SR-Stryker 955HPC v2 and a amp

[renagade]

I got the Stryker 955 in my 02 dodge 2500 with the Stryker mag mount antenna and i also have a Texas star dx 400 with 4 2290's.
is it possible to pair the dx 400 with the Stryker 955? I believe the dk is between a 1.5 and 2. or will I need to get my hands on a bigger amp for the truck? if so, what size can I run with the Stryker? I have a 1x4 for my base and the Stryker works great with my base amp. what would be a good choice to pair up with the Stryker 955 in the mobile?

 

[sp5it]

You need to lower output power from Stryker, to don't fry the amp.
Mike

 

[renagade]

You need to lower output power from Stryker, to don't fry the amp.
Mike

what do i need to set it at? half a watt or 1 watt?

 

[sp5it]

No idea.
When I do similar things with other radios and amps I connect radio to amp, dummy load and oscilloscope and I adjust drive power to get as high power as I can get with clean signal.
Mike

 

[CbRadiosPRONTO]

First, I would never run the radio with a low drive amp. A low drive amp is one that has a driver inside to run the final section ie the 1x4. You can run that stryker with your dx400. There is no reason you can’t put a 5 watt dead key into that amp. People always talk about 1 watt dead key and 50 watts of “swing swing swing” smh. They should be tuned together which is a bit more than just dead key but I don’t know if you have a bench w/ tech equipment etc. When I tune one of those Strykers (same as the Anytone Quad6 and Quad5N2 btw) I can normally see around 15-16w dead key and 60-70 watts peak with a nice wave form on the scope. Anything more and the waveform is pinched and eventually will flattop (distortion, extra heat, bad for signal and amp). Dropping it to around 5w and 100% modulation will drive the amp cleanly. Monitor your heat and swr. If somebody cranked up the modulation and tweaked this and that, idk.

With that said, how is your radio set up? Is it tuned properly? Has it been messed with by someone that just cranks it up? It would be better if it was just stock. If it’s stock, I’d set it to around 5w and go from there.

To answer your question more directly, no problem running that dx400 with that radio set to 1-2 watts.

 

[Greg T]

Well, if it were me, I'd put just enough carrier into it to net about 75 to 80 watts carrier from the amp. Let the modulation do the rest. BUT, in order to do the way it should really be done, the ANL (V1) or the AMLow (V2) needs to be manipulated a bit.

 

[nomadradio]

Need to trade in your TS DX400 for a DX500.

The four 2SC2990 transistors in the DX400 require about 8 Watts apiece to drive the snot out of them for a total of just over 30 Watts peak power. Your radio will be tricky to turn down that far. Feel free to try, but I won't.

The DX500 model has four 2SC2879 transistors. They will commonly tolerate double the drive power apiece that the 2290 will survive.

I would suggest either of two solutions.

A radio with half the peak transmit power.

Or an amplifier that can accept about twice the drive that your 400 can safely use.

73

 

[Greg T]

Need to trade in your TS DX400 for a DX500.

The four 2SC2990 transistors in the DX400 require about 8 Watts apiece to drive the snot out of them for a total of just over 30 Watts peak power. Your radio will be tricky to turn down that far. Feel free to try, but I won't.

The DX500 model has four 2SC2879 transistors. They will commonly tolerate double the drive power apiece that the 2290 will survive.

I would suggest either of two solutions.

A radio with half the peak transmit power.

Or an amplifier that can accept about twice the drive that your 400 can safely use.

73

Depending on the version of the 955 it's really not hard to turn down. If it's a version 1 it takes a steady hand to manipulate the ANL to get it just right. But it can be done. I've done a few of them. The V2 is a bit different, but you don't even need to open the radio. I have mine set at 1/2w carrier and 14w pep when the RF power knob is fully CCW. My SSB can be manipulated from 12W to about 95 to 100W. These radios are fine for the Texas star 400s and 500s. I know a guy running a 250 with one that sounds great.

 

[nomadradio]

Hey, it it lets you control the power that precisely, you should be good to go. I guess that radio is a bit too new for me to know all of its ins and outs.

73

 

[Rwb]

Hey, it it lets you control the power that precisely, you should be good to go. I guess that radio is a bit too new for me to know all of its ins and outs.

73

the newest version is a new learning curve,but the more i use it the more i like it

 

[144inBama]

what do i need to set it at? half a watt or 1 watt?

