#221: The Bird 43 Directional Wattmeter: Overview and how-to use

An introduction, overview and how-to-use tutorial of the venerable Bird Model 43 Thruline directional RF wattmeter / power meter. The Bird 43 was introduced in 1952, and is still being produced/sold today, largely unchanged from its original design. These meters are basically the standard of the industry, much like Fluke is for DMMs. I review the various aspect and elements of the meter, what the slugs do, and how to use the meter. While this meter does not measure VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio), you can determine SWR from the forward and reflected/reverse power readings.

For more information on this meter and others like it, please visit the Bird Electronic website:
The Model 43 and its brethren can be found here:

[russellturner]

Nice video. Clear and simple explanation

[CraigPetersenfb]

I have two of these meters, one "regular" 43, and another with the peak reading kit installed. Both are great meters. I have always been a fan of Bird meters and have several Bird elements, loads, and attenuators. These meters are timeless, tried and true work horses. 73..

[charlescartwright]

Mahalo for your time and videos, I have been involved wot this field since 1960, so much is not new to me, but I have yet to watch one of your videos that I have nor picked up on something new [ or I forgot, I'm a Sr. citizen]. Keep up the good work, this beats main=stream TV hands down

[JohnBukowsky]

Excellent review. Informative without nonsense. Exactly the information I needed.

[PowderMill]

When friends ask me which wattmeter to buy, I always steer them to the Telewave #44.
For one simple reason… No Slugs!
They are delicate, expensive and you need so darn many.

The Telewave 44 does 5MHz through 1GHz / 1 to 500 Watts forward and reflected power.
WITHOUT any external or internal accessories or parts required.

I bought my first Bird 43 when I was in my teens and used to mow lawns to earn “slug money”.
Eventually I was guided to the Telewave and I’ve been very happy with it.
There definitely exists a need for the Bird 43, especially when it comes to broadcast video.

[tomkerxhalli]

Thanks for the very informative and well done video. I appreciate the time you put into producing it!

[mikesteenblik]

Great video for a simple explanation of the meter. Addressing the scale vs load used is helpful.. thank you

[yellowtrain]

Great informational video! I work for a railroad and we use these meters to test antenna integrity. Unfortunately, the company does not provide any straightforward literature or training on how to use these testers. Thanks!

[CH_Pechiar]

It is the type of instrument that says reliable all over, like a Fluke DMM. Thank you for the video.

[davideisenberger]

It is Truly amazing that the "43" has been around so long and as stated, they keep selling them along with the Elements. The older element caps were made of Teflon and then changed to a much harder material. The Older element plates have to be punched or drilled out, whereas the newer plastic style can be lifted "if albeit careful" and calibration can be performed. I also have additional info should anyone need it!

[PapasDino]

Great video as usual Alan. Couple of additional points - if you have the basic Bird 43 the PEP mod kit will take up one of the two slug storage spaces but is well worth it (be careful with the on-off switch as it's easy to leave the kit engaged, but there is a LED on indicator; BTW the Bird accessory runs on two 9VDC batteries). Also, the slugs do come out of calibration, especially if they were abused at some point in time in their history if you get them used. They CAN be re-calibrated but of course you must have a standard to compare to when adjusting them. If you have the basic 43 model you can get a sampler accessory that takes the place of the measuring slug which makes it not as quite as user friendly but at least gives you that capability. Finally, watch out - gathering up slugs can get addicting, sorta like eating peanuts! 73 - Dino KL0S

[keithburton]

Thank you. Your videos helped alleviate the tedium of my recent, month long, hospital stay.

[scottjohnston]

Great Video, I picked up a Bird 43 at Dayton for $75 dollars and then went on to find some slugs. Your overview was just what I needed! I did not know about the dummy slug to use during transport. I also got a small padded case for the meter with room for several slugs. Wish I had known to look for the peak or RF sample variants. You might want to add that there is another company that makes a similar meter with slugs that also work with the Bird meters.

[TheRadioShop]

Very informative video Alan on the Bird meters.  I have 2 of the 4304 meters. These have no slugs and have adjustable power levels, 15, 50, 150, 500. Also have the RF sample ports. Although both meters are identical in design, one is branded Telewave. Have used plenty of the ones like you shown in my commercial radio days, hope to own one of those one day. Thanks for sharing.

[epnuzuluaga]

I learned something today, This video answered a lot of questions I had about the bird model 43. Thank you.

[ChrisWilson]

I thought I knew all about my meter, I didn't, so as always Alan, your video was a mine of useful info, thank you!

[bigcx]

I've never had access to some of the toys you get to play with, so it's great to see what's out there. Great video, thanks for sharing.

[gfvt]

I realise that I am a few years late to this video, really enjoy your content, as you said the 43 remains an industry standard piece of test gear. I have 6 of them, unfortunately only one with the PEP module. An advantage of the clone PEP modules is that the generally only require one battery. FWIW I have added a phono socket, resistor and a NiMh PP3 so that it can be conveniently trickle charged from 12v. Unfortunately common amateur perception is that these meters are unusually accurate, in my experience though consistency can be excellent and that is good enough for me.

[zaprodk]

Thank you for showing how these wattmeters worked. I had always wondered how the probes worked. Keep up the geeky and technical videos :D

[IEBATechThoughts]

Excellent overview. Answered all my questions!