OPEN CLARIFIER / SLIDERS / "SUPER DIODES"

[Switch Kit]

Time to learn something and why ? Does a clarifer need to be open in the first place to do what it's supposed to do ? What are the pros and cons about having the ability tx and rx when it comes to this ? Sliders ? ....5khz /10khz / 15 khz / 20 khz in turn opens the clarifier in bigger ways and yes allows one more range and even extra frequancies in many cases. I've used radios were they did not have open clarifiers and I must admit ,it was easier and always managed to stay on frequncey rather then not. When putting sliders on many radios they speak of using "Super Diodes" for the ease of more slide ....in other words ....What is a Super Diode ? compared to others ? I can only hope that any of this makes sence to somebody else ? Thanks

 

[bob85]

why unlock them? :shock: , i always unlock them but only to move the original shift distance and never put series inductance or maxitune caps in there as i hate lobsided clarifiers 5kc one way and 3kc the other yuck not for me, unlocking it stops people been off frequency ( unless they choose to be off ) when you are talking in a groupe on ssb and allows a cb to get bang on with whoever they are talking to, round here if somebody is more than 50hz away from the rest on ssb the topic on channel becomes (how come your off frequency) since no cb is so stable i think unlocking is a must do thing unless you want to sit arguing about who is off and who is on,, on the other hand if you really want that slide so you can work the zero's then a wider slide is ok its just me i dont like wide sliding a radio anymore than i would like toothe ache. maxitune /supertune etc are varicaps that have a wider capacitance range than the stock diodes, i remember them been a pain to find when i was using them for front end tuning on export radios years ago.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

A round table with a half dozen guys is a real pain unless everyone has open clarifiers.Without them each rig TX's on a slightly differant freq. and you have to CONSTANTLY rock the knob as each person talks.If everyone had open clarifiers then everyone would be on the same freq and there would be no problems. For a one on one deal it makes no differance.

 

[Switch Kit]

Very good guys !! thanks ......as I said before ,I too like non-opened clairifiers , but I can also understand about rocking the boat (C-knob) back and forth in a wide group of people especially with one open ,that can truly be a pain in the brain at times )-: as Linearone stated ? as long as the radio itself is alighned correctly ? a open clarifier is truly not nessasary ? ..OK then .....on the reverse of what QRN said ? ....would it then be eaiser if everybodies radios were properly alighned and the clarifiers were not open ? And I can also agree that a one on one convo on ssb can be a lot easier to deal with as well (as long as one or the other isn't drifting from problems within) Thanks Bob on the "Super Diode" discription ......Hmmm ? still not to sure what it is or what the numbers would be on them for say if I wanted to install more slide on any given radio that required these types of diodes ? .....Alrighty then ,over the years I've had many ssb radios and most of them had "open" clar's on them , Grants and 148s even had big sliders on them without the use of s-diodes (as they put it) I will agree ...that big sliders can truly be a chore at times ,especially in motor vehicals , not so touchy for base use ,but the bigger they are (sliders) the touchier they can be. I once had a PC-122 in my car with a 15khz slider on it ,it was truly a pain in the butt !! now this is 16 years ago and I told my local tech at the time about my problems , he then put a Verner dial on my radio and I never had any other (touchy) problems after that..that dial was AWESOME !! ......anyway ,it's sounding like many other things in this hobby is that a open clarifier is at the users choice .....but it does sound like more folks have them open more so then they don't ? I must admit , I surely appreciate your answers to my question here guy's .....but I think IM still a little bit confused on these issues. I've totally enjoyed sideband over the years but maybe this might be one of the reasons why I've been more of an AM'er over the years then a SSB'er ? Your on freq ,your off freq , you sound like micky mouse or Alvin the chipmonk or all those guys who think they know whats going on at the same time there radios are drifting like no tomorrows )-: it's no damned wonder that the sidebanders I've talked to over the years on the freebands were all for the most part talking on Yeasu's ,Icom's and Kenwood's .....HMMMMM ? (-: .this reminds me of a saying I once heard many years ago (just can't remember where i heard it ?) That there truly was no such thing as a center slot on sideband. hmmmm

 

[Hamin' X]

A "super diode" is more properly called a varactor, or varicap. It is a solid state device that varies in capacitance as the voltage on it is changes.

Rich

 

[Switch Kit]

thank you Ham'in that helps , now do these things look like your everyday diode for say like a IN941 ? ......or do they look like trim-pots where they can be adjusted ? Most radios for say that IM a custom to never needed these Super Diodes for sliding capabilities , any chance you could show be a picture of what one would look like concerning a slider for a radio ? Thanks for your time.

