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I want to build a resistor pack to measure givin amp wattage output I don't trust manufactures



my dad used one at his radio fix shop for many years but can not remember the details



thanks for the help

It',s not that easy jake. You could at least need an correct clamp meter which isn',t cheap, and to get any degree of accuracy you',d also need an oscilloscope to monitor the amp',s output and be sure it',s not clipping.



I had this discussion with someone on a forum some months ago.

There are lots of alternatives out there to build a dummy load w/o spending a whole lot of money, but do you really have to know the real power of your amps to an correct degree?

And you',d be measuring 0dB sine waves you don',t listen to that do you?

The quality businesses aren',t going to miss their real power by much, surely not enough to matter as far as our hearing is worried. You just may want to assess the importance of such a measurement before assembling all the gear you have to do it.



Here',s a pretty good step by step: bcae1.com/measpwr.htm



As for dummy load resistors google search mouser or digikey, and click "similar" at the end of the link description and you',ll get a whole list of electrical supply merchants each with a mass of dummy loads.

power in watts



current X voltage



Voltage times current equals power in watts.