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I always hear buy a HF Rig for 11 meters.
- Thread starter Grogan
- Start date
Where an HF rig really shines is on SSB. AM mode is like an afterthought on modern HF rigs.
Does anyone have bandwidth and modulation percentages these rigs are capable of? Being able to hit 100% is a must. Audio processing to get you out of the mud is just as important. SSB rigs use alc to achieve this but some sound harsh on AM. You also have to run less than the popular vote of 25 watts carrier to have sufficient headroom. 10 to 15 watts seems to work well.
Where the ts440 fell short was the stock 455 filter and the alc circuit. The filter was something like 2.8 khz if I remember correctly. Robbing one from a cb would be an improvement. The mic gain had to be ran low enough that there was no alc meter deflection on AM. The alc caused distortion on AM. I fed the balanced modulator with an external audio chain and installed a 6khz filter. The optional filters from kenwood do not address the bottleneck caused by the 455 filter. The alc was turned wide open and the limiting was done in the audio chain.
The next rig was the ftdx1200. It made decent AM. It is limited to 3 khz of audio (6k total bandwidth) but mine has no trouble reaching 100% modulation or more. The compressor does not work in AM mode. Not a deal breaker but it would be nice if it could be used in moderation.
I've heard some Icom 7300s that sounded decent. I've read that some will not reach 100% modulation and some will. I don't know if there are software differences or operator error.
Where the ts440 fell short was the stock 455 filter and the alc circuit. The filter was something like 2.8 khz if I remember correctly. Robbing one from a cb would be an improvement. The mic gain had to be ran low enough that there was no alc meter deflection on AM. The alc caused distortion on AM. I fed the balanced modulator with an external audio chain and installed a 6khz filter. The optional filters from kenwood do not address the bottleneck caused by the 455 filter. The alc was turned wide open and the limiting was done in the audio chain.
The next rig was the ftdx1200. It made decent AM. It is limited to 3 khz of audio (6k total bandwidth) but mine has no trouble reaching 100% modulation or more. The compressor does not work in AM mode. Not a deal breaker but it would be nice if it could be used in moderation.
I've heard some Icom 7300s that sounded decent. I've read that some will not reach 100% modulation and some will. I don't know if there are software differences or operator error.
Agreed. I have a DX-70 and have used it on 3885 with good reports.
My all time fav HF rig for AM is the old FT 101 radios set at about 20 watts carrier power.
Worked very welll, sounded nice and can be found cheap.
12by7a and 6js6c tubes can still be had easily.
If you look you can still find them in good shape.
73
Jeff
Worked very welll, sounded nice and can be found cheap.
12by7a and 6js6c tubes can still be had easily.
If you look you can still find them in good shape.
73
Jeff
Any idea how much bandwidth? I assume around 6k total. How about modulation? If you don't have a scope that's ok. Carrier power vs pep will give us an idea.
That was my first real HF rig. Never even tried it on AM, though. I primarily used it for 80M CW and 10M SSB.
Loved it, though. It was a great rig.
I also wonder about the Yaesu FT-991A. Aka shack in a box. That would also get me 2 meter and 70 cm with ssb and c4fm. ?????
I like The alinco DX-SR8T would the DX-SR9T be a better choice or just more money. Also wonder about the receive also. Would I have trouble with stations close by sounding bad. A lot of good information from experience. Thank you for sharing.
Kenwood TS850SAT con filtri a 6Khz + Kenwood MC60A con pile interne nuove.
Ciao amico!!
- No one is chatting at the moment.
...runna pile-up on 6m SSB