Another SureCom SW-102 Thread

[marcspaz]

 

I have had a lot of people ask me about affordable Watt/SWR meters and the SureCom SW-102 comes up a lot. It's not my first choice, but the SW-102 can be a good, inexpensive meter.  It is not exactly calibrated from the factory. It is really close in most instances I have seen, and "close enough" for most uses in the GMRS community.

 

In this video, I calibrated the SureCom SW-102 against my Daiwa CN-901. Out of the box, the SureCom was within a couple of watts (a little lower than) the Daiwa. Also, the SWR was only 2 points off. Even after calibration, there is only 1 point variation.

 

I adjusted the UHF power, as shown in the menu at the end of the video, line 5.  When you adjust the power reading, you are taking power away from the reverse power value and adding it to the forward power value. This is the way the SWR reading is calibrated as well.

 

In my case, out of the box, the SW-102 showed 41w compared to the CN-901's 44w. The SW-102 showed an SWR of 1.4:1 compared to the CN-901's 1.2:1. Honest, anything under 3.0:1 is safe to use and anything under 2.0:1 is in the "good" category. An SWR of 1.5:1 or better is considered great.

 

Based on the differences both before and after calibration, and price points of $50 vs. $300, I would be confident in recommending the SureCom SW-102 to use as a tool that is definitely "good enough". Don't let Perfect be the enemy of Good.

 

If you have any questions, let me know.

 

 

 

[pcradio]

I've thought about getting the SureCom SW-102. Like you say, just looking for the big errors. Would like the RigExpert Stick 230, but doesn't do UHF. Would have to get the Stick 500. Not cheap.

[SteveShannon]

42 minutes ago, pcradio said:

I've thought about getting the SureCom SW-102. Like you say, just looking for the big errors. Would like the RigExpert Stick 230, but doesn't do UHF. Would have to get the Stick 500. Not cheap.

The RigExpert is not a watt/swr meter like the SW-102. It’s an antenna analyzer.   They are completely different in use and purpose. 
There are alternatives for either type of device, ranging from the NanoVNA as an alternative to the RigExpert, to SWR/wattmeters from Daiwa, Comet, Diamond, MFJ, and Bird as alternatives to the SW-102.