"exray" wrote in message
...
I've got a cheapo CB swr meter which I thought might be suitable for
some HF QRP work. Problem is that it is very insensitive on the HF
freqs. Can't even get more than about 20% of the scale with 5 watts on
40 meters.

It uses a stripline for pickup and I'm wondering if maybe I should
replace that with a broadband toroid configuration. Any specific
recommendations? How about adding some gimmick capacitance across the
stripline to increase coupling?

TIA,
Bill WX4A

You might find they used 1n4148 diodes just to be cheap. Try Germanium like
1n270.

I built one out of the Handbook back in the 70's they called the Monimatch
using a circuit board stripline. It was easy to cut rather than etching. I
don't remember the year.

In the 78 issue there is one as you describe. The broadband torroid sensors
are about standard in the autotuners and in some radios because they tune up
at low power. They are small and don't add much inductance. You might even
build it into a qrp rig and use a multi function meter scrapped out of an
old tape recorder or a led bar graph.