Amp wire upgrade diy?

[bob85]

Limey,
if you are not measuring current draw when deadkeying you are not seeing the current peaks because your meter is far too slow.

IF you decide to upgrade cables make the internal wires equal size & length from the splice like ranch55 so both boards get equal voltage.

 

[Ranch55]

Cheers. Did they ever mention why they used 10awg cord?
I currently extended the existing 10 gauge via soldering and heatshrink to 2 feet of regular stranded 8 awg.
I noticed you also upgraded the internal power cables also. My amp is currently set to pep at 400W tops . the current draw doesnt seem high either last i recall was about upper 20s to 30 amps at 13.9V.

Can you please explain the TS modulation meter and what it means? All i know is that its not good for the needle to hit past 10. Cheers

Actually, 10 gauge wire is adequate for the amplifier, providing you not using more than 10 feet of wire. It is the voltage drop over the length that is the culprit when the wire is under load. What you did will be just fine.
I upgraded the wire all the way to the boards to alleviate any voltage drop and still have full current and voltage capabilities.
A Texas Star DX500V under full output will pull up to 62 ~ 65 amps with 600 plus watts output. I have measured this many times. The full 8 gauge wire upgrade actually will increase the power output capability of the 500V.......Although we do not run our amplifiers at full output normally. I only use Toshiba 2SC2879 transistors. The DEI's will not take that kind of use for very long.
The "meter" is for a relative reading only. It is only telling you that the amplifier is putting out power, not how much power. I have one 500V that only shows a little over half meter reading when the amp is putting out over 500 watts of power. It all depends what resistor is in the circuit that drives the meter. Schematic calls for a 27K ohm. Some of the newer 500's have a 20K ohm and will let the meter swing over more.
Best case of operation is to have a quality VSWR / POWER meter after the amplifier and before the antenna. And also before an antenna tuner rated to handle at least 1K watts.
The power output is also relative to the power input.....(coming out of the radio).
I set my Stryker SR955HP at a 3~4 watt AM carrier dead key on my watt meter. That generally dead keys the 500V at around 200 watts. Then I just drive the Texas Star 500V with the modulation swing from there, on AM and SSB.
And yes, the 955HP wil be swinging up to 60 or 70 watts or so into the TS 500. But it will be okay. I have been using two 500V's this way for over 2 years and all is okay. And I do have the fan kits installed as I have mentioned in other posts.
I never use the variable as it is a weak link. On one ampilfier, I took the variable pot out and installed a 15 ohm 5 watt resistor in it's place. Now when the "Green" variable button is pressed in, it turns the amplifier down to approximately 1/2 power output. It essentially now has a "Hi" mode and a "Low" mode. This is what my friend wanted, a high and a low, no variable.
I apologize for being long winded. Hope all this helps.

 

[Limeybastard]

Limey,
if you are not measuring current draw when deadkeying you are not seeing the current peaks because your meter is far too slow.

IF you decide to upgrade cables make the internal wires equal size & length from the splice like ranch55 so both boards get equal voltage.

I was looking at the PSU, it shows output in voltage and current draw when I modulate via dual digital led .

Im happy with the amp, it tops off at just under 400W pep with my Stryker 955 driving it. I guess the reason I mentioned amperage was it doesnt seem to draw that much.

 

[Limeybastard]

Actually, 10 gauge wire is adequate for the amplifier, providing you not using more than 10 feet of wire. It is the voltage drop over the length that is the culprit when the wire is under load. What you did will be just fine.
I upgraded the wire all the way to the boards to alleviate any voltage drop and still have full current and voltage capabilities.
A Texas Star DX500V under full output will pull up to 62 ~ 65 amps with 600 plus watts output. I have measured this many times. The full 8 gauge wire upgrade actually will increase the power output capability of the 500V.......Although we do not run our amplifiers at full output normally. I only use Toshiba 2SC2879 transistors. The DEI's will not take that kind of use for very long.
The "meter" is for a relative reading only. It is only telling you that the amplifier is putting out power, not how much power. I have one 500V that only shows a little over half meter reading when the amp is putting out over 500 watts of power. It all depends what resistor is in the circuit that drives the meter. Schematic calls for a 27K ohm. Some of the newer 500's have a 20K ohm and will let the meter swing over more.
Best case of operation is to have a quality VSWR / POWER meter after the amplifier and before the antenna. And also before an antenna tuner rated to handle at least 1K watts.
The power output is also relative to the power input.....(coming out of the radio).
I set my Stryker SR955HP at a 3~4 watt AM carrier dead key on my watt meter. That generally dead keys the 500V at around 200 watts. Then I just drive the Texas Star 500V with the modulation swing from there, on AM and SSB.
And yes, the 955HP wil be swinging up to 60 or 70 watts or so into the TS 500. But it will be okay. I have been using two 500V's this way for over 2 years and all is okay. And I do have the fan kits installed as I have mentioned in other posts.
I never use the variable as it is a weak link. On one ampilfier, I took the variable pot out and installed a 15 ohm 5 watt resistor in it's place. Now when the "Green" variable button is pressed in, it turns the amplifier down to approximately 1/2 power output. It essentially now has a "Hi" mode and a "Low" mode. This is what my friend wanted, a high and a low, no variable.
I apologize for being long winded. Hope all this helps.

