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Reviews For: Kenwood SW-2000

Category: SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

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Review Summary For : Kenwood SW-2000
	Reviews: 13	MSRP: 150
	Description: Kenwood 2000 watt Peak-reading meter. HF, VHF, UHF.
	Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.kenwood.com/
# last 180 days	Avg. Rating last 180 days	Total reviews	Avg. overall rating
0	0	13	4.8

W5KVV	Rating:	2023-12-31
EXCELLENT			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Purchased my SW-2000 in 2013: This review is written after a decade of service in my shack, 12/2023 Spied a clean looking unit with HF & VHF couplers at a local ham fest. Ham fest price, a little bit of $$$ but it was clean AF so i bit the bullet & brought it home. I immediately compared it to my Anritsu Site Master S331C with NIST traceable calibration. To my surprise the old Kenwood was right on the freeking money. WHAT!? A 25-30 year old hammy meter that was actually accurate?? Get out of here! It's been a valued member of my shack ever since. I won't part with it. Period. Bottom line: If your're a Kenwood affectionato like myself, or you just want an accurate VSWR/power meter, put this on one on your list. They're quality Japanese built meters that will easily last a lifetime. de W5KVV EDIT: I recently changed the incandescent bulbs out for LED's. A simple mod for any radio amateur. Appliance operators proceed with caution.

K7PWR	Rating:	2018-01-22
Highly accurate.			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Works really well.But why is the power plug's polarity reversed? The middle pin is negative? Maybe thats why I hear alot of stories about burned out bulbs with this unit. Odd. Anyways, nice to have another matching Kenwood component at my shack. Very happy with it. :)

WA2LXB	Rating:	2017-07-07
Nice 30 year old + meter			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is a very capable meter if you RTFM (read the friendly manual). If you can find one on the used market with the SWC-3 and SWC-2 couplers, you'll have a nice HF/VHF/UHF setup for far less than any new meter that has its capabilities. You may run into issues with a meter this old. Here's what I've done to mine & discovered: 1. Replace burned out incandescent meter bulbs with resistor-equipped white LEDs from www.LC-LED.com. They are: "12V 3mm Super White (30 Deg.) LED: 5,000 mcd 3mm T1 water clear super bright 12V white led diode. Built-in 1000 ohm resistor chip wired with the led diode." The resistor apparently prolongs the life of the LED by reducing inrush to the LED, which the incandescents could tolerate better. Note: to get the clear cover off, VERY GENTLY peel back the "Kenwood SWR&POWERMETER SW-2000" panel from below the meters to get to the cover screws. It's sticky, go slow. Careful not to bend the meter card and meter needles when removing the clear cover. Diodes only work in one direction, make sure they are lighting before you solder them in. 2. I found a cold solder joint at the SO239 TX side of the SWC-3 coupler. Symptom was intermittent lack of RF signal going to the antenna. It was a flow and go repair with an iron. 3. I thought the VHF/UHF power levels were inaccurate. Turns out RTFM says to divide power by 10 in your head when using the VHF/UHF coupler. Magic...it works fine now. 200 watts on the meter is 20 watts VHF/UHF. Note...if you go above 20 watts in VHF/UHF, you'll need to switch to the 2KW FWD setting to get the FWD power meter back in range. 4. PEP is for SSB only. FM, AM, CW...use the AVG power setting. 5. Power is only needed for the PEP function and meter lights. The center 12VDC pin is NEGATIVE polarity and it takes a 2.1mm x 5mm male plug. See eBay to find solder plugs. 6. You get FWD and REF-lected power readings from the two meters. Radiated power from the antenna is the difference between the two. 7. Power will read 15% high at 50MHz (6 meters). 8. HF power readings appear to be 15% to 20% high while reading PEP. I have a service manual on the way from another ham, and I'm going to use calibrated voltmeter and wattmeter to tweak the accuracy to an error of 10% or less if possible. 9. Calibrate the SWR meter using a CW key and the front calibration knob and meter "CAL" point. The manual isn't clear, it just says to key the transmitter. That's it. Download the manual, read it and have fun with this gem of a meter. 73, WA2LXB

N6NJS	Rating:	2009-07-24
Good Meters			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this meter since new in 1986 and it has been very good for that long of a time. The lights have never burned out. Above 200 watts it is somewhere close to accurate that's why I use a Coaxial Dynamics when running the Titan 425 Amp. On the long haul i t has been very dependable.

WR6G	Rating:	2007-09-29
Excellent meter!			Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I picked one up cheap. Lights were burned out so I replaced them with blue LEDs. Very accurate and looks really cool now! If you find one buy it! It is a great meter. Chris(WR6G)

KG0WX	Rating:	2007-03-02
Very nice! Accurate across the entire range.			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I picked up one of these with the stock HF/6m coupler. Being used to MFJunk meters, I immediatly compared this meter to a friend's Bird. The 2000 was VERY close to the bird over the entire range! Such a nice change from MFJ, where you never know what you might get. I looked inside because the lights were burnt out and I have to agree with the earlier posting - unless you are in a dark room, forget trying to replace the lights. I may modify mine for LED lights, maybe even rf switched..... One HUGE warning - the coaxial DC power jack is wired BACKWARDS! For this meter you need to wire the plug with the center NEGATIVE. Dumb! Even the label on the back and the owner's manual makes no mention of this. If you're not sure, use a fused power cord! Still, it's a minor issue not worth lowering the rating I've given this meter. Ken KG0WX

PD5DJ	Rating:	2006-07-10
Superb quality meter			Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have this meter for about an year or so. Very accurate readings compared to a Bird meter, Also as good as my Daiwa CN-801V I had the luck to get my hands on all the 4 couplers available, yes 4! SWC-1 = 1.8 - 150Mhz SWC-2 = 140 - 450Mhz SWC-3 = 1.8 - 54Mhz SWC-4 = 1200 - 1300Mhz All work great! Bjorn Pasteuning PD5DJ

KC2CT	Rating:	2005-04-21
Amazingly close!			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have owned this piece of measuring equipment for a month (used) and was getting ready to calibrate it against my Bird 43 with PEP kit. I didn't have to. A one (1) watt difference is negible. I wonder why Kenwood discontinued all of their older accessory gear and why, now, it is sought after. 73, Jan - KC2CT

K9WIT	Rating:	2004-10-15
THE BEST !			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have gone through a lot of name brand wattmeters but this is by far the best pep wattmeter I have run across. I have two sw-2000 and three sw-200.

W4KWD	Rating:	2003-01-30
Very good meter			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This meter can do it all, and with typical Kenwood quality. Since you have the ability to select between three different couplers, it will do the work of several Wattmeters.

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Category:

SWR & Wattmeters & Dummy Loads

Product:

Kenwood SW-2000

Summary:

Rating:	Time Owned:
Great! Good OK Needs Help Poor Awful!	0 - 3 Months 3 - 6 Months 6 - 12 Months More than 12 Months

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