Thanks Paul & Marc for the fantastic answers. I had an idea that nostalgia had a lot to do with it, but I always find it interesting to understand other people's thought processes and I can certainly understand the one regarding nostalgia. I have a Jaguar XJ Sport sitting SORN on my drive and it's been there for a few years now. I have dreams of getting it restored and back on the road and it may happen one day, but in the back of my head, I know I'm probably better off selling it before it completely rots!
I also understand the ruggedness of the Bird products. Back when I first got my licence, I managed to get hold of a Bird dummy load, which pretty much resembles a miniature oil-filled radiator. It's build like a tank and I'm sure would handle well past it's rated power handling.
Rallies are usually the best place for picking up slugs, but like Den has suggested, people do tend to squirrel them away, only bringing them out occasionally to look at them longingly.😊

Thanks for all the comments.

Dom, you are not the only one questioning the sanity of indulging in a Bird 43. As Paul said, they are very accurate when used correctly and pretty much bombproof.

I am interested in measuring POWER accurately to at least 5% accuracy, I'm not so interested in VSWR (although I hate operating above 1:1.5). Most modern power meters are just not very accurate, especially anything below £150. They all CLAIM to be 5% accurate but it's just not true. Just pick up three or four different power meters and they will all give wildly different results. Especially the ones that try and cover 1.8Mhz to 1.3Ghz in one unit!! Just think of all the compromises that are designed into these things. It's like trying to catch a barbel with a roach rod, you might land it but it ain't gonna be pretty to watch. Some people don't like shack-in-the-box radios for the same reason. The Bird 43 is an iconic design, like the Swiss Army knife, the Dualit toaster, the original Angelpoise lamp, the Barcelona chair ...

For me, it was also partly nostalgic. I spent 15+ years in the mobile telephone industry from the mid-1980s onwards. We all used Bird 43s, every engineer had one, there was nothing else worth considering. It became a friend, a trusted tool. I have fond memories of them. I was very fortunate to be given one by a very kind club member recently, a battered and bruised fella (not the club member), it has had a 60-year life as hard as you can imagine but is still alive and kicking. I have now stripped it down and lovingly resprayed it. All I need now is some slugs ...

73
Marc

Can I ask a question? And please don't take this the wrong way, I'm just enquiring 🤔 But what is the obsession, by so many Amateurs, around Bird Wattmeters? From my understanding, they are just a very expensive and somewhat cumbersome VSWR meter. I'm not knocking anyone who has one or wants one, but there are plenty of other high quality VSWR meters out there, that don't require 'slugs', which seem to be like the ark of the covenant to get hold of, so why do so many Amateurs go on this difficult quest, when there are some many much easier solutions? I mean, just how accurately do you need to measure your VSWR? 😁

This post is a little tongue in cheek, so please don't take it any other way and it's designed to generate conversation and debate; And I'm genuinely curios. 😊

73,

Dom, 2E0WHQ

Hi,

Does anybody have Bird 43 slugs 100H, 100A, 100C or 100D they would want to part with? Or do you know any UK sources for used slugs?

Thanks

Marc