DaiwaCN-501H HF/VHF Bench Meters CN-501H

I love cross needle SWR power meters because they show you forward and reflected power and SWR at a glance with no calibration, and no calculations required.This meter is unusual because it covers not only all HF bands but also 6m and 2m bands. Also unusual is the ability to show PEP as well as RMS power.Note that the 12v input is only required for the backlight. The meter works fine without it.

Well made - easy to read

Good addition to my Ham Radio setup. Easy install.

With all these great reviews, maybe I'm just unlucky.I purchased one of these and put it in line and instantly my antenna match went belly up and I couldn't tune up. I used coax jumpers that are "known good" so I can only imagine there's a defect inside because they're is just an SO-239 IN and OUT. Removed the meter and everything works great. :(I might try another, again, maybe I got unlucky.**ADDED 48 HOURS LATER**Convinced I was unlucky, I ordered a replacement and it had the same issue. I tested my jumper and it was good, even tried a few others. Not sure why but I guess I just got two duds. I’m going to go a different direction.

Good for the price.

This is a nice meter but the 12v power is ONLY for operating the backlight lamp, this does NOT have a real active circuit for reading *real* PEP, just uses a capacitor like many other meters near this price point. So the AVG/PEP switch is not really very useful and does more to confuse than help I would say, but otherwise a nice cross needle meter. Seems believable in terms of accuracy, I don't have the means to measure for sure but it agrees with other meters I have on hand. Forward power needle got stuck once reading 1-2 watts for some reason, but I've only seen that happen once so far.

Does exactly what it should and is accurate.

I own many meters, all are a mix of likes and dislikes. I was looking for something that:a) Had a light insideb) HF & VHF (UHF is underused here)c) Name brand and not MFJ (As MFJ seems to crank the price over 300 watts)d) Cross needle, no need to flick switches back and forth for FED & REV/ PWR and SWR - this was simplee) Small footprintTested it on VHF, radio rated for 40 watts - meter shows 40 watts (maybe a slight hairline off watts...) But for a quick read of Power works, there will be a loss at the antenna regardless, so do the math on your line loss - I think you understand.SWR - works as it should. My antenna was a match on all meters and this one also, no difference.I'm happy with it. Would I buy another for my other location, sure would. If you're looking for what I was looking for, get one!