With the V2, I'll go into the menu to the lo-pwr setting, I'll roll it all the way down then turn the amp on and roll it back up until the amp relay activates. I'll turn the amp off and measure the output of the radio to get a good baseline of what it takes to turn the amp on. I'll cut the box back on and adjust for my 100 PEP deadkey. The same 1 watt that activates my box might not activate yours or drives yours harder than mine due to internal differences from worn or different valued components in the boxes so it's difficult to give a one DK fits all.

First, I would never run the radio with a low drive amp. A low drive amp is one that has a driver inside to run the final section ie the 1x4.

I'm driving my 1X4 with the V2 and no issues. The V2 allows you to lower your max output to just about nothing so although it's an 80ish watt radio, I'm only putting out 30-35 PEP, my box can take 45-50 but no sense in beating her brains out for a hundred or so more watts. The V2 is very friendly towards amps once you figure out all the bells & whistles.

 

[Onelasttime]

It is no secret that I am not a fan of the 955. Not enough power to make most people that buy them happy and too much power to power most older and newer bipolar amps. Why because people always have an amp too small to be safely driven by it always! Not heard one person yet on this sight that has a 955 that has wanted to hook it up to an amp suitable for it.

The way it is designed and the type of transistors used in it are not ideal for what you are wanting to do! The way the power comes on is not great. The fact that people set them up to key 1-2 watts and swing to 100-140 should be your first sign that sketchy stuff is going on. This is how all of these non-rf specific switching fet's work when you make them work in rf production.

Outside of low powered CB radio's with fets I have not seen a single fet radio "export" that does not swing to full power or close to full power no matter where you set the dead key.

There is a reason why so many serious linear 'gator stations are using tube type radio's or old bipolar radio's to drive a daisy chain of amps over using an expert radio with cheap switching fets. I am sure there are plenty that do but not the best of the best.

Your 400DX and the 500V where designed to be driven by a dual final 2SC1969 or similar radio. That obeyed the 4:1 rule and they where if cleanly set up depending on the finals 20-34 watts on AM and about 40 watts on side band.

The difference between a 500 and 667 for instance is a driver transistor that was never set up to allow the driver to be fully driven by attenuating the input. So you had 1x 2SC2290 driving 4x2SC2879's.

I am not sure if they ever had a driven 2SC2290 I am not an expert on Texas Star and all the other CB amps. If they did ever make one it would have needed insane attenuation and a very weak driver.

What this sight needs is to have a sticky that is critical but far on the pro's and con's of a 955 and how much amp you should really have to safely drive it with a 955 outside of competitions conditions. You really need at least 8 or more bipolars just to be safe.

That sticky should also make clear how much power supply or alternator you need to sustain a beastly setup like that.

955 as a base probably great! Running stock in a mobile great! Driving an amp? Not unless you have a beast or a ton of input pad to effectively neuter the radio.

Everyone I hear doing what you want to do sounds like crap. They seem to have a lot of amp failures as well!

Again I know there are guys that can probably make this happen but it is not worth it. I also know a lot of guys say they can make it happen and they fail fast. I know the parts are cheap when they fail if it is the finals in the radio but unless you can do the work your self you have to pay a tech to install 2 more matched units and rebias. If you go popping bipolars in the amp that still what $29 each a pop for HG's in matched pairs?

I do not own a single amp that I would ever feel comfortable driving with a 955.

Always match the radio to the amp. So you need to either get a lower power radio preferably one that uses bipolar finals or you need a much larger amp that needs far more drive. Yes I know there are low IQ people that will drive a 4 pill with a 2 pill just because you can do it and get away with a few times does not make it a great idea!

 

[Onelasttime]

Oh and when you see people like Gatekeeper, BBi, DonkeyStomper, on and on and on hammering on an amp they just built or just repaired that is not an indication of how you should operate your gear. They are stress testing it to ensure it does not fail before it leaves the shop. There is also some marketing at play and some ego stroking going on. Gatekeeper will often tell people not to operate the amp in the manner that he is doing and will often recommend a carrier power output on the amp 1/2 of what he is showing in his video if you want the amp to last.

