The difference in avg and pep is carrier vs audio. You're saying you use an average reading meter when you run ssb, but why?
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single final wattage
- Thread starter longhaireddwb
- Start date
The difference in avg and pep is carrier vs audio. You're saying you use an average reading meter when you run ssb, but why?
Its easy to see I inflated numbers with an avg reading watt meter too. You just need to square the waves off more. No matter what kind of meter some guys have they tweak and hack on whatever makes it move more. A pep meter can be a valuable tool but a lot guys just use it so they have some numbers to boast about. I don't use a pep meter on my station. When I set down to talk on the radio I check the carrier and watch the scope the first few transmissions. For a person that doesn't own a scope wanting to run clean a pep meter can be useful. Even though they can't see if there is any flat topping or clipping they can get closer than the guy that jacks off an avg meter because he thinks pep is just some kind of hoax. You know the ones that say the only real watts is burd watts.
Back to the single final radios. With the right mods and injecting audio into the right spot a cobra 29 will swing an avg meter to around 20 watts. This is with a stock 2078 final. Not saying this is the thing to do but you can make any kind of meter move if you produce enough garbage or manipulate the waveform right. Myths and radio go hand in hand.
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Wow, did i open up a can of worms here? Just to be clear on the numbers, the 20 watts im talking about is pep. Im seeing around 4.5 to 5.5 avg. Depending on the radio.
So what kind of avg power are others seeing?
I guess i could take a look at the mosfet mod just to see what it does. Can anyone recommend a link for the cobras?
Thanks for the comment on my station. If you look me up on qrz you can see more pics. And as far as my spelling goes, remember that i do most of this at 2 or 3am and while driving a petetbult at 80mph. Ha.
Im going to start another thread after i look up some pot and componant numbers of what i do to maximize a radio. Hopefullu others will add to it. This will be done on a cobra 29.
So what kind of avg power are others seeing?
I guess i could take a look at the mosfet mod just to see what it does. Can anyone recommend a link for the cobras?
Thanks for the comment on my station. If you look me up on qrz you can see more pics. And as far as my spelling goes, remember that i do most of this at 2 or 3am and while driving a petetbult at 80mph. Ha.
Im going to start another thread after i look up some pot and componant numbers of what i do to maximize a radio. Hopefullu others will add to it. This will be done on a cobra 29.
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Never seen a service manual yet that instructed the tech to set a radio for average power. Have you? It is always dead key and peak watt adjustments mentioned. There is no average watts with the dead key setting, since the mic modulation has been set to zero to make that adjustment as well. Just an unmodulated carrier level is required.
Of course using a MOSFET in a 29 would not work out if someone is using an amp that only needs 10w/peak to operate (eg: amp that uses two 2sc1446's or MRF454's), as 30-40w would probably destroy them. Even an amp with two 2sc2879's requires no more than 20w/peak for proper operation and long life.
Of course using a MOSFET in a 29 would not work out if someone is using an amp that only needs 10w/peak to operate (eg: amp that uses two 2sc1446's or MRF454's), as 30-40w would probably destroy them. Even an amp with two 2sc2879's requires no more than 20w/peak for proper operation and long life.
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Ummmmm....Robb. Dead unmodulated carrier IS average power. When you set the AM carrier on a modern solid state radio to 25 watts it is being set to 25 AVERAGE power without modulation. What did I miss here?
That's about right. You can get slightly different results with each radio even if you mod it the same. The 2013 cobra 29 I run does around 5 avg and a bit over 15 pep. Other radios I've done the same way have hit 8-9 avg and 30 pep. I used to squeeze every watt out of a radio I could but now I just give it a simple tune up and roll with it.
13 watts average out of a 29 is reasonable.
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I'm seeing similar results to everyone else, I have had radios that are supposed to be super whatever tuned and I rarely see my meter go over 20. I'm not saying it's accurate but it seems reasonable. I picked up a cobra 29 at a garage sale for cheap once, that had every limiter cut and every coil spread and it was doing a whopping 29 watts and it sounded like garbage. All that hacking to get 9 more watts and sound like crap LOL.
You are right, of course. It was late and was really tired; don't know what I was thinking.
Sorry . . .
"It's all the same, the audio is in the sidebands, not the average carrier."
By golly, you're right! So what's the point of even having a carrier, let's get rid of it completely. And while we're at it, since that second side band is only a duplicate of the first one, let's get rid of that too! I mean, that's only logic, get rid of the duplicated/wasted effort. Right?? Convert the power wasted in that carrier and one side band into the remaining side band. Welcome to the twentieth century!
- 'Doc
By golly, you're right! So what's the point of even having a carrier, let's get rid of it completely. And while we're at it, since that second side band is only a duplicate of the first one, let's get rid of that too! I mean, that's only logic, get rid of the duplicated/wasted effort. Right?? Convert the power wasted in that carrier and one side band into the remaining side band. Welcome to the twentieth century!
- 'Doc
- No one is chatting at the moment.
