Para Dynamics pdc1 Power Meter

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Polo_Thug
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Para Dynamics pdc1 Power Meter

Post by Polo_Thug »

I just got this power meter to see if my comet antenna was tune right. But since I'm new to this I 'm having trouble riguring out this SWR portion of this meter. I have all this connections in the right spot. When I put it in the REF postion its reading all 3 and near the red mark...And When I swith it to FWD it pegs out. I have the Calibration knob set right in the middle...Is there something I'm doing wrong or did I get the wrong meter....


Thanks In Advance...
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Post by Sir Nigel »

On my swr meter, I set it to "calibration" mode (Function > CAL) and adjust the knob with the marking on the right or the meter. Then just switch it to the srw mode and it should give you an accurate reading. The other modes are for power output on mine.
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DrSandi
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Re: Para Dynamics pdc1 Power Meter

Post by DrSandi »

Polo_Thug wrote:I just got this power meter to see if my comet antenna was tune right. But since I'm new to this I 'm having trouble riguring out this SWR portion of this meter. I have all this connections in the right spot. When I put it in the REF postion its reading all 3 and near the red mark...And When I swith it to FWD it pegs out. I have the Calibration knob set right in the middle...Is there something I'm doing wrong or did I get the wrong meter....


Thanks In Advance...
What make and model meter do you have? They're different, and instructions for one won't mean anything for another.

For example, does this meter have separate modes for Calibrate, Forward and Reverse? Once calibrated, it should be switched to Forward for the full scale power reading. Or Reverse for the power coming back from the antenna line.

And once calibrated, you should then be able to read the SWR on a different switch setting. Probably. Depending on the make and model.

Dr. Sandi
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PDC1 Power Meter

Post by DrSandi »

Duh...

Okay, so you gave the type of meter in your title and I didn't bother to read the title. But even THAT didn't help me a lot because there's precious little info online about the operation of this model meter.

First of all, set the power output of your transmitter as low as you can to protect it in case the VSWR is really bad. Really high VSWR can blow out your final transistor, so be careflu measuring it the first time.

Now set the 10W/100W switch fo 10W and take a reading. If it's over the top of the scale, turn your power down some more. If it doesn't register at all, turn the power up a little.

From the fuzzy picture online, it looks like there's a point on the meter face at the top of the scale that might say REF.

If so, set the PWR/SWR switch to SWR. Adjust the pot until the needle points to the line at REF. This sets your reference level.

Switch the PWR/SWR switch to PWR. It should now show you the VSWR as a value from 1 to 10. Plug the number in as the first in the ratio X:1. A good antenna will show about 1.1:1. A fair antenna will be up to about 2:1. Above that means you should tune it up.

That's my guess based only on what I can find online about the PDC1 Power Meter


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Here's A pic of the SWR Meter...

Post by Polo_Thug »

Still A lil bit confuse on your instructions[/url]
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