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Reviews For: Daiwa CN-801HP true PEP reading meter

Category: SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

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Review Summary For : Daiwa CN-801HP true PEP reading meter
Reviews: 40MSRP: $149.00
Description:
1.8 through 200Mhz peak reading cross needle watt/swr meter. Illuminated meter. 20-200-2000W ranges. Read SWR and power out simultaneously w/o swr calibration.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.daiwa-industry.co.jp/radio/ham_e/cn801ehp.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00403.9
WD9N Rating: 2013-11-27
Nice meter for a good price. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I like the bright LED lighting and large meter face. Nice overall housing and good layout for controls. The power switch could have been on the front, but I power the meter from the accessory port on the rig so it is switched on and off with the rig. I sometimes find myself wishing the peak hold switch was on the front, but don't use it often enough to worry about it.

The AVG and PEP readings do not agree on a carrier. With a CW carrier I show 90w AVG and 115w PEP. I also notice a bit of discrepancy between the 200w and 2KW range.

It may not be a laboratory quality meter, but it does a fine job for the HAM shack.
NR7N Rating: 2013-03-29
Looks pretty but beware Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Looks great but beware of the following:

1) average readings read 15% low
2) peak readings are 20-30% high
3) not too flat with frequency
4) LED internal lamp will blind you
5) AC adapter cord too short

I can't believe that this thing was calibrated at the factory.
WH7DX Rating: 2013-02-10
Great Product Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been using the CN-801 HP for a little over a year and I don't know what I'd do without it... awesome for checking my amp output levels.

Big screen, not too expensive. Nice.

WH7DX
N4DXX Rating: 2013-02-01
Great after simple Mod Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This meter was given to me and after reading the post about the peak hold mod i thought i would give it a shot because the meter action was way to fast in the pep range,Well after some investigation of my own i found that the only problem was R13 was way too low in value..To fix this meter without having to re calibrate anything all you need to do is pull up one leg of R-13 and in the empty hole just insert a 10-15K ohm resistor and then tie the loose ends together the meter action is way smoother and will give you time to actually read the peak before it starts dropping..And the best thing is there is no need to re-calibrate your meter..The only fault was the original 2K resistor was bleeding off the 220uf capacitor way too fast and has nothing to do with the ability of the OP-amp to charge the capacitor..Try it you will agree that it works much better..N4DXX
K4TAX Rating: 2012-07-29
SWR reading now available Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've found several methods that add a single jumper to the PCB which will allow SWR to be displayed when in PEP mode.

First was October 2009 QST, page 52. Since then I've gotten responses from Gunther, DK6DX that followed with details on modification with pictures along with a very clean schematic. Although one was in German, it was easy to follow.

Darn impressive meter and certainly well worth the money.

73
Bob, K4TAX

N4FBW Rating: 2011-10-27
Nice big meter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the CN-801HP used and it was really in mint condition when I received it. The meter is big with an excellent white backlight. Daiwa has installed a backlight on/off switch on the back of the meter, which is a nice feature. The meter is well built and looks really good on the operating desk. I have not been able to verify its accuracy, although the readings do not vary widely from the internal power/SWR meter in my IC-7600. I'm glad I bought the CN-801HP!
W9CIN Rating: 2011-10-18
Great Meter, even beter service! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I love the design and looks of this meter !
I aso have some much more expensive digital readout meters.
I checked the Diawa against these and found it quite accurate. Love the cross needle design.
but better yet is the service and backup from the Diawa company in Califorina.
i had a minor problem,called and talked to a very plesant person name "Mick", can"t rember being treated better.Fixed my problem instantly.
I find some of the accesories being made are
truly poor looking. It"s good to see a nice loooking meter.
KD0NJP Rating: 2011-05-01
Outstanding Additon to ANY Shack Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a wonderful meter. Bright, easy to read with outstanding fit and finish!
W0YN Rating: 2011-03-11
Very Nice Meter Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I wanted a meter with a large display that was accurate and easy to read. I previously had a Palstar PM2000A, an excellent meter but the display was a little small. The Daiwa is well built with a large cross needle display in a attractive cabinet. The quality and finish are top notch. The meter is easy to read and is reasonably accurate from low to high power. The meter looks great on the desk. The meter performs nicely and I'm very happy with my purchase. I can recommend the CN-801HP as a quality instrument.
AC8DE Rating: 2011-02-07
Very Good Meter, with Some Limitations That Can be Overcome Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This meter is marketed through NCG in the USA.
http://www.cometantenna.com/

Overall, I like this product and can give it a 4. Only the lack of peak hold and reflected in PEP hold it back from a 5. I have owned this product for over a year now. Here are my observations.

