TS350 HDV - reduced AM output

[2NC995]

I personally would not run near 200watt carrier out of that amp.

I would most likely set the radio to show 60-70 watts out of the amp, and just let it do what it would do.

I haven’t run that model, but like I said I am very happy with my DX500V loafing along with 12 in and 400ish out. I’ve only been running this setup for about a month, but I have managed tons of contacts up to and over 5000 miles from my pickup. Good enough for me, and I know the amp will live a long and healthy life.

 

[HowBout-cha]

"I personally would not run near 200watt carrier out of that amp."

exactly!!

I still think something's screwy as 1w AM carrier is giving me almost 70w DK thru the TS (green button off). ....and the issue just compounds from there.
From all that I've read, a 2w carrier should give me about 50w DK thru the TS (green button off). regardless of swing ratio.
On mine, a 2w carrier gives me 100W DK thru the TS

-maybe being a little dense (uneducated) here.

so - technically, why should I expect 1/2 the power from AM compared to SSB?
is it the AB biasing? <-clueless.

thx!

ETA: Maybe, as you say, my MFJ meter isn't all that accurate at the low range (and maybe my 1w is 2+) - however, all readings are pretty darn close on the Diamond in all the testing I've done....not much variance.

 

[2NC995]

I honestly don’t know what it should produce with 1-2 watts in. If you have any faith in Texas star’s spec sheets, they show 180w with 4 in. I’m not surprised that 2 in gets you 100 out.

As far as getting less on AM, I don’t think you are. I think you’re putting less in, and getting comparable numbers out. You would have to set your radio up wrong to get comparable numbers....which many folks do.

 

[2NC995]

Here’s some numbers I came up with when testing my DX500. Remember it’s double in size of the 350, so if for the sake of discussion you assume that all else is equal, you’d see about half the output with half the drive and at half the amps.

This is all on SSB:

30w in = 590w out @ 60 amps
25 = 550 @ 56 amps
20 = 500 @ 53 amps
16 = 460 @ 51 amps
14 = 425 @ 49 amps
12 = 400 @ 47 amps < (where I’ll be running mine)
10 = 390 @ 46 amps
8 = 350 @ 44 amps

 

[HowBout-cha]

Great - thanks man!

As I mentioned, I'm a bit of a newb.
It appears as though my gear is in line, functionally. - understanding that some radios 'swing' better than my Lincoln, I'm not disappointed in my set-up.

As you; I don't want to drive anything hard - just want it to be a solid performer.

With the 'differences' I saw, I've just been wondering if something was awry.
-seems like 1:2 is about what I should expect from the TS on AM given my native ~1:4 swing ratio.

-appreciate the info, and help in the proper way to think about this.

 

[2NC995]

There are many folks here that have substantially more experience than I do with Texas Star amplifiers.

Some of the most knowledgeable of which are why I decided to run my amp conservatively.

I’d encourage you check back to this thread, as some of those wise folks are liable to chime in with experience that beats my speculations.

Good luck!

 

[HowBout-cha]

again - i appreciate your input and willingness to help!
For now, it doesn't seem as if my rig has 'disaster' written all over it.

thx!

 

[2NC995]

For now, it doesn't seem as if my rig has 'disaster' written all over it.

thx!

Disaster - no. But I do tend to think 20w input on sideband is kissing the upper limits of input power.

I bet you could half that, and still get 250+, and your amp would run a lot cooler, your transistors would love you, and no one would notice the difference.

Looking at my figures...going from 20 watts in to 30 got me a whopping total of 90 watts out of 4 transistors. I bet I’d have substantially less increase if I increased input from 30-40 watts.

 

[HowBout-cha]

yea, i never really push it to it's limits.
I was just noting those figures (max SSB and AM) for the purposes of troubleshooting what, I thought, may have been a problem here. - knowing the 2-20w input is spec'd on the TS site, I figured id' work with those particular numbers for the sake of this discussion. -Then you made me push it there on AM to test what you said earlier re: 300W with either mode putting 20W in.


I'm running 1w DK into Dial-a-watt mode (green btn on/in) which does decrease it's output maybe 30%, even on its max setting, compared to 'full on' (green btn off/out) on the TS. (in respect of my 30A peak PS)

(note: after checking - my carrier power was 1.5w at the beginning of this thread - now @ exactly 1w - keying 50w TS power high, 20w with Dial-a-Snot set to max)

SSB PEP with low RF power (1w) from transmitter variable
-Dial-a-watt active: 70-80w
-Dial-a-watt inactive: ~130w

When 'running hot' I keep the meter on the TS is usually hovering around an 7-8 out of the possible 10...and I only run it there if absolutely necessary, keeping my input power <20 pep.

..and, i'm not a jabber jaw either