Today is the day.....

[Sniper308]

Well after what seemed like an eternity, I have finally managed to assemble all the parts for my base station. Now the only thing left is to put it all together in a working and useable set up. This will be a bare bones setup compared to what a lot of you are running but its my first base setup and im sure it will grow over time.

My setup includes the following....

RCI RHF-618 (awesome radio. Dont let the touch screen fool you.)
Texas Star DX500V Linear
Ameritron 70a power supply
I-Maxx 2000 base antenna
Astatic 600 swr/power/modulation meter

Guess I need to get busy if im gona get all this hooked up today.

 

[kd-5-bgt]

grats on getting all the items together for your station

Now just to get out there and throw some rf into the air !!

 

[Sniper308]

Ok, worked on most of this stuff all day yesterday. I've got the radio and amp and antenna installed. Everything is running . The SWR on the radio / antenna was 1.1 across all 40 channels before hooking the amp up. Now it's running 1.3 across all channels with the amp inline. I really like this Ameritron 75a power supply. It's a lot nicer and much quieter than the Pyramid Power Supply I had previously. The Texas Star DX500V is up and running. Getting a 200w dead key swinging to about 450w. I don't have the amp running full power to keep it from getting too hot so power out is well within expected range.

Im fairly new to the radio game. If anyone has any channel suggestions for where I could find some good DX contacts or somewhere to hang out and listen let me know. Not really sure what the range of this radio is but I'd like to find out. Im in Columbia SC. If you think we can hook up let me know and I'll put some fire in the wire

 

[ExitThirteen]

Do you run any SSB at all, and have the extra channels above 40? My standby is 27.455 LSB. I usually have it on afternoons and evenings. Perhaps we could arrange a time to see if we could establish contact. Holler for 777 Rick in NE Iowa. That be me!

~Cheers~

 

[mr_fx]

all that and you chose to run an IMAX?

 

[kd-5-bgt]

When I was running 11 meters I was above channel 40 ssb ... 27.415 to about 655 or so....found alot of contacts in that range with 90 % of those contacts were 27.555 down to 415 ...for some reason 27.555 was usb at the time and most all the other frequencies were lsb

Looks like you have a nice set up.... should play well for a long time if not pushed really hard

 

[Robb]

Do you use an RF Low Pass Filter with your amp setup?

CBRadioMagazine.com - RF Limited DF3000 Low Pass Filter

 

[Mudfoot]

Nice looking station. How do you like your 618? Lol, I think that's the only Ranger radio I've yet to try. I'd like to have that Ameritron as well.

 

[Sniper308]

Do you run any SSB at all, and have the extra channels above 40? My standby is 27.455 LSB. I usually have it on afternoons and evenings. Perhaps we could arrange a time to see if we could establish contact. Holler for 777 Rick in NE Iowa. That be me!~Cheers~

Yes. The radio is capable of frequencies from 24.000 to 32.000 with no gaps. I'll put 27.455 in as one of my memory channels and give you a shout. 308 Sniper (aka Louis) here in Columbia SC.

 

[Sniper308]

all that and you chose to run an IMAX?

Like I said, I'm kind of new to all of this. I went with what I could find locally. The only radio shop within 100 miles of here is in our local flea market. It was either the Imax, Antron 99, or 102"whip lol.
Is the imax not a good antenna? What would you suggest?

 

[Sniper308]

Do you use an RF Low Pass Filter with your amp setup?

CBRadioMagazine.com - RF Limited DF3000 Low Pass Filter

I am not running one at the moment but after looking at your link I think it would be a good idea. I am in a residental neighborhood so I dont want any complaints from neighbors.

I just ordered one from copper electronics. Thanks for the link.

 

[Sniper308]

Nice looking station. How do you like your 618? Lol, I think that's the only Ranger radio I've yet to try. I'd like to have that Ameritron as well.

I really love it. A lot of people dog it saying its just a 2950 in a base. It does everything I could want it to do and more. Its smaller than a 2995dx and has the option of going mobile. I also really like the all digital interface and the touch screen. It brings new technology to an age old idea. Recieve is great. I had my first DX contact ever with a guy in eastern Australia just today. He was on 38 LSB. So yea, im loving it.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Do you use an RF Low Pass Filter with your amp setup?

CBRadioMagazine.com - RF Limited DF3000 Low Pass Filter

Not criticizing but just making an observation.The skirts on that filter don't look all that great. 2'nd harmonic only down about 32 dB and the 3'rd only down about 28 dB. The advertised max attenuation of >60 dB is VERY narrow and in a useless part of the spectrum for anything related to 11m or thereabouts. My Barker & Williamson FL-10/1500 LPF is down nearly 70 dB at 40 MHz and stays there up into the VHF band.

 

[Robb]

I understand. So long as his radio was unmodified for AM; then it should be clean enough out of the gate. The fact that he is using a 500 watt amp was my real consideration. That filter should be fine so long as he doesn't over-modulate. Of course, his proximity to his neighbors is another kettle of fish . . .

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

True. No filter on a transmitter can compensate for frontend overload or pick up via speaker leads in an audio system.