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Reviews For: Workman 104 VHF-UHF SWR Wattmeter

Category: SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

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Review Summary For : Workman 104 VHF-UHF SWR Wattmeter
Reviews: 17MSRP: 28.99
Description:
VHF-UHF SWR Wattmeter 120-500 MHz 52 ohm 150 Watts Max Power Workman Electronic Products 11955 County Road 10-2 Delta, Ohio 43515-9748 800.537.7107 Fax: 419.923.7145
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00172.1
AC4HR Rating: 2011-05-08
Not a bad low price meter...I like it. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I gave it a 4 only because some of the soldering is poor. Now it is 2011, and some of the prior reviews were written back as far as 2004. I have had mine for over a year and I just now broke it.. I dropped it on a very hard floor. Short story..One of the cold solder joints holding the center conductor between the two SO-239s let go. I cleaned up the soldering to the connectors and it came back to life. Hey, if you want a commercial, professional watt meter pay the $200 to $500 it would cost. but when you only paid $28 for a unit, don't bitch if it a little shy of perfect. AND it is NOT made in china.
SLIMJIM8094 Rating: 2010-07-04
Doesn't suck Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I assume the people who wrote the reviews here came here in the first place because they had bad experiences. No, this is not a super fancy meter, but it's cheap and it works.

It seems like everybody here is forgetting to read the instructions. Admittedly, they're written like crap, but pretty straightforward.

To summarize: Tune the frequency you'd like to check, set the meter switch to "SET" (center), and key up. The needle will do something - fiddle with the set knob to put the needle on the ∞ (infinity) marking. Then you can measure wattage/swr on that frequency.

I have no other SWR meter yet, so I've been minimizing the readout. But the wattage is spot on, so it's definitely doing something right.

Long story short - you absolutely have to calibrate it properly. Then it should work fine.
KO6JT Rating: 2009-11-24
Not good ! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Walkman 104 needs to be trashed.
very poor, on both bands
great meter for those that like to fix things.

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N3IDG Rating: 2009-08-08
junk Time Owned: N.A.
as was said run away my was given to me new in package says my talkie is doing a 150 watts plus on both bands , also says swr is 5 to 1 oin both bands double checked swr with my trusted meter was 1.2 to 1 both bands . glad it was free and no money was wasted on it . workman should be ashamed to even sell thias item . pat n3idg/2
KG4QPQ Rating: 2007-03-10
W1FEH is correct JUNK! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Mine was just like his screws srtipped, cold solder joints and connecttions to antenna connectors broken. Poorly designed and even more poorly constructed. If soemone offers you one of these for free, back away slowly and then run as soon as you think it's safe.
W0ACE Rating: 2007-02-21
Its all relative.... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had one for over a year now. Seems to work ok, I don't think its accurate for power readings, but I do think it works for SWR on 2/440. But I kinda just use it for tuning to the lowest setting I can get, and don't really read the meter face....reads low on all power settings on ALL my radios.....But, I only gave $15 for it so...........
W1FEH Rating: 2004-05-16
JUNK! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased this new from a dealer at the Orlando Hamcation. Big mistake! First the screw holes that hold the SO-239's were stripped so had to add new hardware to keep it together. The soldering is garbage inside. When I used it it would work on 2m but gave wild readings on 440 unless I tweeked the pot inside the unit. I was using it tonight to check the SWR on 440 with 35W it smoked. Now all it does is foward power on 2m. Funny, 35W smokes a unit rated for 150W. If I could find an address to send it to I would with a nice letter.