Is this repairable or should i just leave it? I can live with it if not. I have the deadkey at 2 watts now. I'm getting another meter from my brother. Para Dynamics PDC5. hopefully it's a better meter. Keeping my Workman though.
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CB stuff just not acting right
- Thread starter JeepRider
- Start date
I'll trade you a rebuilt working 203 for the 200 no charge. I'll include a letter outlining setup and an original document I wrote on how to setup the antenna. Let me know if you want to trade.
I dont think i would have enough money for shipping. Doesn't the 203 need 10w am input and 20w for ssb to get maximum output from the amp?
I'll pass. But thanks for the offer. I just want to figure the backwards swing. I have lowered deadkey with no luck. I'm exhausted as far as things to do. I REALLY don't want to send it out to be fixed.l,
You are getting a better amp with the kl203. It's made for SSB. Not class c setup and the input numbers are over inflated.
Keep the pep input low and your dead key set at 2 watts. You aren't going to see big swing out of the 980, they aren't made for that. They are however, clean and clear radios that will drive most amps just fine. I use mine with a 2 transistor amp with Toshiba 2879 transistors. Granted they can take more drive then the 980 will put out, but it's not needed. 200 watts to 300 watts there will be no noticeable difference to the receiveing station between the numbers above. And with that said, if you get 70-100 watts out of the kl200, with the least amount of power being 50 watts let's say for the heck of it. From the starting point of the 4-5 watts you see on AM, you need to multiply the power 4 times to get a 6db or 1 s-unit gain to a receiving station. So let's say you go to 50 watts from the current power, that is 10 times the power and will increase your signal by about 2.5 s-units. Now to get one more S-unit or 6db more of received power out you will need 200 watts. From there it jumps to 800 watts and so on. 50-100 watts and a good antenna setup and you'll do just fine on SSB. AM as well, just that SSB is a more efficient mode of operation vs AM. Read up on the differences between real SSB amp that is AB biased vs a class C amp and it gets down to how clean a signal you're putting out and how it sounds on SSB. Normally and I say normally, class C amps don't fair too well on SSB. They may work, but you may sound choppy. With the kl203 you are getting a real AB biased amp that is made for SSB and not just partially made for SSB. The amp you have although it has an SSB switch, it's only a delay for SSB. Not really a true SSB amp. More for AM/FM use. For clean, clear audio you want an AB biased or at least a B biased amp for SSB use. Man postage is like $10-15 bucks man. USPS priority mail. The if it fits it ships box. The medium boxes work
just fine as long as you pack the box with plenty of cushion. Use a bunch of old newspaper, bubble wrap, or something similar. The peanuts work okay but need to be packed with some newspaper or something else as well. Nice that Tallman has thrown the offer out there for you. He knows a lot about the RM Italy amps, maybe send him a PM and see what you can work out man. Be a good deal
for you truly as you are getting a known working amp and directions as how to setup and use it. Can't ask for much more than that!!! At any rate. Whatever you do, get a meter that will read pep power. The one posted is not a true pep meter but it will read pep power better then the meter you have now which I beleive is reading only average power now. The meter in the pic below will do tnis as well and with it set on average the 980 shows little to no swing on AM and about 8 watts pep or avg on SSB. I have my 980's power turned back to 2 watts am dead key swinging to about 6-8 watts pep, on SSB I get about 8 watts pep as this is where I set my radio up as to not heat up as much as it did running at 12 watts on SSB. Not much of an AM talker, but I do know the 980 with the uniden wireless Bluetooth mic works well paired together for SSB use. The stock mic didn't sound right to me. Opinions will vary on the mics as far as which is best for this radio, and there are several mics that will work well with this radio, it's up to you to figure out which one will suit your needs or preferences. Again, these are JMHO's. Hope you get it all resolved there and if possible I would trade amps with Tallman. He is a stand up guy and won't screw you!!! He is a very good friend and he is a good person!! We all try to help each other as much as possible it seems like here on the forum, but I've personally met Tallman and can honestly say he is a good dude!! A gent and a good friend!! At any rate. Just to possibly ease your mind about trading. Again, good luck and hope you get it all resolved.
