Galaxy saturn low output

[vswr]

Im having the same problem with my early saturn. AM I see a DK that I can adjust by the VR AM power up to 12 watts then with mod 20. Mental. Sideband is the problem. DK 4 watts. Full scream with a D104 cranked to the tits and the ALC cranked as well I'm getting about 6 to 8 watts accross the 11 meter band C. Im about to scrap it. Sick of saturns. Drifting and always the same problems. My 3 TX slugs are all about 1/16th above the cans. No value of the inner caps inside the cans to figure out how to get them up to snuff. Any help would be appreciated. Transistors are good from a known good 66v.

 

[BC Coyote]

DK 4 watts.

Something not right there. You should have 0 watts SSB with no modulation. If you are getting a 4 watt deadkey on sideband you may have a problem with the balanced modulator in that Saturn. The BM needs to be carefully adjusted for 0 watts unmodulated in both LSB and USB.
The other thing that will make the radio show a carrier on SSB is squeal or hum in the audio circuit; either being generated inside the radio, or externally due to stray RF in the shack.

 

[Greg T]

Im having the same problem with my early saturn. AM I see a DK that I can adjust by the VR AM power up to 12 watts then with mod 20. Mental. Sideband is the problem. DK 4 watts. Full scream with a D104 cranked to the tits and the ALC cranked as well I'm getting about 6 to 8 watts accross the 11 meter band C. Im about to scrap it. Sick of saturns. Drifting and always the same problems. My 3 TX slugs are all about 1/16th above the cans. No value of the inner caps inside the cans to figure out how to get them up to snuff. Any help would be appreciated. Transistors are good from a known good 66v.

My buddy had a major issue with his Galaxy as it kept throwing a carrier on SSB. Didn;t know it until it smoked his Texas Star 250 one day when it threw a 16w dead key into it on SSB.

 

[SuperLid]

Im having the same problem with my early saturn. AM I see a DK that I can adjust by the VR AM power up to 12 watts then with mod 20. Mental. Sideband is the problem. DK 4 watts. Full scream with a D104 cranked to the tits and the ALC cranked as well I'm getting about 6 to 8 watts accross the 11 meter band C. Im about to scrap it. Sick of saturns. Drifting and always the same problems. My 3 TX slugs are all about 1/16th above the cans. No value of the inner caps inside the cans to figure out how to get them up to snuff. Any help would be appreciated. Transistors are good from a known good 66v.

Do the carrier balance alignment.

 

[nomadradio]

This is where an inline frequency counter in the coax coming out of the radio can pay for itself. The wattmeter says you have a carrier. If the frequency counter shows a steady frequency that agrees with the channel selector, it suggest a problem upstream from the transmitter mixer circuit where the PLL output and carrier-frequency are combined.

And if it shows a frequency that is nowhere near the selected channel, this suggest the power stages are oscillating at their own random frequency.

And if the counter just bounces around and won't settle down, it's time to listen to this "carrier" on another radio and find out if some kind of audio feedback is modulating the rogue output signal.

Are you sure that the radio is receiving on the correct channel selected? Would be an important diagnostic detail to pin down. If the radio's PLL has lost control of the channel frequency, that's important to know.

73