959 has low modulation

[222DBFL]

And also think of this. Leaving the radio at 100w vs the 130w you see now won't make a difference to the receiving station. And at 100w you have some headroom. Also components most likely won't get as hot. Not worth the little extra power to have the radio on the edge of being over modulated and also being pushed to its limit as far as power goes. 25w per mosfet is pretty darn good. Any more and it's just truly a waste of energy and makes more heat. Again, JMO. Most HF radios can be made to do more then 100w, but the manufacturer builds them like they do for long duty cycle or life span. Yes you could probably get 150-200 watts out of most HF radios, but at the cost of lifespan of the components and a lot of extra heat.
I am not a radio expert and am FAR from one. Most of what I have learned has either been through reading here or other forums, or by experience. I don't have a Stryker 497, but do have a magnum 257hp, I could get it to do 100w all day, but I set it back to about 60-70w on SSB and 50w on AM, as to keep the RFX unit on the back a little cooler as with the power cranked up boy would it heat up fast! Also added a fan to it that ran when radio was turned on and it stayed on constantly.
At any rate, sounds as if we may have another technician in the future!! Keep at it, and listen to these gents, they do know what they speak of! Seen them help many people out of a hole with radios just using this forum!! Like said, post up some good pics of the top and bottom of that 497. Would be nice to have the info here on the site!
Like I said, keep at it and you will one day find yourself giving good info to people just like LC and Robb, and the many other knowledgeable people here!! Have a good one. And also glad to hear you got things figured out with the other radio. And if you like the Stryker 497, have a look at the 955HP, its got SSB and is a very stable radio on SSB as well. Again, have a great day. .

 

[Jdb0367]

9C1driver has a point.

if the maximum PEP out of the radio is 130 watts, then you should set your maximum deadkey at 1/4 of that, or 32.5 watts. (i would set it at 30 watts)

the reason is that if measuring power using Peak Envelope Power, 100% modulation equals four times the carrier power. (1.5x for average)

so there is no use in having a 60 watt deadkey if your radio cant modulate it to 240 watts.
LC

I understand the 4:1 ratio.
I was just trying to describe how Stryker has this radio set from the factory. I will know more once I start using the radio but I do know at this point. The modulation is at peak from the factory, and it looks real nice on the scope at each extreme on the power settings.

 

[Jdb0367]

And also think of this. Leaving the radio at 100w vs the 130w you see now won't make a difference to the receiving station. And at 100w you have some headroom. Also components most likely won't get as hot. Not worth the little extra power to have the radio on the edge of being over modulated and also being pushed to its limit as far as power goes. 25w per mosfet is pretty darn good. Any more and it's just truly a waste of energy and makes more heat. Again, JMO. Most HF radios can be made to do more then 100w, but the manufacturer builds them like they do for long duty cycle or life span. Yes you could probably get 150-200 watts out of most HF radios, but at the cost of lifespan of the components and a lot of extra heat.
I am not a radio expert and am FAR from one. Most of what I have learned has either been through reading here or other forums, or by experience. I don't have a Stryker 497, but do have a magnum 257hp, I could get it to do 100w all day, but I set it back to about 60-70w on SSB and 50w on AM, as to keep the RFX unit on the back a little cooler as with the power cranked up boy would it heat up fast! Also added a fan to it that ran when radio was turned on and it stayed on constantly.
At any rate, sounds as if we may have another technician in the future!! Keep at it, and listen to these gents, they do know what they speak of! Seen them help many people out of a hole with radios just using this forum!! Like said, post up some good pics of the top and bottom of that 497. Would be nice to have the info here on the site!
Like I said, keep at it and you will one day find yourself giving good info to people just like LC and Robb, and the many other knowledgeable people here!! Have a good one. And also glad to hear you got things figured out with the other radio. And if you like the Stryker 497, have a look at the 955HP, its got SSB and is a very stable radio on SSB as well. Again, have a great day. .

Thanks for the input 222!
I totally agree with keeping the max power under control.
Did a bit of testing last night with listening to the receive on another radio sitting about 30 ft away and broadcasting thru the Stryker.
Using a small stereo speaker hooked up at the receive end, this thing seemed to have real nice audio at all settings.
Heat was never an issue, even when set on max power and modulating for long periods.
That's probably due to the heatsink setup on this radio.
The finals are hanging on a 1/4 thick block of aluminum on the inside and a generous heatsink on the outside. The factory fan kicks on every time the mic is keyed, and periodically during idle. I noticed even after the radio is turned off, the fan will cycle for awhile.
At any given point, I could touch the heat sinks and couldn't honestly feel much build up.
I can't say the same for some of the single and dual final radios I have.
Time will obviously be the true test here but so far...... It looks like a winner. At least in my book!

Joel