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Reviews For: LDG FT-Meter

Category: SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

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Review Summary For : LDG FT-Meter
Reviews: 49MSRP: 49.00
Description:
Yaesu's popular FT-857 and FT-897 transceivers are wonders of compact efficiency. These do-anything, go-anywhere transceivers were science fiction just a few years ago, but ham's today are using them in shacks, mobiles and on dxpeditions from the back yard to the top of the world.

About the only problem with these radios is that us hams who are old enough to remember when stuff like this really was science fiction are also old enough to wish that the display was just little bit bigger. As we grow in wisdom and experience, we also grow to depend on bifocals; those tiny little screens are just plain hard to read! Add to that a strong desire to see a real live meter needle bouncing on voice peaks, and you find yourself wishing Yaesu had thought all this through when they designed the radio.

Well, in fact they did. A little known feature of these radios, noticed only by compulsive manual readers, is a meter jack on the bottom of the front panel. You have to figure that Yaesu knew they needed a bigger display all along, but just left it as an exercise for the user. Well, help is here! The LDG FT-Meter is a low-cost, plug-and-play solution to all your FT metering needs.

The FT-Meter presents a lush, highly readable 2.5" meter face with calibrated scales for signal strength and discriminator reading on receive, and power output, SWR, modulation, ALC action and supply voltage on transmit. Each function is s electable from the radio's menu. Easily visible from anywhere on your desk or dash, the FT-Meter is illuminated by any external 12 vdc source. The FT-Meter comes fully assembled and ready to go; just plug it into the radio and you're in the picture like never before. Order yours today
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ldgelectronics.com/FT-Meter_purchase.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00494.6
N9VO Rating: 2006-05-27
Great meter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Meter works great. Seems to be accurate and is a nice touch. My only suggestion would be a switch to turn the light on and off instead of having to unplug each time. I took a micro toggle switch, drilled a small hole on back and wired it up. Now I can leave it plugged in and easily flip the light on and off. Nice little mod indeed. Looks like it came that way. LDG maybe you could add that touch. Would make it a 6 then!!
VK4APN Rating: 2006-05-15
Adds significant utility to the radio! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Very readable, accurate out of the box, adds a very worthwhile improvement to the FT857D.
OZ1GCT Rating: 2006-05-14
Fantastic little meter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have got it today as a birthday gift from my wife.This little meter shows you everything you need,and seems to be very accurate.
KI4LSH Rating: 2006-04-03
Beautiful, Accurate and 100% Functional Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Received word of this meter through a local friend/HAM in the area and it's simply a must for anyone owning a 857/897 that wants a touch of class to their station. Beautiful, functional and 99.9999% accurate right out of the box! Installation is a snap! Setup is a breeze! Extremely fast standard shipping from LDG (ordered Friday and received it Monday morning)! Highly recommend!
K2HJM Rating: 2006-03-19
Nostalgic Glow of Analog Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well-designed and esthetically pleasing, this meter's warm yellow glow makes you feel like you're running your old HW-101 or Collins rig. Is it important to you to know that the zero- to- single-bar SWR reading you're getting actually is less than 1.5:1? The LDG meter can fill that need! And have I mentioned that comforting glow? It sets up easily using the Yaesu menu; you can choose from a series of defaults on receive and xmtr. When someone figures out a novel way of switching the meter's light power with the rig's, it will be the perfect add-on.
former_GM7USC Rating: 2006-03-03
Fantastic Meter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Fantastic little meter.
Yes you can make your own meter but getting an accurate scale is a different matter :) Measures SWR ALC Power out Modulation and Voltage on transmit, on recieve Voltage Signal or Discriminator depending on what you set in the menus. Calibration is a breeze, infact comes calibrated in the factory so you don't really need to.
Excellant piece of gear certainly a vast improvement on the info provided on the front of the radio. Well done LDG

Gary G(M)7USC
W2MSK Rating: 2006-01-25
High Quality! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Nicely made meter that compliments the FT-857/897. My meter was exactly calibrated right out of the box. Provides a large, easily read display of all of the internal meter capabilities. I would prefer a white led drawing less current instead of the warm glow of the meter bulb, not a big issue. Highly recommended!
KK4SHN Rating: 2006-01-24
AWESOME! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Great meter, just got in today and hookup to the 857 couldn't be any easier, 2 plugs and its done, nice bright light, easy to put anywhere on the bench. Very smooth, controlled movement and a huge improvement over the stock meter that stops at S-9. No complaints so far on this little gem!
KC9ANQ Rating: 2006-01-24
ABOUT TIME! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is the cats meow. About time! I now have an S meter that shows up to 60 over. If you didnt know the 857/897 only shows S1-S2-S3 and so on up to S9, then it shows S9+ or S9++. Also now 1 meter covers 160m to 70cm for SWR, Power, Voltage, and modulation all selectable by the user from the radio menu.

THANKS LDG!!!!