My General radio is set for a (9 watt) dead-key on high power setting. My question is to you folks, is my carrier set too low on high power too low for maximum potential (swing)? I am running an amp on low power setting(3 watts) and wondering if I set my carrier higher for high power setting, will it increase my modulation potential more on low power setting? I see some guys are running up to 20-25 watts dead-key on high setting, is that common set-up for the high carrier? Thanks
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General Lee carrier on high setting question?
- Thread starter General Lee Want-a-Bee
- Start date
20-25w dk sounds way too hi for me, but then again, i am not a technician. i would think more like what u have for a dk on hi is good.
I agree, even if it has "HD" on the front...20-25 d/k is still to high. That "HD" on those cheaper amps are often misleading and confusing (as in high d/k? or high swing/PEP?) I'd run the Lee on the low setting, with the amp on.KC2OST said:
Depending on which 2 pill amp you have even 3 watts might be too high. I would not want a general Lee to key 25 watts, thats way too high. I would run the Lee with a low dead key setting of 1.5-3 watts depending on the amp you run, and the high at 8-10 for barefoot talking.
The letters "HD", or the phrase "High Drive" on a small amplifier can be translated to mean:
1) Go ahead and use a radio that's too large by twice.
2) Blow it up, preferably after the warranty expires.
3) Come back and buy another one. Soon. Please.
4) Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
73
1) Go ahead and use a radio that's too large by twice.
2) Blow it up, preferably after the warranty expires.
3) Come back and buy another one. Soon. Please.
4) Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
73
I'm with everyone else on this one but i have my key set at 5 and high set at 12.The running the key 3 watts or less with an amp ( or bear foot ) will only do one thing. Produce a poor sounding amp/radio because of over modulation. Example......I run a 5 pill Dave/cobra 148 combo and with anything lower than 5 watts it sounds horrible,heard it for myself.
Big swing may look good on a meter but the sound on the other end will be sorely lacking.
Big swing may look good on a meter but the sound on the other end will be sorely lacking.
King Mudduck, when a radio's carrier gets to 1 watt or less yes, the audio can sound crappy. When a radio is properly tuned and adjusted you can get clean loud audio with a 2 watt carrier, it's all in the tune.
With your Davemade 5 pill, a 5 watt carrier is way too much unless you are trying to run your station as a maul station. For every day talking I don't see the purpose of that.
With your Davemade 5 pill, a 5 watt carrier is way too much unless you are trying to run your station as a maul station. For every day talking I don't see the purpose of that.
Toll_Free
Well-Known Member
PLUTO said:
Anyone getting a 25 watt carrier out of that radio is smoking crack... Buttcrack at that.
To approach 100 percent modulation, it would have to peak at 100 watts.
You HONESTLY think it will do that?
--Toll_Free
Toll_Free
Well-Known Member
King Mudduck said:
This proves two things:
1. People who run Class C splatter boxes love to clip their limiters. With a limiter in place, your radio won't do over 100 percent modulation.... REGARDLESS.
2. People who run Class C stuff have no idea how RF works. Your running so much carrier because your transistors have no bias. They are sounding clean because your hammering them into the ON time so much they are practically running Class B. Because of the GROSS overdrive, your getting base bias from he BE junction rectifying enough of the drive (since you have an overabundance of it in the first place) to give bias. It also shows that if you don't hammer the living F*CK out of your transistors, you don't have a linear amp. Linearity means (for simplistic purposes) a straight line (up to the point of compression) for a given input and output level.
If you get high swing just because you drop your carrier, your not running a linear amp, my friend. Thanks for proving everyone's statements on the NONlinearity of the Dave, et al, Class C splatterboxes.
Not saying they don't amplify, and amplify better as you hammer the shit out of them more and more, but... As you pointed out.. You gotta overdrive them to get them to work?
--
Toll_Free, in all fiestinessI would run it at two watts on low and no more than eight on high. Do yourself a favor and use a Bird meter, most everything will lie. As far as the Dave comment goes, they don't call them comp boxes because they're clean, they call them that because they perform. I have never heard anyone say "my what a beautiful wave form your set up must have". But I have heard people say "when he keys up I can't hear you anymore, he is taking your lips away". 