Positives
• Beautiful bright white non-yellow display. Looks to have approx. 4500K LED’s in it.
• Large needles easily seen out of the corner of your eye.
• Accurate (after calibration)
• Mirror strip under the forward power needle.
• Easy to calibrate. Found I could calibrate it to within about +/- 5% across the bands, which is better than the claimed specifications.
• 3 power range settings; 20, 200 and 200 watts. Nice to have the 20 watt setting for tuning and QRP. Too many high power meters omit this low power setting.
• Accurate to well within claimed specifications across all bands. (once calibrated)
• Metal case with nice looking plastic bezel, giving it a good finish. Doesn’t look cheap.
• Once calibrated, measures more accurate and linear than a Bird model 43 and costs 1/6th of what a Bird does, when you consider you have to buy at least 6 slugs to cover the ranges and frequencies of this meter.
• The removable rubber bumpers area nice touch if you want to take the meter out for field day, as it offers this relatively large meter reasonable shock protection.

Negatives
• Out of the box, it was not accurate in PEP mode. Not even remotely close. Whlie the average mode was within 10%, the PEP mode was WAY out reading approximately 40% too high. Mine has a low serial number of 0812. This is lower than the serial number of the unit reviewed by QST. Perhaps the bugs were being worked out of training the people who were calibrating these meters and PEP was just missed in mine. Others here have commented that PEP is dead accurate right out of the box.
• No peak hold. I noted ZL3AG posted a modification here in the reviews to give it a proper peak hold. I may have to do this modification.
• As mentioned by many; no reflected readings in PEP mode. Bummer. This can probably be modified, but I have not dug into this either. I would settle for average reflected in PEP mode, which would be better than nothing.
• The needles are a bit slower than I would like and with absence of a peak hold, this adds insult to injury. Obviously, this is due to the lower power of the op amp, dampening and the larger mass of the long needle. It was to be expected I suppose for a big needle with a physically small movement. In order to go faster, it would take a bigger op amp and perhaps a different movement, thereby driving the meter’s cost up. And if they did go faster, you might bend them if you forget to change ranges when you go to high power, which we all do from time to time. Probably a reasonable trade off.
• No proper calibration instructions available from Diawa. NGC will send you the calibration instructions with the warning that it is a poor English translation, and that is the truth. Further, these instructions are just inaccurate and incomplete. The sketch of the board is for the wrong meter! I believe it is for the older version without PEP. It is not hard to figure out the board, but requires removal of the board from the meter or a mirror to look at the front of the board to figure out which potentiometer goes to which readings. I had to write my own calibration instructions for future reference and sharing.

Comment
Is accurate to within specification on a two-tone test and many digital modes as well. But do note it must be in PEP mode for of these modes to read accurately. And of course, you lose the reflected reading when you do so.

Conclusion
This is a good meter at a reasonable cost and can be calibrated very accurately if you have the right equipment. It is the linearity, ability to be calibrated to within 5% and the nice large display that pushed it to a 4. I cannot honestly say if my PEP inaccuracy out of the box was a fluke or not, but it can be easily adjusted nonetheless. I can wholeheartedly recommend it, even with its limitations. Once I mod the peak hold, I will be 90% satisfied with it. If I can develop a mod for it for the reflected in PEP mode and I can say I am 100% satisfied with it. Short of buying a Telepost LP-100A calibrated to a traceable NIST standard or the like which costs A LOT more (but does a lot more), it isn’t going to get much more accurate in an analog meter, once it is confirmed to be calibrated. Plus it looks nice on the shelf and a nice addition to any shack.