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Reviews For: Welz SP-15M

Category: SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

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Review Summary For : Welz SP-15M
Reviews: 5MSRP:
Description:
1.8-150MHz wattmeter/SWR meter, 200W, 20W, and 2.5W scales
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0054.8
G7HFS Rating: 2017-12-21
Lovely construction. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I came across this meter with its matching tuner at a rally about 3 yrs ago and the seller was asking £15 for both units.I asked him what was wrong and he assured me that all worked ok and he was just modernising his shack. I'm so impressed with the accuracy and the build quality.If you can get your hands on one then buy one.Ok no pep but that's really not a problem as I could build in an active circuit if needed.
MI3LVZ Rating: 2009-03-12
Cheap and cheerful Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Paid a tenner for mine and well pleased. You will have to back light it yourself and they're quite a lump for a single meter unit.
G4TRA Rating: 2009-02-24
Fine power/SWR meter Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have four of these hooked up to various antennas, so I must like them. Manufactured in metal as opposed to plastic they have a reasonable sized meter which on mine have all benefited from do it yourself back lighting. UR67 coax doesn't have the meter scuttling around the bench unlike some smaller meters and they stack easily. They all read about 25% of peak on SSB and are accurate enough to detect any SMR/power problems easily. Only problems over the last 30 years have been one SWR toroid detection coil burn-out and an internal plastic meter front becoming hazing, other than that they’re a good general purpose shack antenna monitor and good value for money. Anybody got any they want to sell?
K7VO Rating: 2005-08-20
Best kept secret in wattmeters, very inexpensive on used market Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The Welz SP-15M is an imported Japanese wattmeter. They were sold by Encomm in the U.S. and when they went out of business these meters disappeared from the U.S. market. Welz products continued to be sold overseas. The net result is that most American hams don't know what they are and they can be had very inexpensively.

The SP-15M is a beautifully made analog wattmeter. It is the old fashioned type -- not cross needle -- so you do have to switch between forward and reflected power. That deosn't bother me. I'd rather have an accurate meter than crossed needles any day.

As the previous reviewer pointed out these are in solid metal cases, not plastic, and they aren't terribly small. Power scales are 200W, 20W, and 2.5W so these meters are wonderful for the QRPer. Accuracy seems quite good. Unlike newer products the meter is not backlighted, a minor drawback. The meter is large enough to be easy to read. Frequency coverage is 1.8MHz (160m) through 150MHz (above 2m) and everything in between.

There are holes on the side for attaching a mounting bracket or the matching AC-35 antenna tuner. I'd dearly love to have the tuner.

As an inveterate QRPer who also has some gear that can run up to about 65W this meter is perfect for me. Highly recommended.
WJXQ Rating: 2005-02-25
A well made little RF meter. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought one of these on ebay for about $18. It has power scales of 2.5, 20, and 200 watts, forward and reflected. It's rated for 1.8 to 150 MHz. It has an all metal enclosure. I mainly bought it to use with FM broadcast exciters with power outputs of 10 to 50 watts. It seems to work very well (or should I say "Welz"). I ran an old CB radio into it with both a 50 ohm dummy load and antenna. It showed 3.5 watts forward, 0.1 watts reflected with the load, and 1.5 watts reflected with the antenna (bad antenna I guess). I also used it with a broadcast remote pickup transmitter on 161.70 MHz. It seemed to work fine even though it was a little above 150 MHz. It showed 42 watts forward on a transmitter rated for 45 watts.