As Mark pointed out, unless means have been made to insure the meter is accurate across HF, it will not be. In addition, meters have accuracy limits. From memory, the Bird 43 meter is accurate to within +/-5% of FULL? SCALE. That s why one chooses? a slug that will allow the needle to be as close to full scale as possible. For instance, let's say you wish to measure 100W and 10W but only have a 100W slug. At 100W, the Bird is accurate to? +/- 5% or in this case, +/-5W. So if the? meter reads say 98W then the real power could be anywhere between 93W and 102W.
Now, measure 10W w/ the 100W slug. As an example? let's say the meter reads 8W. The real power could be anywhere between 3W and 13W.
I doubt the Palomar is anywhere close to 5% accuracy- and if you want? to measure true forward power then you need an accurate 50 Ohm termination for the meter.
I mention this because? some seem to assume that instruments are 100% accurate. I am reminded? of an 8 digit frequency counter where the owner will cite the read frequency to all 8 digits- that is the resolution and has zero? meaning when discussing accuracy. For? that one needs to read the manual to determine accuracy, aging etc.??
Regards,
Dale W4OP
