Tuesday, April 9, 2024
I received a small package in the mail today. I snagged another MFJ-815 SWR/PWR HF meter. Its an older unit, and I have used one in my shack for probably 15 years or more. They sell a more compact version of the meter these days, and therefore, you can find good condition MFJ-815s for $50 or less.
I ran across a nice looking one recently, and sent the seller an offer of $35, which he accepted. Admittedly, I didn”t spend much time reading the listing. These meters are damn near industructible, which came back to bite me in the butt earlier today.
I unboxed the meter, it looks to be in good condition. I noticed that the needles on the meter weren’t zeroed; at rest they were up and away from zero position. Hmmm….
I took the meter upstairs to try it out, and hell — the meter was dead! No movement of either needle! ARGH! Screwed by another eBay seller!
Or was I?
I pulled up the listing, and in the last sentence it said only: “Needs a new meter movement.”
DAMN!
The fault lies with yours truly for not doing my due diligence and reading the description completely.
Now the problem I have found that all of the replacement MFJ meters have a 300 watt scale, not a 200 watt scale (like the original meter). The 300-watt meter reads, but not correctly. Of course, the main part of the meter I watch is the SWR. I don’t need or really care about the power output. I just want a good match.
So I have ordered a second meter movement from China. Both will have the 300 watt scale. There are adjustments on the PC board that drives the meter, so I’m going to see if I can adjust the watt meter to read correctly. Its annoying to have a 100 watt rig at full power and to have it show 1/3 less power.
I found an old Daiwa cross-needle SWR/PWR meter for under $60, which is a good buy. But right now I’ve got about $50 wrapped up in two replacement cross-needle meters, one for the MFJ Differential T tuner thatt was beat to hell in transit, and the second for the MFJ-815 meter. Wish me luck on both.
73 es CUL …. de KY4Z …. SK … SK …. (dit dit)