DAIWA CN-501V 140-525 MHz Cross-Needle SWR/Power Meter W/ SO239s

I gave it 4 stars only because there is one flaw that i.m.o. doesnt warrant 5 stars. There is no power switch for the LED light. I had to drill a hole and mount a switch above the power plug in order to be able to switch the blinding blue LED light off. That light is annoying sitting in the shack in the evening.

The meter is very accurate, simple too use, and the power output/reflected power match up with another well known meter I have. A worthwhile investment if your looking for a great meter!

Accuracy in lower scale seems accurate with forward and reflected. However on high scale forward and reflected power highly inaccurate. On 20W scale with 15W in forward power was 15W out , while on 200W scale forward power only 10W. I do like the appearance and the OFF switch. The only problem was accuracy.

Readings were all over the place. VHF vs. UHF. Low range vs. High range. Readings were off by 20-50%. Totally unacceptable.

used to evaluate antenna swr and power output, does a great job, well built

used to evaluate antenna swr and power output, does a great job, well built

A really wattmeter for the money.

A really wattmeter for the money.

Similar results as Sev reported. No SWR (reflected power) indicated on 200 watt range but while on 20 watt range reflected power all over the map. Used my AEA analyzer to plot actual SWR vs. Frequency of my Comet dual band Base antenna then compared the results with my Bird wattmeter and finally this Daiwa. No surprise the AEA and Bird were very close while the Daiwa was much higher reflected on the 20 watt range. Even reversed the input and output coax to the Daiwa while using the Bird in line with a Bird 100 watt DL and 5 watts from my VHF transmitter. Forward power (measured on the Daiwa reflected scale) no where close and what was strange was the fwd power on the reflected scale was indicating lower than 5 watts (opposite of the indication when connected normally to my antenna - indicated higher reflected power). Did not even bother evaluating the UHF accuracy. No on off switch for the lamp either! Spend your $ elsewhere.

Very responsive indication needles. And the two power settings with an off setting is convenient.