Keep the pep input low and your dead key set at 2 watts. You aren't going to see big swing out of the 980, they aren't made for that. They are however, clean and clear radios that will drive most amps just fine. I use mine with a 2 transistor amp with Toshiba 2879 transistors. Granted they can take more drive then the 980 will put out, but it's not needed. 200 watts to 300 watts there will be no noticeable difference to the receiveing station between the numbers above. And with that said, if you get 70-100 watts out of the kl200, with the least amount of power being 50 watts let's say for the heck of it. From the starting point of the 4-5 watts you see on AM, you need to multiply the power 4 times to get a 6db or 1 s-unit gain to a receiving station. So let's say you go to 50 watts from the current power, that is 10 times the power and will increase your signal by about 2.5 s-units. Now to get one more S-unit or 6db more of received power out you will need 200 watts. From there it jumps to 800 watts and so on. 50-100 watts and a good antenna setup and you'll do just fine on SSB. AM as well, just that SSB is a more efficient mode of operation vs AM. Read up on the differences between real SSB amp that is AB biased vs a class C amp and it gets down to how clean a signal you're putting out and how it sounds on SSB. Normally and I say normally, class C amps don't fair too well on SSB. They may work, but you may sound choppy. With the kl203 you are getting a real AB biased amp that is made for SSB and not just partially made for SSB. The amp you have although it has an SSB switch, it's only a delay for SSB. Not really a true SSB amp. More for AM/FM use. For clean, clear audio you want an AB biased or at least a B biased amp for SSB use. Man postage is like $10-15 bucks man. USPS priority mail. The if it fits it ships box. The medium boxes work
just fine as long as you pack the box with plenty of cushion. Use a bunch of old newspaper, bubble wrap, or something similar. The peanuts work okay but need to be packed with some newspaper or something else as well. Nice that Tallman has thrown the offer out there for you. He knows a lot about the RM Italy amps, maybe send him a PM and see what you can work out man. Be a good deal
for you truly as you are getting a known working amp and directions as how to setup and use it. Can't ask for much more than that!!! At any rate. Whatever you do, get a meter that will read pep power. The one posted is not a true pep meter but it will read pep power better then the meter you have now which I beleive is reading only average power now. The meter in the pic below will do tnis as well and with it set on average the 980 shows little to no swing on AM and about 8 watts pep or avg on SSB. I have my 980's power turned back to 2 watts am dead key swinging to about 6-8 watts pep, on SSB I get about 8 watts pep as this is where I set my radio up as to not heat up as much as it did running at 12 watts on SSB. Not much of an AM talker, but I do know the 980 with the uniden wireless Bluetooth mic works well paired together for SSB use. The stock mic didn't sound right to me. Opinions will vary on the mics as far as which is best for this radio, and there are several mics that will work well with this radio, it's up to you to figure out which one will suit your needs or preferences. Again, these are JMHO's. Hope you get it all resolved there and if possible I would trade amps with Tallman. He is a stand up guy and won't screw you!!! He is a very good friend and he is a good person!! We all try to help each other as much as possible it seems like here on the forum, but I've personally met Tallman and can honestly say he is a good dude!! A gent and a good friend!! At any rate. Just to possibly ease your mind about trading. Again, good luck and hope you get it all resolved.
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Whats the model of that meter? Looks like a neat little meter. Anyways, does the 203 your talking about Tallman have preamp? I might consider it if you'll just give it to me., but i'll have to talk to my Mama about it first to make sure its good with her. On a side note, we have a radio shop here in Maine. I called them and asked if he could do any service on my Uniden and he said no, because there is no service manual or schematic for it. >:-( I was hoping he could at least give me a rough idea of how much it might be, but i guess not. The meter i am getting from my brother is a Para-Dynamics PDC5. Looks nice, and for $10, why not.
