‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM DECEMBER 2007 QST  PAGES 58 AND 90  ‰
IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  I FOLLOWED THE PROCEDURE CAREFULLY BEFORE SENDING THE
FPM 1 AND CALIBRATOR OFF TO MICHAEL TRACY, KC1SX, IN THE ARRL LAB TO SEE
HOW WELL IT COMPARED TO THE LEAGUES PROFESSIONAL INSTRUMENTS.  INITIAL
TESTING REVEALED LOW SENSITIVITY IN THE 
‰  FROM PAGE 90  ‰
2 1 1,450 STX WR4I 134 5 1 1,390 VA K6QK 586 2 1 1,322 SDG K6TD 399 2 3

RF POWER METER.  THEY ALSO OFFER AN LCRZ METER FOR MEASURING INDUCTANCE,
CAPACITANCE, RESISTANCE AND IMPEDANCE, AND A BUILT AND TESTED RF CALIBRATOR
THAT PROVIDES SIGNALS AT A KNOWN FREQUENCY AND POWER LEVEL FOR CHECKING AND
CALIBRATING YOUR HOMEBREW GEAR.  THERES ALSO A 40 DB TAP ATTENUATOR FOR
MAKING HIGH POWER MEASUREMENTS WITH LOW POWER DEVICES SUCH AS THE FPM 1.
M3 CAN PROVIDE A BENCH FULL OF USEFUL TEST GEAR FOR A VERY ATTRACTIVE
PRICE.  REMEMBER, YOU DONT NEED TO BUY ALL OF THE TEST GEAR AT ONE TIME, SO
TAKE STOCK OF WHAT YOU REALLY NEED ON YOUR BENCH AND BUY ACCORDINGLY.
BUILDING THE FPM 1 THE FPM 1 UNIVERSAL FREQUENCY COUNTER/ POWER METER KIT
ARRIVED IN A SMALL BROWN BOX.  AFTER COMPLETING AN INVENTORY AND SATISFYING
MYSELF THAT ALL THE PARTS WERE PRESENT, I STARTED BUILDING.  THE KIT
CONTAINS TWO CIRCUIT BOARDS SEE FIGURE 4.  THE LARGER MAIN CIRCUIT BOARD
HAS SOME MODERATELY DENSE COMPONENT POPULATION.  ALL SURFACE MOUNT
COMPONENTS WERE FACTORY INSTALLED, THEREBY NEGATING THE TEDIOUS TASK OF
‰  FROM PAGE 90  ‰
2,000 AK N3EF 435 2 1 1,990 MDC KE3D 808 2 1 1,972 STX WA3RML 182 5 1 1,870
NTX K4WW 500 2 1 1,850 KY VO1NO/VE3 688 2 2 1,846 ON WA1VKO 596 2 1 1,842

M3 ELECTRONIX FPM 1 FREQUENCY COUNTER/ POWER METER KIT REVIEWED BY RICH
ARLAND, W3OSS ARRL CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR ALTHOUGH MY CURRENT INTERESTS IN
AMATEUR RADIO REVOLVE AROUND RESTORING VINTAGE AMATEUR AND MILITARY
COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT, I ENJOY THE MODERN CONVENIENCES OUR SOLID STATE
WORLD HAS TO OFFER.  AFTER ATTENDING FOUR DAYS IN MAY FDIM IN 2005, I
BECAME A FIRM BELIEVER THAT TODAYS RADIO AMATEURS HAVE A LEG UP WHEN IT
COMES TO TEST EQUIPMENT COMPARED TO WHAT WAS AVAILABLE JUST A FEW YEARS
AGO.  FDIM FEATURES PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES DEVOTED TO THE ART OF HOMEBREW
CONSTRUCTION IT RUNS CONCURRENTLY WITH THE DAYTON HAMVENTION.  WHILE AT
FDIM, I MET MIKE KNOX, KC8WR, AND MIKE DOTY, W0MNE, OF A NEW COMPANY CALLED
M3 M CUBED ELECTRONIX.  THEY OFFERED AN INEXPENSIVE 50 AT THE TIME PIECE OF
TEST GEAR CALLED A SEMICONDUCTOR ANALYZER TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE FDIM
EQUIPMENT BUILDING EVENT ITS STILL AVAILABLE IN THE M3 PRODUCT LINE.  FOCUS
ON TEST GEAR TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED AND THE M3 CREW HAS PUT TOGETHER A
STABLE OF REASONABLY PRICED, QUALITY TEST GEAR YOU CAN BUILD.  ADDITIONS TO
THE LINE INCLUDE THE VERSATILE FPM 1, A DC TO 1R3 GHZ FREQUENCY COUNTER AND
‰  FROM PAGE 90  ‰
270 5 1 2,850 VA WA2EQF 574 2 5 2,848 NNJ N7WS 1093 2 1 2,508 AZ N3HBX 1012
2 1 2,274 MDC K5QQ 475 2 1 2,150 MO W8UE 216 5 1 2,150 MI W7GB 426 2 1
2,084 EWA WA8KAN 200 5 1 2,050 WV TWO RIVERS CONTEST CLUB KL2R 313 2 2
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