Stock radio , was wondering if you can check out the video I quickly made. No matter how loud I speak on AM the meter never goes over midway, is this a sign of low modulation? Mic gain is turned to max setting , same with stock mic and astatic.
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Modulation meter low bars on radio
- Thread starter Limeybastard
- Start date
those meters are not the greatest. if the radio is putting out a good signal into a meter like Robb mentioned the meter may just need to be adjusted. I have a trc-453 radio that the receive bars hardly ever move. get a strong signal and it will go up about 1/2 way and most of the time it does not even move on receive. turned the VR all the way up and even changed the diode and resister in the feed line too the meter and it just does not move very far on mine.TX only moves up about 1/2 way also. never have found a supplier for that meter so I just do not worry about it.
just verify with an external meter to see what it is doing.
just verify with an external meter to see what it is doing.
I take it the radio has never been "Peaked"?
It might just need a little adjustment inside, or fine tune. (Like Robb & Sonoma suggested)
And have you tried an amplified microphone?(if you got one anyways)
It might just need a little adjustment inside, or fine tune. (Like Robb & Sonoma suggested)
And have you tried an amplified microphone?(if you got one anyways)
Its stock and untouched except for the e-chip I fitted inside of it myself to open up 11 meter.
Probably just cheaper to by a 25$ uniden bargain basement, and listen to it to check, as well as the so called radio checks via other users LOL
http://cbradiomagazine.com/Radio Reviews/RCI-2970N2/RCI-2970N2.htm
Not big AM talkers but seem to have good reviews
Not big AM talkers but seem to have good reviews
Breakout your screwdriver and turn up the AMC pot. Just about every new radio I have ever had usually has this pot turned way down. Look for VR17 near the top center. This is labeled on the board. Check your modulation afterwards to see if it increases because some radios have the pots in reverse direction for the gain value. It's ok to max out this pot because you still have the mic gain for control. Just don't be tempted to hack out the modulation limiter.
Here is a link for the service manual. Last page shows the adjustment locations. Don't screw around with the other pots if you don't know what you are doing.
https://www.gijoesradioelectronics.com/Images/Ranger_2950Dx_2970Dx_Service_Manual.pdf
Here is a link for the service manual. Last page shows the adjustment locations. Don't screw around with the other pots if you don't know what you are doing.
https://www.gijoesradioelectronics.com/Images/Ranger_2950Dx_2970Dx_Service_Manual.pdf
L
My and scew drivers? They don't neven ( ranger) have 2970n2 or 2970n4 service manuals available still I dont think.
On the older rangers it was vr14 or vr17, i recall reading once.
Best thing for me to do is perhaps get another radio El Cheapo one, so I can hear the modulation out of it before making adjustments.
Frederickdawg
My and scew drivers? They don't neven ( ranger) have 2970n2 or 2970n4 service manuals available still I dont think.
On the older rangers it was vr14 or vr17, i recall reading once.
Best thing for me to do is perhaps get another radio El Cheapo one, so I can hear the modulation out of it before making adjustments.
Frederickdawg
Last edited:
I just posted the link. go back and click on it.
The newer versions of the RCI 2950, and 2970 including both N2 and N4 models are all the same radio wise. The only difference is the amplifier board and heatsink slapped underneath them. Other than that the radio portion is the same.
When you click on the link you will notice it says for both 2950 and 2970 models.
All I said is turn up the AMC pot, you can do that safely without messing up the radio. Open it up and see for yourself. Use the manual to compare the location of the AMC pot. Last time I recall, the pot was even labeled "AMC'. If it happens to be different, then ok, don't mess with it.
A lot of people do this and it works for them. I don't like to turn the amc wide open and control the modulation with the mic gain. The reason is that the limiter adds some compression to the audio. If you turn it to max and turn the mic gain down to correct it it's not working anymore.
With the amc set properly you can turn up the mic gain so that softer spoken words are heard loud and clear while preventing overmodulation on the louder sounds. It levels everything out.
I was thinking if Limeybastard marked the current location of the AMC vr, and tweaked it just a little bit to let the radio modulate a little more, he might even see the gauge/meter go all the way to the top with more modulation.
Or the meter itself might need a VR tweak if the radio can do 100% mod as it sits.
(w/out a 'scope you won't be able to set it for 100%, but you can definitely increase the modulation is you so desired)
Or the meter itself might need a VR tweak if the radio can do 100% mod as it sits.
(w/out a 'scope you won't be able to set it for 100%, but you can definitely increase the modulation is you so desired)
Good point. It's still better than clipping the limiter because I've found on some radio's the AMC has no adjustment afterwards.
Typically I turn knobs all the way up then back them off a 1/4 turn.
Most likely your AMC needs some adjustment - also adding a power microphone may make a difference....however - be very very careful with adjusting the AMC on the N2 or N4 radios - boosting your AMC will boost your swing and output and those radios are very touchy with heat and although most of the failure issues have been resolved you don't want to be maxing anything out.
Don't mess with the ALC or any other power adjustments unless you have a PHD in electrical engineering Slight adjustment of the AMC should be fine but only adjust until the bars are tickling the top - if you have an external watt meter or modulation meter you can tell better what is going on as well when adjusting.
Don't mess with the ALC or any other power adjustments unless you have a PHD in electrical engineering
Slight adjustment of the AMC should be fine but only adjust until the bars are tickling the top - if you have an external watt meter or modulation meter you can tell better what is going on as well when adjusting.
Yeah, marking pot.Good point worth noting for myself there, cheers.
Also the Power being set to bare min, turning power dial all the way counter clockwise , meter showing modulation doesn't go past two bars lol. Why would the power have any effect on modulation? I normally run low to mid power with modulation dial ( mic dial ) fully clockwise then it gives me what was shown in my original post. Im sure if I turn power max and mic max then the modulation bars will be " normal" looking. Silly?