CB stuff just not acting right

[JeepRider]

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.

for the polite words.

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.

1: im used to being on the receiveing end of harsh words. 2: i talked to Tallman, and he said his business partners wouldn't let him do the trade, because his business partners they told him to drop it. Correct me if im wrong Tallman. 3: i took peoples advice, and turned the radio down to 3 watts. 4: i have a dummy load for a stock radio. 12 watts max rated. gives me a 2.0 swr 5:i took the amp out of line and did my swr. Got it to 1.3 and lower. 6: if you knew my mom, you would know why i have to ask her everything. She thinks everyone is a killer or a scammer. Also, i was looking at a handheld frequency counter on ebay with a built in watt meter. Look up GY561 on ebay. Seems like a cool little unit, or a radioshack watt/swr meter, has a AVG/PEP power switch on it. I'll look for dummy loads with higher readings on ebay. Sorry for giving you guys a hard time. I'm still learning, not entirely knowledgeable about all this. I got a bunch of stuff to sell, so that should help with funds and get better stuff.

 

[Tallman]

Sorry for giving you guys a hard time. I'm still learning, not entirely knowledgeable about all this.

There is not a person on this website that was born with all of this radio and electronic knowledge. I know I bothered my Radio Shack store manager to death. I also would talk to people that had an antenna that wasn't "Original Equipment." I had to ride a bicycle across town to get to Radio Shack and spent hours on end listening to the interaction of customers and the radio technicians.

You have the internet and can find the answers to all of your questions. I had a library next to Radio Shack and most of the books were written for engineers.

You don't need a frequency counter.

 

[222DBFL]

When you say your vswr is 2.0, is that with the amp in line or out of line? You should be setting vswr with no amp in line. When you achieve a good match and vswr readings, then add the amp back in line. If your vswr reading goes up with the amp in line you have a mismatch somewhere between the radio, amp, and antenna. You can sometimes fix this issue by changing coax jumper lengths. This is only a bandaid but can work for now if you have a bad vswr. You don't want to operate the amp with a vswr of over 1.3:1. This will ensure that the amp stays safe as well as your transmitter. Will it work with higher vswr, yes I am sure it will, but for how long?? Like I said, get your learn on before proceeding with messing with the amp any further to prevent anymore damage from occurring. JMHO about that. Also, you can check the dead key of the amp with the small dummy load you have as long as you don't stay on the key long. Get the carrier of the amp to about 20-25 watts, so that means when you key your radio with the amp on your dead key will be about 20-25 watts. It might take turning the radios dead key down to as little as .25 watts. I'm not sure as to how much input is needed but from experience with past amps the dead key can range anywhere from .2 watts to about 2 watts max for most amps. Now if your driving say a 4 pill amp then a higher dead key would be needed to get the correct 1:4 ratio of power. So if the amp will output 100 watts pep or full modulated power, then you want to set the carrier to 25 watts out of the amp. Remeber that when you go below 2 watts on the Uniden 980 that the internal swr meter and such won't operate correctly as you need at least 2 watts of power for it to work. I've not tested this myself as my dead key is set at about 2-3 watts, but I am sure the other members here that have tried it and reported this back are correct with what they state. Like I said, I would take the amp out of line until you get some more knowledge under your belt or you risk doing more damage to the amp or possibly just completely blow it. I am sorry if the words seem harsh, but it's nothing more than the truth. If all I had is that amp and no money, I would darn sure make sure I knew what the heck I was doing before I ever turned the amp on or even place it in line. But it's not my equipment. I have a few amps and found that a good antenna setup will get better results then adding an amp. If your serious about the hobby, again get your learn on and make sure you have a good antenna system before you proceed with any amp adding and such. And as far as the deal with Tallman went, he offered you a known working amp for yours that is questionable at best. And all he asked is exchange of the old amp. But that boat has sailed now so that is out the window. So I say again, stop where you are and get your things in order before moving ahead. Read up some on why not to use an amp with high vswr (SWR) readings as well as how to properly set an amp up with your radio. Plenty of guys using the kl200 and kl203 with the Uniden 980, do a google search and watch some vids.
Now as far as getting a better watt meter, the radio shack meter is a good one for the money. Read the reviews about it on Eham, and cbradiomagazine.com.
As you can find these on eBay for $10-40 dollars if you look hard enough. They were $40 new so take this in mind before you buy one. Used they should run like k said, anywhere from $10 up. Don't get your hopes up on finding one for $10 but I'm sure if you keep your eyes peeled you can find one.

 

[JeepRider]

