Something not right if a pick and tune the radio on SSB I get about 18 watts, on AM drop to 1.5 watts. Now if I pick and tune on Am I get 4 watts swing 18 watts,and SSB drop to 12 watts what’s wrong whit this issue.
You raise a good point...
This isn't your board, but I wanted to point out something an OT tried to tell me...
Once you have all your ducks in a row, no matter how equal you try to make them be, one will always be too slow, and one will always go too fast.
You question refers to what 399 and many others touched on that makes following the "Curve" such a dangerous road to be on.
The schematic above is only representative, but it deals with what makers did back then to handle power curves - and make the next stage operate in a "Window" that optimized the previous stages Lowest-IMD products - it's a factor in any amplifier stage - the purity of output of one stage into the other - to idealize it, you have make sure both the output of the stage BEFORE that Stage, and the Stages' own OUTPUT to the next one - are making power, not adding distortion factors like IMD (Inter-Modulation Distortion) AND are in a range acceptable to the next stages INPUT window to match that which came before it.
Many call this Admittance, but to understand that, you have to understand the ability or how a Transistor accepts power and develops it into an amplified signal.
It's not as easy as it looks, as you are finding out.
You can also experience this effect you're talking about - when you TUNE for CARRIER versus Tune for SSB Linearity (PEP) one is "steady state" while another is Asymmetrical Linearity. It's why you LOSE power for PEP but obtain Carrier power.
Have you also noticed that the AM Only radios like the Cobra 29 or PC-66 only develop PEP power at one point of the tuning tanks' slug position, but they produce Maximum Carrier power in another turn or so away from that Slugs PEP position? And when you modulate, you seem to swing "Backwards"?
So what do you turn - or tune - to?
That's where your IMD factor as well as Admittance - come into play - the Maker doesn't have the time or patience to fool around with radio and make it perfectly straight in performance - it has many other things to worry about - including production cost and parts values and availability of those parts. It just wants to make the Radio acceptable to the FCC and be able to sell it to maximize the profitability of these intricate detailed things...
So when you get a Brand New radio - it works one way...
But in some circles, you can buy the same model Refurbished and it works even better...
Why?
Because someone took the time to realign and re-fit parts the OEM didn't and they reap the rewards of the quality of the workmanship - the effort they put into it - to make it work right.
When you work with your TX Strip, remember that you are COMBINING two RF signals of different frequencies together - you know this - but the circuit has to be designed to amplify the PRODUCT of the two combined into the new HIGHER frequency - not one of it's counterparts.
So the issue then becomes a matter of BANDWIDTH for this new combined signal and remove the unwanted artifacts from ABOVE the frequency and BELOW the frequency and still have something left.
But remember too in Wave metrics, the two SINE waves getting combined into one does not always INTERSECT at the proper Point of PHASE (I call this Inception) where both peaks and troughs are summed properly - it's not possible in every event, so you get a resulting effect of approximation and summation of the two intersecting at a specific energy level at any given moment - if they intersect properly you GAIN energy (In Phase) - if they don't, you lose energy (Out Of Phase) - even in specific times you may only get a partial energy summation of power - it's at a lower power level but it is at the frequency we want.
You also have to add in Audio Power onto this mess.
Welcome to the Forum!