What Kind Of Meter Do You Like.

  When I was looking into purchasing a meter to read my swr and power it seemed perplexing at first. I had swr and power meters from my 11 meter cb radio days. I still have some cb radios running, but mostly listen. I much prefer the Ham Radio. I started by looking at some ham radio catalogs I acquired through the internet. I was surprised by the different manufacturers and choices.
  My first decision was based on how much power am I going to run. Since I am only going to run no more than 100 watts due to having no amplifier, I would not need a meter running more than 300 watts. That seemed to be the limit in that category. Maybe in the future I will be able to purchase an amplifier. But for now we will keep it at a 100 watt limit. Listening to some of the ham radio operators they seem to do very well with 100 watts.
  The next choice was what display type do I like. The come in a cross needle display or the older single needle display. I did end up with the cross needle type of display. I was used to the single needle from the cd radio days, but decided I could adjust. They come in a variety of sizes that seem to be small, medium and large. As for myself I preferred the larger display. Maybe it`s just because I am getting older and wear glasses. It is definitely easier to read.
  My next decision was what manufacturer to choose from. They range from MFJ, Diamond, Jetstream, Daiwa, Bird as well as others. My considerations went with a couple different factors, prices and reviews. I started by checking for reviews on the internet and especially Eham. I find eham to be one of the best placed to get tons of information from other ham radio operators. I generally put it into the good, bad and the ugly, just kidding.
 Well after looking at the reviews and prices I decided to go with the MFJ-894 . I like it because it is easy to read and very large. I also liked the idea that it covers a frequency range from 1.6mhz to 525mhz. This will cover all the high frequencies to vhf and uhf. I have not had any problems with it and it does the job I needed it for. I have recently been looking for another meter when I do add power to my station. I do like the larger single needle MFJ meter as well as the Diamond single needle meter. But that`s for another time.
  Well that`s all for now, so please leave any comments about your favorite meters.
  Thanks for reading and 73s from KC2YTI.
   

MFJ 993B Switch Problem

  I own a MFJ 993B antenna tuner and have suffered from the dreaded on/off power switch failure. The antenna tuner functioned properly for about 4 to 6 months and then it would not power on. When the on/off switch was pressed it would have power and then shut off. I did some research on the internet and found that this was a common problem. I emailed MFJ and they sent me a couple of switches to replace the bad switch at no charge.
  Well I have replaced the switch at least four times and this would have been the fifth time. I started checking the internet for a better solution then to just keep replacing the switch. I found some switches at some suppliers on the internet such as Jameco and Digi-Key. I then came across a person that decided to replace the switch with a toggle switch.
  I checked my junk parts and found some on/off toggle switches that are 2amp 125vac, which will easily handle the current and voltage. My next step was to ohm out the six pin power switch to determine what the pin outs were doing. I found that 4 pins were either on or off depending on the switch position. I removed the defective switch from the smaller front board. I looked at the traces and found the two pins were shorted by a trace as well as the other two pins. The last two pins have no trace on either side of the board. I shined a light behind the board and found there are no traces at all going to those pins. They seem to be just for support.
  I should say it is a little tricky removing the small front board, because there is a grey ribbon cable connecting the small front board to the main board. I soldered two wires to the two holes that have the traces shorted. I the drilled a hole in the lower right side of the front panel. I pretty much eyeballed it because the bottom case does slide in under it. I did put some electrical tape on the bottom under the switch just to make sure nothing shorts out. I then soldered the two wires to the toggle switch.
  I powered on the antenna tuner to see if it powered on properly. It powered on and off properly and the meter needles moved properly. I closed it up and connected back in place with my antenna switch and my ts2000 radio. I then tested it in the system and it is working properly. The best thing is if I ever have to replace the toggle switch it will be much easier to replace.
  Thanks for reading 73s from KC2YTI.

9-6-2019 This is an update on the Mfj 993B Antenna Tuner I own. I just wanted to let everyone know that the antenna tuner is still working fine. I have not had to replace the toggle switch.
     

Working on the 6 meter cubical quad antenna.

  Started work on building the 6 meter cubical quad antenna. Cut about 8 pieces of the grey 3/4 inch pvc tubing into 18 inch lengths. Then I put a 3/4 inch pvc cap on one end of the tube. Cut a 3/4 inch piece of poplar dowel rod into the tube and drilled a 5/16 hole in the end and 6 inches into the dowel rod. I will then place the 4 foot fiberglass driveway marker into it. These will be placed into a 5 way pvc fitting. These will make up the spreaders for the reflector and the director. I will then place each of these crosses on the grey pvc boom. I am going to place a piece of metal conduit inside the boom for extra strength. If this causes any problems with the antenna, then I will replace the metal conduit with a piece of 3/4 inch dowel rod. Still deciding on the type of matching I will use. I am going to use two stainless steel adjustable clamps and some tuning to string the antenna wire around the crosses.
  Thanks for reading and 73s from KC2YTI.