Long winded is good, cheers.

We're driving the amp with the same radio I noticed. I dont use the green button on the 500v and have the variable turned fully clockwise, its my understanding its best not to use the variable on amp hence why I have this way.

My Stryker 955 deadkeys ar 4W, but the 500v shows 100w dead key with this input and swings the amp to 400w pep. The needle on the 500v doesnt bang past 10 which I heard is an indication of over driving amp?

 

[Ranch55]

Long winded is good, cheers.

We're driving the amp with the same radio I noticed. I dont use the green button on the 500v and have the variable turned fully clockwise, its my understanding its best not to use the variable on amp hence why I have this way.

My Stryker 955 deadkeys ar 4W, but the 500v shows 100w dead key with this input and swings the amp to 400w pep. The needle on the 500v doesnt bang past 10 which I heard is an indication of over driving amp?

As I said, the meter is just a relative reading and does not give you any specific information other than the amplifier is putting out power.
Otherwise, operate it just as you wrote above and all is fine. It should last you a good long time that way.

 

[Ranch55]

I was looking at the PSU, it shows output in voltage and current draw when I modulate via dual digital led .

Im happy with the amp, it tops off at just under 400W pep with my Stryker 955 driving it. I guess the reason I mentioned amperage was it doesnt seem to draw that much.

I power my Texas Star 500V amps with 75 amp power supply. Anything less than a 65 amp power supply, and the amplifier will starve for the current it wants and needs. It will not operate optimally.

 

[Limeybastard]

I power my Texas Star 500V amps with 75 amp power supply. Anything less than a 65 amp power supply, and the amplifier will starve for the current it wants and needs. It will not operate optimally.

Same here, 75A psu. BTW, loved the hi low power resistor you installed on amp.

 

[bob85]

Limey,
it seems to not be drawing much current because the meter can't react fast enough to display current peaks like an avg reading watt meter won't display pep.

 

[9C1Driver]

Cheers. Did they ever mention why they used 10awg cord?
I currently extended the existing 10 gauge via soldering and heatshrink to 2 feet of regular stranded 8 awg.
I noticed you also upgraded the internal power cables also. My amp is currently set to pep at 400W tops . the current draw doesnt seem high either last i recall was about upper 20s to 30 amps at 13.9V.

Can you please explain the TS modulation meter and what it means? All i know is that its not good for the needle to hit past 10. Cheers

The meter on Texas Star amplifiers is pretty much worthless as far as any kind of an actual wattage reading. You can use it to get some kind of an idea of what's going on as far as dead key to swing ratio or power level on SSB. Keep in mind it's not showing you a wattage number but you can infer what's going on by the way it reacts.

By the way, if you have it dialed in for a 100 watt dead key swinging 400 that's pretty darn good compared to some of the stuff you posted when you first got it.

 

[Limeybastard]

The meter on Texas Star amplifiers is pretty much worthless as far as any kind of an actual wattage reading. You can use it to get some kind of an idea of what's going on as far as dead key to swing ratio or power level on SSB. Keep in mind it's not showing you a wattage number but you can infer what's going on by the way it reacts.

By the way, if you have it dialed in for a 100 watt dead key swinging 400 that's pretty darn good compared to some of the stuff you posted when you first got it.

Hello 9C1Driver, hope you are well buddy, thanks for the reply.