JeepRider, If you use the USPS if it fits it ships boxes the cost is under $8.00.
I would not worry about the receive boost on the small amps since they are untuned receive and amplify everything including noise. To be honest I have only seen one receive boost actually work the way it should. It was some thing that a friend built with parts from a radio and had a channel selector built in. If he changed channels he had to change that one as well. Worked great and really pulled the weak channels out of the mud. We put our radios up side by side with the same antenna and he always could pull up signals I could not hear. The one I would send you will have that feature working. As 22DBFL stated we have met in person and we had dinner at a good steak house here in Louisville with my wife. I consider him a friend and he knows my bench is always open for his use. I have good quality equipment all calibrated and I don't let just anybody sit in the in the lab. I won't even allow a person that has no training walk into it either.
I would not worry about the receive boost on the small amps since they are untuned receive and amplify everything including noise. To be honest I have only seen one receive boost actually work the way it should. It was some thing that a friend built with parts from a radio and had a channel selector built in. If he changed channels he had to change that one as well. Worked great and really pulled the weak channels out of the mud. We put our radios up side by side with the same antenna and he always could pull up signals I could not hear. The one I would send you will have that feature working. As 22DBFL stated we have met in person and we had dinner at a good steak house here in Louisville with my wife. I consider him a friend and he knows my bench is always open for his use. I have good quality equipment all calibrated and I don't let just anybody sit in the in the lab. I won't even allow a person that has no training walk into it either.
Alright, well i'll try to find out how much it will be to ship it to you. So this amp you have has preamp? I'm picky about that because i do long distance talking with my Dad. It might be a little bit before i can do that because of how busy i am with school and other things. I have a 12 volt plug attached to it because i just plugged it into the cigarette lighter. If you want me to, i can take it off.
Time to revive this thread again. Figured out the radio thing, and that's all good. But i'm muffled with the kicker on. (I always was) Turned it down to 1/2 a watt, and reports came clear. Only getting 20 watts out. So, 3 watts is muffling me? Someone enlighten me a little.?
The meter you have mat only read average power not pep. This may be why you are only seeing 30 watts. Your dead key was probably set too high for that amp, as many have said they don't take much dead key or pep input to make them work. Get yourself a different swr/watt meter and try that before you just say the amp is only doing 30 watts. Also is this on a dummy load or through the antenna? You really need to be checking everything and setting dead key and such with a dummy load and not with the antenna. JMHO.
This is through the antenna. I'm on a too tight budget, so i can't get all the fancy stuff. But i'll look around. I just simply don't have the dough for the good stuff. Maybe for Christmas.
A 100 watt 50ohm dummy load from DNJ radio is less than $30. Save your money and stop trying to mess with something you don't have the proper equipment to do. You need a power/swr meter that is a bit better at reading PEP power is what is seems like reading your posts. Ask for these items for Christmas if you are that into the hobby. Or get rid of some other stuff you don't use to fund this hobby. But it's been said before I and I will state it again, without the proper equipment that is known to work, you won't be able to tune your radio or amp correctly. You are either going to fry the amp or may have already as stated by other members as well due to the high dead key you kept keying the amp with before being told it wasn't right. These little amps like the one you have, are throw away amps basically. If you have burnt something up in the amp you might as well trash it or use it as a door stop!! You were offered a working amp that was of better quality and you chose not to get it due to your scheming like attitude about asking mommy if you could semd your amp out for one that is a better model and made for SSB use as well. And it actually works.
All that aside you need to stop at this point and remove the amp from the system and DONT KEEP using it!! Further damage may be incurred if you do so be forewarned. Many good people spent time trying to help you and if you won't listen to the first things being said to you, why in the Heck would anyone else want to help you??
