Re: Output Power Measurement

Posted by Jack Smith-6 on Mar 25, 2009; 12:21am
URL: http://elecraft.85.s1.nabble.com/Output-Power-Measurement-tp2529871p2529919.html

You might use a diode, such as a 1N914, 1N4148 or (preferably) a 1N5711
to rectify the voltage developed across the load and then measure the DC
out of the diode. With a high Z load such as a DMM,  the DC voltage will
be close to the RF peak voltage.

A standard DMM, even a good one, will not provide usable results above a
few hundred KHz, unless it's a specialized instrument intended for RF
measurements.

Jack K8ZOA


Ron Bower wrote:

> I have searched the archives and have not been able to find a definitive
> answer.
>
>  
>
> I've now completed the construction of the basic KX1 and would like to have
> a fairly reasonable measurement of the output power on 20M and 40M
>
>  
>
> I have a very decent dummy load but do not have a very accurate RF Power
> meter. I do have a decent DMM and could measure the voltage drop across the
> 50 ohm dummy load - I'm not sure how accurate the DMM would be at 7 or 14
> MHZ.
>
>  
>
> Is there a recommended method to measure the power output without an RF
> power meter ?
>
>  
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Ron, AC2C
>
>  
>
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