 

[bob85]

i cant tell you a specific diode number as i have not used them in a long time but some radios have wider ranging varicaps from the manufacturers, varicaps or varactors are available in many different c values, the ones that lou calls maxitune are at the upper end of what was available back in the day,

greg i can see your point but my argumant is if the clarifier is unlocked then the radio will tx/rx on almost exactly the same frequency, never exact but easilly close enough that nobody will be able to hear the discrepancy on air, thats the whole point of doing it for me, if every radio was unlocked then its much easier when talking to more than one person at once and only one person needs to be able to tune the other guy in correctly in dx, it does not matter if the cb radio has been set up correctly or not even if your tech goes to the time and trouble of running the radio up to normal temperature( most do it cold ) whats normal to him may not be normal to you and the radio will not be on freq once you get it into your user environment and up to your temperature, anybody telling you different is pulling your pisspin bro and more than likely because he just charged you good money to put you spot on frequency :roll: , i give a big thumbs up for unlocking a cb clarifier as no cb i ever saw was stable enough to not need it on ssb unless your the "well the guy is readable thats good enough for me" mentality and the only time you will ever have a problem in dx or ragchew is when you are trying to work somebody that is not familiar with ssb radio and does not have his clarifier unlocked, unlocking the clarifier totally solves any problem of been on different frequencies in dx or local ragchew, the vast majority of stations in worldwide cb/ssb dx are tx/rx same freq or close enough unless its deliberate split operation, you hear a garbled voice you tune to it when he/she unkeys you call him and he hears you perfectly ok regardles of where he is transmitting job sorted , ask any contester from 27.555 about unlocking and they will tell you that its a must if you want to work many stations worldwide in a short time and not waste your time calling a guy thats listening on a different freq to what your tx is, human nature dictates that he will answer the guy he hears best unless you are a rare little country that he needs for his aldo's turkeys logbook or a female with a sweet sounding voice.

 

[Switch Kit]

Thanks Bob !! think that's a little bit more of what i was looking for , it truly helps my understanding ,way to sink your teeth into the issue !! I guess IM just going to keep at that varactor / Super diode idea and why until I get it right. if the book reads add a super diode to a certain place , that just doesn't tell me much ,unfortunately. It's obvious why they didn't spell it out in the first place. In small print it reads (just order it and will send you some) )-:

 

[2M Guy]

Loadstone and QRN are right. When you unlock a clarifier, you lock the TX and RX together. Always worked with my Grant XL's/148's.

 

[DTB Radio]

no one here is the states has a perfectly aligned cb radio bob.

I can't agree with that. I do think that none of the CB's currently available have rock-solid drift characteristics, but I've certainly run across many AM-only, as well as SSB CB's that were aligned dead on, and not just ones done by me.

 

[freecell]

ditto.

 

[Switch Kit]

no one here is the states has a perfectly aligned cb radio bob. thats why I hate open clarifiers. the guy you are probably talking to in Arkansas is tx at 27.165 and rx at 27.170 and he wonders why you sound garbled. then you tell him his galaxy, connex, rci is all mis aligned and he moves his clarifier making it worse (since its open) then you move yours trying not to lose the contact and when all is said and done you wasted 6 minutes of your life trying to get a contact and listening to this bumpkin explain how the truck stop guy aligned his galaxy radio right in front of him with a dosy and visegrips.

must be my radio.

I hate open clarifiers

I kind of understand what your saying here , I was talking one on one last night SSB (both open clar's) , neather one of use were having any problems what so every and then out of know where somebody comes by to tell us were off freq !! and then leaves !! he didn't even stick around long enough to state his case , if it's truly that bad of a situation for anybody ,i would guess to say they should have it looked at by somebody who knows whats going on , Drift ? .....I surely do not have that problem and neather did my buddy i had been talking to for about an hour and a half ,I suppose by that time we would have known if either one of us had been drifting ,never touched the dial nor he (-: ........but I do understand now ,more so then before ,that I think a good alighned ,open clar , is a very good thing more so then not . thanks guys (-:

 

[Onelasttime]

Back when I was in middle school 1984-ish to 1988-ish I used to collect trashed tv's on the on curb. Why? Tubes, transformers, large caps and veractors....They where a CB parts gold mine. Not that you needed to do this since every town back then had a Radio Shack and they actual stocked a ton of solid state parts back then! As a kid though free was even better! I never actual paid for one always scavenged from junk TV tuners! Back in the 1980's $3 for a veractor was expensive. $3 was an hours worth of hard labor!

 

[jdobbs2001]

you should not have to unlock your clarifier to do SSB. If the radios are not defective they should transmit on frequency. This is why I prefer Icom etc.. for SSB

 

[kopcicle]

you should not have to unlock your clarifier to do SSB. If the radios are not defective they should transmit on frequency. This is why I prefer Icom etc.. for SSB

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