect a lightweight dummy to one of the outputs, to prevent myself from accidentally transmitting to an open jack.

Elecraft's specs:
=======================
Power Rating: 20 watts maximum; 50% duty cycle.

Bandwidth: Input VSWR less than 1.1, 0 to 30 MHz, 1.2, 0 to 144 MHz, 1.3, 0 to 225 MHz

Power Measurement Accuracy: 10%, typical, 1 watt to 20 watts
========================

A high quality, very useful accessory for the QRP op.

Randy WA4CIT