Hello,

The other thread reminds me that i need a high powered, used Bird power
meter.

Up to 1000-2000 watts, 50-150 Mhz or more, VSWR too...what models can
you folks recommend? Preferably one that doesn't screw up the 50 ohms of the
dummy load too much! (check with an MFJ before and after putting the meter in)

Birds are supposed to be very accurate, or so i have heard.

Any advice or Ebay links are appreciated.


Slick

Radio913 wrote:
Hello,

The other thread reminds me that i need a high powered, used
Bird power
meter.

Up to 1000-2000 watts, 50-150 Mhz or more, VSWR too...what
models can
you folks recommend? Preferably one that doesn't screw up the 50
ohms of the
dummy load too much! (check with an MFJ before and after putting the
meter in)

Birds are supposed to be very accurate, or so i have heard.

Any advice or Ebay links are appreciated.


Slick

From http:http://www.metroactive.com/papers/me...eat-9735.html:

I missed Creech but got to hear a tape of the band's performance two
days later on a micropowered radio station broadcasting at 91.3FM out of
Los Gatos known as Radio Free Lost Gatos. The guys in Creech guest DJed,
heckled callers and played the whole of their set along with some of
their favorite bands. According to RFLG owner/manager/DJ Dr. Slick, the
station has been operating out of a house "buried in the Los Gatos
hills" for three years. "I do it for fun," Slick says. "I don't do it
because I'm an 'anarchist.' I don't go out and say, 'Kill the cops.' I'm
positive with radio."

Slick was mum on the wattage but said that 91.3 reaches all of Los Gatos
and parts of Campbell. Slick plays classic rock, jazz and "a little bit
of Bach" when not turning the controls over to guest DJs like the
members of Creech. The station can be heard Sundays and Wednesdays,
8pmÂ*3am. Meanwhile, the next Gaslighter Theater show stars Monkey, Blue
Beat Stompers, Steadyups, Lucky Strike and Pigs in Space on Friday
(Sept. 5). As always: all ages and five bucks.

From http://www.svcn.com/archives/lgwt/05...PirateCat.html

Monkey Man stepped into the world of microbroadcasting about a year ago,
with his friend Michael Magic at Free-Radio San Jose, 93.7 FM, but had
to leave the station after some of his on-air hi-jinks went too far.
After that, he started working with Dr. Slick, whose station, Free-Radio
Los Gatos, is on 91.3 FM on Sunday and Wednesday nights from 8 p.m. to
11 p.m.

"Then Dr. Slick said I should get my own station, so I went down to
Fry's and got one of those little radio kits for, like, $30." Dr. Slick
gave Monkey Man an old one-watt amplifier, and another friend, Austin
Tatious of KKUD 104.1 in Willow Glen, donated a mixing board. Pirate Cat
was on the air.

-------------

It looks like we can look forward to a bigger signal from Radio Free
Lost Gatos (or is it Free-Radio Los Gatos?). No more "all of Los Gatos
and parts of Campbell"! Or are you be building FM transmitters and
amplifiers for sale?

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Radio913 wrote:

Hello,

The other thread reminds me that i need a high powered, used Bird power
meter.

Up to 1000-2000 watts, 50-150 Mhz or more,

You mean 88-108 MHz, don't you?

ac6xg

Roy Lewallen wrote:
. . .
It looks like we can look forward to a bigger signal from Radio Free
Lost Gatos (or is it Free-Radio Los Gatos?). No more "all of Los Gatos
and parts of Campbell"! Or are you be building FM transmitters and
amplifiers for sale?

Oops, never mind. Just answered my own question.

From http://groups.google.com:

From: Dr. Slick )
Subject: Length of Coax Affecting Incident Power to Meter?
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.antenna
Date: 2003-08-11 03:25:37 PST

.. . . This is certainly not the case on our bench, which is a problem,
because i want to have an approximation of how it will perform
attached to the antenna before i ship it out to the customer. A
difference of 70 watts is not acceptable. . . .

-------------

So, out of curiosity, what does a 1 - 2 kW FM transmitter bring on the
pirate market? I'd think it would easily be enough to pay for a *new*
Bird wattmeter. But would you be able to deduct it as a business expense?

From http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=4990:

Garvin Yee

Address: 17287 Grosvenor Ct.
Monte Sereno, CA 95030
Phone: (408)395-6674

Are you still at that address? If so, could we drop by your house
"buried in the Los Gatos hills" for a demo of your handiwork in
operation, before dropping the bucks for one?

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Come on down if you want Roy, I'd love to meet you in person too!

But you won't find any FCC violations at my place! No siree!

This will be going into a dummy load bedwarmer!

