Mcbazel SURECOM SW-33 Plus VHF/UHF 125-525 MHz Mini Two-Way Radio RF Power & SWR Meter

As I was trying out new / better antennas on my Baofeng uv5rtp and I was thinking of making and experimenting with antennas of my own I chose this SWR meter to make sure the fitted antenna wasn't causing any damage to the output stages of the transmitter. It comes with a selection of fittings (SMA, PL-259 and BNC) to allow easy fitting to many radio units and a dummy load rated at 10Watts, - so suitable for a handheld unit. After charging its internal battery with a USB charger I put it to the test. It measures output power (up to 100 Watts) and vSWR as well as giving an indication of output and reflected power. Sometimes the figures on the display jump about a bit so I marked it down slightly on accuracy, but it works well and I have used it a lot. As well as home made antennas it was interesting to see how good some of the stock antennas perform. Many dual band antennas appear to be anything but, - giving a good SWR on one band and a much worse reading on the other. The SWR also varies a bit with location and standing next to metal objects does not do any favours in keeping the SWR down, I have a folding antenna and its SWR changes as it folds. Its SWR is perfect for VHF if the antenna is fully extended but poor on UHF. However if it is folded the SWR figures are reversed so now I always use it open on VHF and folded on UHF for best results (the antenna manufacturers don't tell you that, - but useful to know thanks to this meter) I do not own a digital DMR radio and the manufacturers claim it won't work with DMR. I do not see why it shouldn't and in any case most DMR radios have an analogue mode. Very pleased with this purchase so far and it has proved itself very useful when using different 2m band / 70cm band antennas.

A highly recommended tool for your radio kit bag. Probably the smallest combination power/swr meter i've ever seen, and this has no impact on how useable it is; far better handling for testing handheld radios - no faffing around trying to find a flat surface, and messing about with various long cables. Should definitely have one if you don't already, and test every aerial you have for your handsets. As some kit ones can be shockingly badly matched, and should be immediately disposed of on accounts of being at risk of blowing the handset, along with having poor range. Also quite effective at verifying handset output power, although you may find that the meter does not register a reading on extremely low milliwatt power levels, where possible test at higher outputs to get more all round consistent measurements. Also keep in mind particularly when measuring and confirming SWR that the test conditions should represent close to ideal typical environment use case - as antenna orientation and close proximity to metallic and organic objects can impact readings. Therefore preferably test in open space, with antenna vertical, and hold the meter with one hand to provide a solid ground plane. Otherwise, take test measurements taken under non-ideal circumstances with a pinch of salt, typically this results in SWR readings higher than might be expected. Also for those particularly enthusiastic about such things, and with a little more budget to work with, its also worth looking at a number of well regarded hobbyist Spectrum Analysers and VNA's which can give you further insight into how clean your handsets are, and more broadly how your aerials perform. However, as a bare minimum spot check device, you can't go far wrong with one of these :)

Brilliant I use it on all my radios to see how many watts my radio is giving out on certain frequencies and I also use it to see what my swr reading is as well. Great and very useful if you are into radios (Walkie Talkies) like Quansheng, Radtel, TidRadio, Baofeng etc.

I purchased this Surecom SW-33 Plus meter mainly for use when out portable, on the 2 metre and 70 cm bands, also to check the performance of my various Handheld antennas. At the outset I would highlight that at a price point of sub £40 (at the time of purchase April 2024) it would be unrealistic to expect lab quality results, but I was interested to make a comparison with other non lab quality meters in my possession and thought it would prove useful to share these results with prospective purchasers. I compared output at around the 5 watt mark which is the normal usage this meter is aimed at using Handheld Radios. It was placed inline with additional SMA/SO-239 adaptors (these are not included with the radio) although there are several adaptors and a small dummy load for brief flash tests which will generally be sufficient for most QRP testing. The meter is very compact in size which is a big plus for my intended portable and mobile use. You can draw your own conclusions from the result tables, but personally felt displayed SWR values showed slightly on the low side by comparison. That said I tested some handheld antennas directly on top of the meter which were within a reasonable tolerance and also gave meaningful results when testing some fake aerials that are also in my ownership. One thing to note when testing handheld antennas is to hold the body of the meter, don’t touch the aerial during test, and try to test in the clear away from metallic objects etc. All in all, acceptable for the price and its versatile compact size, although if you build your own VHF/UHF antennas and this is your only meter you may not find the accuracy to be at an acceptable standard for your intended use. Hope this helps your purchase decision.

This kit comes with everything you need to test your hand-held ham radio mobile transceiver. Why would you need one? Well, if you have a Foundation Ham radio licence you are not allow to make your own antenna. However, there are many fake antenna for sale that do not operate within Ofcom licence terms. Therefore, it is your responsibility to make sure your transceiver is performing correctly and will not cause interference to other channels. This small compact device is so easy to use and accurate. Cheap antenna do not perform well and this device will quickly show poor performance of a cheap antenna. Why waste time trying to communicate to distant friends and not get a reply. This device will save a great deal of time by ensuring your equipment is working correctly.

Works very well, easy to use

Bought this to check 2 Nagoya 702 antennas, good job as both were between 8 to 1 and 9 to one on UHF. Its dead simple to use. Plug in the dummy load and press the PTT for power! Press the on/off button to change to SWR setting and plug your antenna on to it. Hold the unit for a bit of a 'ground plane' and press the PTT, the display gives the read out. It comes with all the connectors you need between Male/Female SMA and Male/Female BNC

I bought this to check the SWR levels for my smaller radios, and it worked very well. I checked the results with my professional meter and they were very accurate.