Dosy TC-4002 SW-4

**whiteastro** · 08-29-2019, 06:31 AM

I'm thinking about buying this meter as a inline meter from cooper electronics and was wondering if anyone has experience with this meter good or bad. I'll never be a professional so I can't afford a Bird meter. Have at It. LOL

Thanks Mike

**222DBFL** · 08-29-2019, 08:55 AM

They are okay meters. They can be a little loose on the wattage. I know the bird meters are expensive, but they are worth every penny if you are going to get any kind of serious.

**whiteastro** · 08-29-2019, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by 222DBFL

They are okay meters. They can be a little loose on the wattage. I know the bird meters are expensive, but they are worth every penny if you are going to get any kind of serious.

LOL Thanks for the info and I have to laugh about you saying they are loose on the wattage because I heard 2 other techs call them a Happy meter so I assume they agree with you. The wattage is probably the least important thing for me, But the most important thing would be the SWR checking function. How would you rate them in that department? The other thing that interest me in that model is it has a switch for changing between antennas and the other features is a plus for rough checking. Thanks Mike

**JesseJamesDallas** · 08-29-2019, 03:30 PM

I've had a couple 2 or 3 of them, best thing I liked was the Horz-Vert. switching so I wouldn't need another switch box sitting around to switch between antennas..

They are decent meters, problem I ran into was the SWR function messing up after a while and the unit not wanting to calibrate at low watts...(think this was probably my fault by checking SWR with amp ON may have fried something)

**222DBFL** · 08-29-2019, 04:56 PM

You can also look into a different meter if you can live without the very/horiz switch. Diawa makes a decent meter. Look around on eBay and Amazon. The Diawa meters aren’t bad. Stay away from the Astatic ones, they suck!! You can also look around on eBay and also Craigslist for a Bird meter. You might get lucky and find one for a good price. For GP use, I always had good luck with the Radio Shack meters. There are a couple floating around on eBay. Just don’t pay more then $20-$25 for one. JMHO. Good luck with whatever you find. Keep us posted. Good day.

**whiteastro** · 08-29-2019, 06:57 PM

Originally Posted by JesseJamesDallas

I've had a couple 2 or 3 of them, best thing I liked was the Horz-Vert. switching so I wouldn't need another switch box sitting around to switch between antennas..

They are decent meters, problem I ran into was the SWR function messing up after a while and the unit not wanting to calibrate at low watts...(think this was probably my fault by checking SWR with amp ON may have fried something)

Thanks JJD for the input. Sounds like we think alike as far as 1 meter to check multiple tests and the horz-vert switch is important because I have 2 antennas now and I want to do a comparison test to see which one works best for me on the same radio in my deep narrow valley. How is the quality of the switching device, I know some of them out there are real cheap junk. Is that switch really going to know if you have 2 Vertical antennas hooked to it or is it just a 2 position switch. And I think I remember seeing a Aux. mode on the switch, what would that be for? Mike

**whiteastro** · 08-29-2019, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by 222DBFL

You can also look into a different meter if you can live without the very/horiz switch. Diawa makes a decent meter. Look around on eBay and Amazon. The Diawa meters aren’t bad. Stay away from the Astatic ones, they suck!! You can also look around on eBay and also Craigslist for a Bird meter. You might get lucky and find one for a good price. For GP use, I always had good luck with the Radio Shack meters. There are a couple floating around on eBay. Just don’t pay more then $20-$25 for one. JMHO. Good luck with whatever you find. Keep us posted. Good day.

Thanks for the input and I will take my time and look around because I'm in no hurry, I already have a 4 SWR meter collection but none work on SSB. It is surprising that my little Astatic PDC1 seems to give accurate wattage readings on AM but doesn't work with SSB. I tend to agree that astatic meters are bare bone ,get started equipment. I use the PDC1 to double check when I make a wattage adjustment for a low drive AMP And I've used it to check the wattage output on my collection of Base stations and mobile radios on AM and it never seem to give me a unbelievable reading. But like they say ( Let the buyer beware ) LOL

**JesseJamesDallas** · 08-29-2019, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by whiteastro

Thanks JJD for the input. Sounds like we think alike as far as 1 meter to check multiple tests and the horz-vert switch is important because I have 2 antennas now and I want to do a comparison test to see which one works best for me on the same radio in my deep narrow valley. How is the quality of the switching device, I know some of them out there are real cheap junk. Is that switch really going to know if you have 2 Vertical antennas hooked to it or is it just a 2 position switch. And I think I remember seeing a Aux. mode on the switch, what would that be for? Mike

The switching part I never had a problem with, it handled what I was running just fine (which was just under 1K watts)

The AUX is just for another antenna option...You could actually have 3 antennas hooked up at once...Horz, Vert, and a ground plane in the AUX hole...You can also switch to V/H which activates both vertical and horizontal antennas at the sametime if you want...(I tried this with my L4 quad once and the SWR went through the roof)

Not using it right now...right now I have a MFJ Giant Meter that lights up...

**whiteastro** · 08-30-2019, 05:28 AM

Originally Posted by JesseJamesDallas

The switching part I never had a problem with, it handled what I was running just fine (which was just under 1K watts)

The AUX is just for another antenna option...You could actually have 3 antennas hooked up at once...Horz, Vert, and a ground plane in the AUX hole...You can also switch to V/H which activates both vertical and horizontal antennas at the sametime if you want...(I tried this with my L4 quad once and the SWR went through the roof)

Not using it right now...right now I have a MFJ Giant Meter that lights up...

Thanks again JJD! I wish I could see your set up, I'm sure my my eyes would be popping. I'll check out that switch you have for the heck of it but I'm sure it is too rich for my blood. Right now I need to finish up my work on this house so I can sell it and get out of here. My end goal would be to get high on the mountain top with a big beam antenna so I could talk to all of you Junkees and that's a Big 10-4 Good Buddy! Did anybody ever remake the old Moon Raker antenna? That was my old buddies dream that got me started in this CB sickness. LOL

**JesseJamesDallas** · 08-30-2019, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by whiteastro

Thanks again JJD! I wish I could see your set up, I'm sure my my eyes would be popping. I'll check out that switch you have for the heck of it but I'm sure it is too rich for my blood. Right now I need to finish up my work on this house so I can sell it and get out of here. My end goal would be to get high on the mountain top with a big beam antenna so I could talk to all of you Junkees and that's a Big 10-4 Good Buddy! Did anybody ever remake the old Moon Raker antenna? That was my old buddies dream that got me started in this CB sickness. LOL

Yes, MaCo makes the "shooting star" which is the same thing as the Moon Raker...(that's what I have)

As for the set-up...nothing to special about it, just a Cobra 2000 and a RCI-2980wx...do have some foot warmers to go behind them, but nothing real big