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Message |
    
Airplane1
Intermediate Member
Username: Airplane1
Post Number: 325
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, March 20, 2005 - 6:43 pm: | 
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What do the switches do that say fwd and rev on a watt meter? |
Patzerozero
Advanced Member
Username: Patzerozero
Post Number: 589
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, March 20, 2005 - 7:53 pm: |
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they read your swr's. sort of.
fwd is the 'forward' power, or the amount of power leaving your radio(or at least reaching the wattmeter).
rev is the power that is being 'reflected'(reversed) & returned into your radio due mainly to swr's that are not perfect. and other 'out of match' conditions.
let's say you have a 10 watt radio. if it shows 10w fwd & near 0w rev, then your swr's are real good, like 1.1:1 or better(in theory).
if it shows about 7 watts fwd & 3w rev, your swr's are around 3:1, not good. 9w fwd & 1w rev is about 2:1 swr, 9.5w fwd & 1/2w rev is about 1.5:1, which is what you should be looking for, or better.
the more wattage (as a %) reflected back into your radio, or amplifier, the shorter it's lifespan. most amps are hoping to see about 3% or less reflected for their health! so a 400 watt dead key(BIG amp) is hoping for less then 12 watts reflected, or about 1.3:1 swr.
always use your wattmeter on the LOWEST scale that will not fully deflect meter, especially true for 'rev', use dead key, no audio. 4 watt cb is not easy to read, it's when you start using power that it's important. |
Airplane1
Intermediate Member
Username: Airplane1
Post Number: 341
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 25, 2005 - 8:36 am: |
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Thanks very much, Big Big help.
AP |
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