Signal level Meter THROW DOWN Doug Millar K6JEY

The Set Up You have to go up on the tower or roof and you need to measure signals on your antenna. Your MFJ analyzer won’t measure level, and you need to know what the sun noise is, the sky/ground noise, or the antenna pattern relative to a beacon. What can you take that will work? What can you take that won’t make you cry too long if you drop it? What’s easy enough to use and tough enough to last?

My Recipe You need a signal level meter that will either tune directly to frequency or go through a converter and come out on 144mhz. 10 to 1000MHz is good. I am mostly interested in relative level, not absolute level. Battery operated is important Simple dials and switches. Easy to use on the tower or roof.

Three Choices The first is an oldie. They are usually available cheap. Even more so since the major portion of their usable frequency bands are blank. The trade off is that they are bulky. You can put any type of rechargeable battery in it you like Take a look:

They go by lots of names

Early Series Very cheap Get one with a good meter F connector may not be important as you are measuring relative level Attenuators are fair. Meter probably reads to .5db 250kc wide IF filter eliminates tuning stability problems. You can monitor/demodulate the signal. Probably a good deal for the price. Often have a strap and case.

Newer and Smaller

Number 2- The Sadelco Min Max Inexpensive. Has a good meter Turn it on, enter frequency, read level. That’s all. The battery pack is proprietary, so make your own. Compact and has a case. Available for less than $80 Great attenuator Meter reads to .1db Parts still available Heavy duty Easy to read After you read the manual it is easy to use.

Number 3- the Protek 3201

Display

Screen Display

Level Display

Protek 3201 Goes by a lot of names but the model number is the same 3201 More expensive $300-800 It is a spectrum analyzer from 100KHz to about 2GHz with a peak find and marker function. It is not too sophisticated as an analyzer, but it will do for a lot of things and may be a great deal. You can take the analyzer to the problem instead of the other way around. Something to think about. It will save readings and print them.

More It demodulates signals and has a built in speaker. It reads frequency very accurately. RS232 output. External charger and good battery life. Not as heavy duty as the others, but does have a strap.

You be the Judge Let’s review the models: Sadelco, Min Max, and Protek I have all three of these laid out to play with. Take a look and see what you think might be the best one for you.

Thanks. Contact information is Doug Millar K6JEY dmillar@moonlink.net