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Reviews For: Daiwa CN-101L 1.8 to 150 mHz peak reading wattmete

Category: SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

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Review Summary For : Daiwa CN-101L 1.8 to 150 mHz peak reading wattmete
Reviews: 39MSRP: 89.95
Description:
Cross Needle SWR & Power meter, panel back-lighted.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.daiwa-industry.co.jp/radio/ham_e/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00393.2
VE3KBF Rating: 2020-06-26
Easily adjusted and it's not the price of a Bird wattmeter. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I picked one up at a Hamfest for $45. I've read many complaints about accuracy however there IS a reason guys why they put Pots in them. I compared it to another meter that I knew was accurate and tweaked this one (there are 3 pots L/M/H) but you really only need to adjust the Medium one as it reads from 0 - 150w which pretty well covers most Barefoot HF/VHF applications. Yes when I got it, transmitting with 65w out to a Dummy Load, it did read about 50. So I tweaked it up to read 65 to match the other known good Source. It reads SWR well as it's very comparable to readings I got using a Rig Expert Analyzer. Nice bright LED back light and mine came with the rectangular rubber end sections which trim it off nicely. No, it's not a Bird, but for a fraction of the price, along with its decent aesthetics, why not?
NR5K Rating: 2018-07-30
Awful! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned this door stop for 15 years or so. I should have thrown it in the trash 14 years ago but I have the ham's junque collector disease. It has always been inaccurate on all bands/modes. Now it won't even register anything. Not as useful as a NE-2 RF detector. Do not waste your hard earned $ on this POS.
G7HFS Rating: 2017-12-17
Don't buy this. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Oh my god....I didn't really need another vswr meter as I have the Diamond SX-200 and SX-600N but a " friend" was so strapped for cash and wanted to sell it so I bought it off him as thought it could be used as my portable meter as ofcourse I did not want get my Diamond meters dirty if I was out in the field operating portable...It was probably the worst purchase I have ever made 😥The accuracy was so out of alignment and even after realignment it still isn't great...It looks nice and yes it is good as a reference meter and does the job well when I'm out portable or mobile when I'm loading up my various end fed wires etc but 1... Forget the pep readings and 2..The power accuracy is more like +/-30% at full scale....I'm amazed that they still sell this....😂😂
KA0RSN Rating: 2016-03-08
Not Accurate Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Compared this with a couple other meters that had known accuracy, and was very surprised! For the low $ amount, I could see a little difference in accuracy, but this CN-101L had MUCH higher readings than I expected.
If you are looking for a fairly accurate meter, this isn't it.
W4KVW Rating: 2016-02-15
Save you money Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The meter is not accurate on any band that it covers.The so called PEP feature is pathetic & this is what the US Rep for the company advised me about the accuracy & attempting too correct it myself.Like most rather inexpensive electronic items, the repair cost is typically not much lower than the “NEW” cost.Just an FYI, A PDF file was attached for recalibration of the meter.

We have a local repair facility we contract with and the repair cost is usually about $60-$80 total.

If we don’t have the parts on hand it is usually cheaper and easier for everyone to offer you a new meter for about the same cost as repairing your old meter.

Attached are calibration instructions supplied by Daiwa.

The translation is worse than poor, but if you want to try to calibrate your meter before sending it to us it can’t hurt.

Mick Stwertnik
NCG Company
15036 Sierra Bonita Lane
Chino, CA 91710
909-393-6133
FAX 909-393-6136
www.natcommgroup.com
Really? They are telling me the meter is far from a quality meter.Buy one at you own risk & you now know what I know from the people who sell & repair the meters.
SA7AZQ Rating: 2015-10-16
Good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had looked for a swr/Power meter for over a year and in August I desided to buy my self a CN101. It wokrs well with my 500w HF linear amplifier. I do not know how accurat it, but enough for me anyway. Have not tested it on 2m. Not the cheap "plastic feeling" that it was in my alan KW520 I had a few years ago. I give it a 5/5.
GM4SVM Rating: 2015-08-11
Unfortunate accuracy issues Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Having owned a Daiwa NS660P which I unfortunately disposed of I bought a CN101L which looked similar. However, there were a couple of issues with it. Firstly, it is not a true peak reading meter for SSB. The NS660 required a 13.8v supply or a 9V battery input to drive the meter circuits and provide a true PEP reading. Secondly, the meter was the most innacurate of any amateur grade meter I have used. As an example, a UK CB tranceiver registered as 2W output. Other VSWR meters were showing 3.5W to 4W. The correct reading on a proper meter was 3.9W. That is nearly 50% innacuracy. My HF transceiver on 14MHz was showing an output of 80w. The real output was 102W. On the VSWR side the readings were flatter than reality. A bandwidth of 100KHz at 1.5:1 or less on this meter was really just 50KHz. I notice some reviewers saying that this should be expected as it is just an amateur grade meter, but I have not seen this level of innacuracy in any other meter in this price range or in any other Daiwa meter. It may be a quality control issue or a fault in some of them as other people are reporting the accuracy as OK. If you are going to buy one test it first.
AB7DJ Rating: 2014-03-11
very disappointing Time Owned: more than 12 months.
THE METER IS LITELY USED BUT I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED. THE 150 RANGE WILL NOT REGISTER..
W3VVV Rating: 2013-04-01
Fine for the shack, but don't be mislead by claims of PEP Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My CN-101L is about 20 years old and it still works fine. It is reliable and easily accurate enough for ham shack use.

The meter is large and easy to read without the light, which is good because the bulb illuminates the meter rather unevenly.

I'd really like to give this meter a 5, but I'm taking off 2 points because the manufacturer says that it can display PEP, even though it really does not have that capability. At best, this is false advertising. They might fool CB'ers, but they're not fooling amateurs radio operators.

N0NZG Rating: 2012-12-30
Great price , long lasting performance Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this SWR / WATT meter for over 10 years and for what it is I am very happy with it.
Yes ,the PEP function is a joke and in no way does what it says. You can always do a little multiplication to convert from average to PEP. This meter is built solid inside and has survived a lot over the years. As for as calibration concerns there are calibration pots provided so you can set to a known standard and have a very accurate meter. For a $100 meter this one gets my vote over ANY mfj product!