Thanks for the free plugs, i don't like to toot my own horn, i'd rather
others do it for me. i tried looking your name up too, but nothing nearly as
interesting...boring ham stuff!

Can you folks recommend a Bird model?


Slick

Dr. Slick wrote:
"Can you folks recommend a Bird model?"

Bird Electronic Corporation
30303 Aurora Road
Cleveland (Solon) Ohio 44139
(216) 248 1200
Fax (216) 248 5426
TLX 706898
Cable BIRDELEC

Contact for a catalog and copies of Bird Technical Series (Watts New
From Bird), even if you are not buying from Bird now.

There is a wealth of information available from Bird, SWR slide rule,
various wattmeter instruction books, application notes, and catalogs.
Ask for everything they can send you to help understand their products.
Their list of products is diverse.

The Model 43 has been around for about 50 years. It shares an
instruction book with Models: 4430, 4431, 4521, 4522, 4523, 4525, 4526,
and 4527. But, that is not all the models Bird has made or makes.

When you become thoroughly familiar with Bird`s instructions, you will
necessarily be familiar with how the lines that the Bird is used with
work. The literature Bird provides makes learning about transmission
lines much easier.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI

On 20 Sep 2003 05:08:32 GMT, (Radio913) wrote:

Can you folks recommend a Bird model?
Slick

Hi OM,

Why do you pine on for such an expensive piece of equipment when what
you admittedly need is a good load? The best Watt meter in the world
is useless without that load. Many loads come with their own built in
Watt meters, and you can build your own Watt meter for about $5 ($4.95
for the meter movement).

I can anticipate your cry for the need of calibration. A used Bird is
far from a standard in that regard - especially when you could achieve
far greater accuracy with a thermometer and a good load sitting in a
bucket of water.

But, then again, maybe there's redemption in you after all in
emulating the time honored Ham tradition of pushing a credit card
across a display case. Pretty soon the FCC will only offer a handful
of call signs (by region) like K6VISA.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

Thanks Richard,

Do you use an SO-239 connector to type "N" for the input and output
with a model 43?

Hopefully good connectors won't affect
the SWR.

Someone else also recommended model 43 too. I'll be looking...


Slick

I can anticipate your cry for the need of calibration. A used Bird is
far from a standard in that regard - especially when you could achieve
far greater accuracy with a thermometer and a good load sitting in a
bucket of water.


I've heard that the Bird Model 43 is very accurate.


But, then again, maybe there's redemption in you after all in
emulating the time honored Ham tradition of pushing a credit card
across a display case. Pretty soon the FCC will only offer a handful
of call signs (by region) like K6VISA.



Well, it's appropriate that you point this out, Richard. In the sense
that the FCC has always sold off the spectrum to the highest bidders:
Clearchannel, Time/Warner, etc.


Slick

"Richard Clark" wrote in message
...
On 20 Sep 2003 22:23:36 GMT, (Radio913) wrote:
I've heard that the Bird Model 43 is very accurate.

Hi OM,

Now you know different. Besides, NO ONE is accurate without
comparison to a known Standard.

A Bird can be made accurate, better, in fact, than the manufacturer's
claims. I doubt you would spend the money to do it the first time,
much less each time required to keep it accurate (much less more
accurate).

It makes more sense to invest in a good load and calibrate it. It is
not at all difficult, except for the cash-and-carry tech who shuns
benchwork.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC


I'll bet you'd love an invitation to expand on your comments about a "good
load" and "calibrate it."

The only good load is one that presents the desired, purely resistive
impedance. Maybe you can adjust the load, but you don't make it better by
calibration.

Or perhaps you are assuming a good load, and by calibration, you are meaning
some type of thermal calibration to indicate power.

I don't use loads to measure power, I use attenuators (sufficient for the
expected power), and put a bolometer on the end of the attenuator string. Of
course, I have the luxury of other test equipment, so I can check the
attenuators, with low power, against my spectrum analyzer and signal
generators.

All that said, I still think that a Bird 43 (and yes, a good load or
attenuator string [once you get 60 dB or so on the attenuator string, an
open-end reflection is quite minor]) is the best route for a ham. A ham
typically doesn't need even the factory accuracy of a Bird, but the
versatility of forward and reverse power, with multiple power ranges and
multiple frequency ranges, is very nice. Plus, it doesn't even need
batteries, and it's small and light. (Anybody who ever lifted HP gear can
now grin.)

For the 100 MHz region, you can think about a directional coupler. Nice, but
you still need either a bolometric power meter or a calibrated spectrum
analyzer. If you don't already have those two goodies, then the Bird is the
champion choice.

Ed
WB6WSN