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Amp Question. Taxes star DX 500v. (dei).

Mudduckmobile

Mudduckmobile

Well-Known Member
Oct 5, 2015
642
346
73
S.W. Washington Coast
Have a new dei. DX 500v. Works great. Not the problem.
Question: I have a new FT 450D, I can set RF out put 5w-100w
Would like to put DX 500v inline only for SSB on 27. mhz I have X=0 and 1.1, 1.2 swr.
what power (RF out put) should I set the FT500D at to not let the smoke out of DX500v?
I was thinking 20w maybe 25w. I dont want to blow it up, just loaf it along.
Thank you!
 

25-30 watts should be plenty for the TS500 you have. Like TBA02 stated, set power out of amp to about 400 watts pep max on SSB and the amp will work well. Also might think of adding a fan if it doesn't have one. Just some food for thought.
Also know this. With a good antenna you shouldn't need more than 100 watts to work the world with! Actually less than that when the conditions are right. But at the moment the band is dead and it won't truly matter how much power you add. Unless you have a crappy antenna setup, with 100 watts you should be able to do just fine.
I am not trying to steer you clear of the amp or anything. Just letting you know that it won't help much when there are no conditions. But have fun with it and be careful not to forget its inline and turn the power up by accident on the FT450!! Hate to see the smoke get let out!!! Again, have fun with it and be safe!!
 
222DBFL said:
25-30 watts should be plenty for the TS500 you have. Like TBA02 stated, set power out of amp to about 400 watts pep max on SSB and the amp will work well. Also might think of adding a fan if it doesn't have one. Just some food for thought.
Also know this. With a good antenna you shouldn't need more than 100 watts to work the world with! Actually less than that when the conditions are right. But at the moment the band is dead and it won't truly matter how much power you add. Unless you have a crappy antenna setup, with 100 watts you should be able to do just fine.
I am not trying to steer you clear of the amp or anything. Just letting you know that it won't help much when there are no conditions. But have fun with it and be careful not to forget its inline and turn the power up by accident on the FT450!! Hate to see the smoke get let out!!! Again, have fun with it and be safe!!
Click to expand...
I get about 35-40 miles the things are around here with 50w on the ft450d, I have a good parking spot on a butte and can get on a good day maybe 80 miles out but I'm listening hard with headphones....And skip is something else, all i'm hearing now is the Tijuana Taxis's, and some So.Cal. but there is alot of good listening on the other bands.....tell I get my Tx.
I have used DX500 before but not with the dei. I know there "junk" but I got it new, and I wont kill it with over in put. my DX 500 with Toshiba's I never put more then 25w into but as rule only went to 20w. I will play with this dei thing and see how long it runs, I may try 10w then 15w then 20w and then 25w to see what report I get out of my buddy 40 miles up the road we know how each other sounds/S units and what not. And I am useing a Sirio trucker 5000, on the cab top of my ram crew cab,hard mounted w/Breadlove 4in. mount, love the Sirio 5000.
Thank you for your help.
 
You need to focus on what is coming out of the amplifier. Slowly bring up drive until the devices are at their rated output. If you are increasing drive and seeing very little increase in output you better step back.

A lot of amplifiers have died an early death because someone was using the recommended input drive. As a matter of fact I just fixed one. The same guys preach that "2 watt deadkey" crap vs learning how to use an amp properly.
 
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Up date on Texas star 500v.
DEI transistors are being removed, and 4 brand new Toshiba 2sc2879 transistors (real ones) are being put in alone with the work needed to set it up right. I can't wait to get it back so I can put in after my FT450D.
Say what would be a good antenna "tuner" to put with this amp ? auto would be best but cost is a big thing maybe a manual tuner or a good used one. This is for mobile.
 
Mudduckmobile said:
Up date on Texas star 500v.
DEI transistors are being removed, and 4 brand new Toshiba 2sc2879 transistors (real ones) are being put in alone with the work needed to set it up right. I can't wait to get it back so I can put in after my FT450D.
Say what would be a good antenna "tuner" to put with this amp ? auto would be best but cost is a big thing maybe a manual tuner or a good used one. This is for mobile.
Click to expand...

Why the transistor swap, did you blow the DEI's up? If not it's all good I guess, I generally don't like to change finals out in a working amplifier or radio. In this case I doubt anyone you talk to will even notice the difference between 400 and 500 watts.
 
543_Dallas said:
You need to focus on what is coming out of the amplifier. Slowly bring up drive until the devices are at their rated output. If you are increasing drive and seeing very little increase in output you better step back.

A lot of amplifiers have died an early death because someone was using the recommended input drive. As a matter of fact I just fixed one. The same guys preach that "2 watt deadkey" crap vs learning how to use an amp properly.
Click to expand...
Yup. Some 100w boxes require less than that; 1/2w to be exact. But what it is all about, is what device is in the amp that is being driven. The small pill use the least input power. Recently worked on a local op's mrf454 x 2; it liked 2 1/2w. When given 3w, it made a bit more power; but that power was a loss due to the distortion it added. Amp input impedance makes a difference, so fine tuning the amp to the radio is not plug 'n play at all . . .
 
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9C1Driver said:
Why the transistor swap, did you blow the DEI's up? If not it's all good I guess, I generally don't like to change finals out in a working amplifier or radio. In this case I doubt anyone you talk to will even notice the difference between 400 and 500 watts.
Click to expand...
I had to send the amp in when I first got it, and One transistor was "bad" (there words), and one resistor, and out put combiner as well. After I got it back (amp) I ran it no problems. So I'm digging around in my box of things and find my long lost bag of new Toshiba transistors, I had gotten 20 from RF Parts about 6 years ago and miss placed the parts when we moved. Lone story short, I found them.
 
Some transistors are almost DOA before they are installed.
There are 5 or 6 scope traces showing brand new and never installed transistors in my photo album on this site. These were brand new and never had a soldering iron touched to them, ever. I test every transistor before I install them. If there is any irregularity I will not install it. I also check the gain matching and only use matched parts.
3353-1425595712-c9dcca6d523e231d055dc9a40bc2a83f.jpg
 

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