It is no different than when you see people operating an Engine on a dyno like say PowerNation Horse Power TV they are not advocating that anyone operate their newly built engine in their car the way they where operating it in the dyno. For some reason people seem to understand that they can not run their daily driver at redline or under 24lbs. of boost or with a 200HP shot of nitrous all the time with out the engine failing. These same people want to buy a radio and effectively run the radio and the amp at redline constantly. It is unrealistic expectation. Like putting skinny 13 inch tires on your Corvette you can do it with some work but you will have problems lots of problems. The car will not operate as it was engineered to for sure!

 

[Greg T]

It is no secret that I am not a fan of the 955. Not enough power to make most people that buy them happy and too much power to power most older and newer bipolar amps. Why because people always have an amp too small to be safely driven by it always! Not heard one person yet on this sight that has a 955 that has wanted to hook it up to an amp suitable for it.

The way it is designed and the type of transistors used in it are not ideal for what you are wanting to do! The way the power comes on is not great. The fact that people set them up to key 1-2 watts and swing to 100-140 should be your first sign that sketchy stuff is going on. This is how all of these non-rf specific switching fet's work when you make them work in rf production.

Outside of low powered CB radio's with fets I have not seen a single fet radio "export" that does not swing to full power or close to full power no matter where you set the dead key.

There is a reason why so many serious linear 'gator stations are using tube type radio's or old bipolar radio's to drive a daisy chain of amps over using an expert radio with cheap switching fets. I am sure there are plenty that do but not the best of the best.

Your 400DX and the 500V where designed to be driven by a dual final 2SC1969 or similar radio. That obeyed the 4:1 rule and they where if cleanly set up depending on the finals 20-34 watts on AM and about 40 watts on side band.

The difference between a 500 and 667 for instance is a driver transistor that was never set up to allow the driver to be fully driven by attenuating the input. So you had 1x 2SC2290 driving 4x2SC2879's.

I am not sure if they ever had a driven 2SC2290 I am not an expert on Texas Star and all the other CB amps. If they did ever make one it would have needed insane attenuation and a very weak driver.

What this sight needs is to have a sticky that is critical but far on the pro's and con's of a 955 and how much amp you should really have to safely drive it with a 955 outside of competitions conditions. You really need at least 8 or more bipolars just to be safe.

That sticky should also make clear how much power supply or alternator you need to sustain a beastly setup like that.

955 as a base probably great! Running stock in a mobile great! Driving an amp? Not unless you have a beast or a ton of input pad to effectively neuter the radio.

Everyone I hear doing what you want to do sounds like crap. They seem to have a lot of amp failures as well!

Again I know there are guys that can probably make this happen but it is not worth it. I also know a lot of guys say they can make it happen and they fail fast. I know the parts are cheap when they fail if it is the finals in the radio but unless you can do the work your self you have to pay a tech to install 2 more matched units and rebias. If you go popping bipolars in the amp that still what $29 each a pop for HG's in matched pairs?

I do not own a single amp that I would ever feel comfortable driving with a 955.

Always match the radio to the amp. So you need to either get a lower power radio preferably one that uses bipolar finals or you need a much larger amp that needs far more drive. Yes I know there are low IQ people that will drive a 4 pill with a 2 pill just because you can do it and get away with a few times does not make it a great idea!

If you can't drive a 1 pill with a 955 you dont know how to set it up.

 

[kc4eoe]

Oh and when you see people like Gatekeeper, BBi, DonkeyStomper, on and on and on hammering on an amp they just built or just repaired that is not an indication of how you should operate your gear. They are stress testing it to ensure it does not fail before it leaves the shop. There is also some marketing at play and some ego stroking going on. Gatekeeper will often tell people not to operate the amp in the manner that he is doing and will often recommend a carrier power output on the amp 1/2 of what he is showing in his video if you want the amp to last.

It is no different than when you see people operating an Engine on a dyno like say PowerNation Horse Power TV they are not advocating that anyone operate their newly built engine in their car the way they where operating it in the dyno. For some reason people seem to understand that they can not run their daily driver at redline or under 24lbs. of boost or with a 200HP shot of nitrous all the time with out the engine failing. These same people want to buy a radio and effectively run the radio and the amp at redline constantly. It is unrealistic expectation. Like putting skinny 13 inch tires on your Corvette you can do it with some work but you will have problems lots of problems. The car will not operate as it was engineered to for sure!

When you mention BBI, you should slightly bow your head in respect. He is a God among Amp builders. That is not just my opinion.