When you say your vswr is 2.0, is that with the amp in line or out of line? You should be setting vswr with no amp in line. When you achieve a good match and vswr readings, then add the amp back in line. If your vswr reading goes up with the amp in line you have a mismatch somewhere between the radio, amp, and antenna. You can sometimes fix this issue by changing coax jumper lengths. This is only a bandaid but can work for now if you have a bad vswr. You don't want to operate the amp with a vswr of over 1.3:1. This will ensure that the amp stays safe as well as your transmitter. Will it work with higher vswr, yes I am sure it will, but for how long?? Like I said, get your learn on before proceeding with messing with the amp any further to prevent anymore damage from occurring. JMHO about that. Also, you can check the dead key of the amp with the small dummy load you have as long as you don't stay on the key long. Get the carrier of the amp to about 20-25 watts, so that means when you key your radio with the amp on your dead key will be about 20-25 watts. It might take turning the radios dead key down to as little as .25 watts. I'm not sure as to how much input is needed but from experience with past amps the dead key can range anywhere from .2 watts to about 2 watts max for most amps. Now if your driving say a 4 pill amp then a higher dead key would be needed to get the correct 1:4 ratio of power. So if the amp will output 100 watts pep or full modulated power, then you want to set the carrier to 25 watts out of the amp. Remeber that when you go below 2 watts on the Uniden 980 that the internal swr meter and such won't operate correctly as you need at least 2 watts of power for it to work. I've not tested this myself as my dead key is set at about 2-3 watts, but I am sure the other members here that have tried it and reported this back are correct with what they state. Like I said, I would take the amp out of line until you get some more knowledge under your belt or you risk doing more damage to the amp or possibly just completely blow it. I am sorry if the words seem harsh, but it's nothing more than the truth. If all I had is that amp and no money, I would darn sure make sure I knew what the heck I was doing before I ever turned the amp on or even place it in line. But it's not my equipment. I have a few amps and found that a good antenna setup will get better results then adding an amp. If your serious about the hobby, again get your learn on and make sure you have a good antenna system before you proceed with any amp adding and such. And as far as the deal with Tallman went, he offered you a known working amp for yours that is questionable at best. And all he asked is exchange of the old amp. But that boat has sailed now so that is out the window. So I say again, stop where you are and get your things in order before moving ahead. Read up some on why not to use an amp with high vswr (SWR) readings as well as how to properly set an amp up with your radio. Plenty of guys using the kl200 and kl203 with the Uniden 980, do a google search and watch some vids.
Now as far as getting a better watt meter, the radio shack meter is a good one for the money. Read the reviews about it on Eham, and cbradiomagazine.com.
As you can find these on eBay for $10-40 dollars if you look hard enough. They were $40 new so take this in mind before you buy one. Used they should run like k said, anywhere from $10 up. Don't get your hopes up on finding one for $10 but I'm sure if you keep your eyes peeled you can find one.

The SWR of 2.0 was without the amp inline. I'll definitely go for the radioshack meter then. I found one on ebay for around $32 i think. Still had box and everything. That frequency counter i wanted to get for lots of other little side projects i got going on, not just for this radio, but it can wait. I have watched videos on both of those amps, and thats what made me want to get one. That and having the ability to get out a little further. I will check deadkey tomorrow with amp inline, and set to around 20 to 25 watts. Now, a quick question. I read on another post on this forum that if you take average power and multiply it by 2.66 you get PEP power. Is that correct? (For example, 20W on a meter that reads AVG, AVG x 2.66 = 53.2 PEP watts.) Would that mean im DK'ing 53 watts, or thats what im putting out when i talk?

 

[Tallman]

Would that mean im DK'ing 53 watts, or thats what im putting out when i talk?

P.E.P. Stands for Peak Envelope Power. Useful information to know when designing amps and antennas systems and staying in compliance with FCC regulations.

 

[222DBFL]

Read post #60 again and make sure to open the photos as well as this will explain what P.E.P stands for as well as Average power.
Also remember, your Dead Key power is your Carrier Power on AM and not your P.E.P. So when you show a 2 watt dead key that is correct no matter whether the meter is a average or PEP reading meter as long as both are calibrated correctly and are seeing the same load.
If you will also read the article by cbradiomagazine.com about the radio shack meter it will help as well. Here are photos of the article. Read post #60 again as well, not the post itself but the photos I attached to post #60 as it will help you understand and learn something as well. For $32 dollars shipped that is fine as long as the meter is like new. Look around a bit more and you might find one on Amazon or even here if you post a thread that you're looking for one. I think that if you really look around you'd find one for like $20. JMHO about that. And hopefully I have given you some useful info. There is one more article that I will post photos of here, read this as well.

 

[222DBFL]

Here are the rest of the pics of the last article that you should read. It is a good one. Also read the other things that I posted as well as the pics attached to post 60. You should just be able to click on the photos and open them up. You might want to save some of this info for future reference as its some good info. And again I really hope some of this helps. If you're planning on running SSB a lot I suggest save up and get a KL203P ame add a fan to it. Same goes for your KL200, add a fan to it. This will help keep it cool and that is a good thing. Find someone throwing out an old computer and you can score yourself a power supply or 2 and some fans normally. Just some more food for thought and JMHO.

 

[JeepRider]

Here are the rest of the pics of the last article that you should read. It is a good one. Also read the other things that I posted as well as the pics attached to post 60. You should just be able to click on the photos and open them up. You might want to save some of this info for future reference as its some good info. And again I really hope some of this helps. If you're planning on running SSB a lot I suggest save up and get a KL203P ame add a fan to it. Same goes for your KL200, add a fan to it. This will help keep it cool and that is a good thing. Find someone throwing out an old computer and you can score yourself a power supply or 2 and some fans normally. Just some more food for thought and JMHO.

I got some fans downstairs i could use, i'll definitely add them on the amp. And 90% of the time i run on AM. I read the stuff in those pictures, and will bookmark this post so i have them. Definitely good info in there. It helped me quite a bit. Thanks for all of that information!

 

[222DBFL]

Hope it helps. Be safe and keep at it. Learn as much as you can. And remeber, without a good antenna system your amp isn't going to help much. Good luck with whatever you decide and have a good one.

 

[JeepRider]

Alright, this is what i did to the radio today. Turned down the deadkey to, well to be exact, 2.7 watts, and putting out i think 40 watts deadkey. I'm not completely sure about that, so i'll check again tomorrow. I will see about finding a fan for the amp too. As soon as i get enough money for that radioshack meter, i'm getting it.