You obviously don't have a clue about what you're doing and it shows. Sorry to be so blunt and harsh with some of my words, but you were told what to do to properly test your amp and what you need to do so. Now unless you've gotten a dummy load and a power/swr meter that will at least give some pep readings or close to them, you are just wasting a lot of people's time and efforts!!
That said, get your shizz together and when you do, maybe more help will be given then. For now you're just pissin in the wind and you've given some bad impressions about your character to a few of the forum members here that are well respected people!! So good luck with whatever you're trying to achieve. You really need to just stop at this point and place the amp to the side for now until you have a dummy load and a watt meter that will read pep as well as just dead key. If you look around on eBay I bet for under $50 you could find an swr/power meter and a 50-100 watt 50ohm dummy load. And we know you're young and don't have money but Christmas is just a couple weeks away, ask everyone for money and use a bit for your radio hobby. If not then like I said you might as well call it a day and remove the amp and use it as a door stop!! Have a good day young man.
All that aside you need to stop at this point and remove the amp from the system and DONT KEEP using it!! Further damage may be incurred if you do so be forewarned. Many good people spent time trying to help you and if you won't listen to the first things being said to you, why in the Heck would anyone else want to help you??
You obviously don't have a clue about what you're doing and it shows. Sorry to be so blunt and harsh with some of my words, but you were told what to do to properly test your amp and what you need to do so. Now unless you've gotten a dummy load and a power/swr meter that will at least give some pep readings or close to them, you are just wasting a lot of people's time and efforts!!
That said, get your shizz together and when you do, maybe more help will be given then. For now you're just pissin in the wind and you've given some bad impressions about your character to a few of the forum members here that are well respected people!! So good luck with whatever you're trying to achieve. You really need to just stop at this point and place the amp to the side for now until you have a dummy load and a watt meter that will read pep as well as just dead key. If you look around on eBay I bet for under $50 you could find an swr/power meter and a 50-100 watt 50ohm dummy load. And we know you're young and don't have money but Christmas is just a couple weeks away, ask everyone for money and use a bit for your radio hobby. If not then like I said you might as well call it a day and remove the amp and use it as a door stop!! Have a good day young man.
And also if your meter is reading average and not pep, 30 watts may not be off as far as average power is concerned. You may be doing 60-70 watts pep most likely on AM and about 70-80 watts on SSB if the amp is working 100% correctly. And also remeber that the rated max power input is the PEP, or modulated power and not the DK. So this amp states the following per RM Italy:
Input power- this is not DK either, this is the max power the amp should see.
1-5 watts AM
2-10 watts SSB.
So the radio can have a DK of as low as 1/4 watt or lower on AM to key the transistor. Modulated power shouldn't exceed 5 watts pep.
On SSB the power ratings show 2-10 watts. Cut the power on the 980 on SSB back to about 8 watts pep and it will work well both for the radio and the amp.
DO NOT BELEIVE the manufacturer claims of 100w AM, and 200 watts SSB either.
Read this as well as it may help you understand what you're seeing. Also note where tnis info came from and read some more if you want to learn. Hope this helps and like I said, until you can acquire some proper testing gear like at least a 50ohm dummy load capable of handling 50-100 watts. Have a good one young man. God Bless.
Input power- this is not DK either, this is the max power the amp should see.
1-5 watts AM
2-10 watts SSB.
So the radio can have a DK of as low as 1/4 watt or lower on AM to key the transistor. Modulated power shouldn't exceed 5 watts pep.
On SSB the power ratings show 2-10 watts. Cut the power on the 980 on SSB back to about 8 watts pep and it will work well both for the radio and the amp.
DO NOT BELEIVE the manufacturer claims of 100w AM, and 200 watts SSB either.
Read this as well as it may help you understand what you're seeing. Also note where tnis info came from and read some more if you want to learn. Hope this helps and like I said, until you can acquire some proper testing gear like at least a 50ohm dummy load capable of handling 50-100 watts. Have a good one young man. God Bless.
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