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47
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eHam Forums / Misc / RE: Help with a Tecsun PL-660
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on: March 23, 2013, 06:59:19 PM
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Pick a band that is open day or night,like 40 meters.(7-7.3 mhz) Do you hear anything there? At the very least you should hear WWV time announcements on 2.5,5,10,15,20mhz.(or at least 10 or 15 mhz) At nightime the lower bands,up to about 10 mhz should be heard. Are you using any kind of external antenna? Even a few feet of wire will often work much better than a supplied whip. If you`re not at least hearing activity (broadcast) on the lower bands,something is wrong.
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48
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eHam Forums / Mobile Ham / RE: Question about max safe load on a small battery
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on: March 22, 2013, 01:18:52 PM
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The main thing is to watch your voltage on the `857. If it gets below about 11-11.5 volts it will shut itself off. The built in voltmeter helps monitor that. I wouldn`t let the battery get below that voltage. I`d try about 20 watts. Not sure if you`re using ssb/cw. Current draw isn`t always linear,but i think you`re about right with 50 watts drawing about 10 amps. Not sure with gell cell type batteries,but with car batteries I`ve heard they can be damaged if they get below about 10.5 volts.
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49
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eHam Forums / Misc / RE: Another 30 Meter Beacon
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on: March 20, 2013, 11:08:20 AM
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There were plenty of stations on the other night. I heard a beacon on 160m,didn`t even know they existed on that band. "HV8E",I was told that`s a fishing beacon. I hear one on 10.123 often,from South America. True,the band is really too small to have beacons. The U.S. already has a "beacon" on 30m,it`s called,WWV!
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50
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eHam Forums / Elmers / RE: New Tech- 1st Set Up
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on: March 20, 2013, 10:58:47 AM
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Hello Bill,and welcome to the hobby. I`m in Mercer County here. I see you`re in Cape May county. That`s a rare county in NJ,as there aren`t too many hams there. Hope to hear you on the repeaters or hf. Good luck. -Mike,NO2A.
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52
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eHam Forums / Amplifiers / RE: Ameritron AL-80B
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on: March 19, 2013, 07:01:41 PM
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I wouldn`t be too critical about the plate cap(or load) settings corresponding to the marking on the scale. On 17m with my AL-80A,the dip point for the plate is below the end of the scale.(where 10/12m is)It will also dip between the 20 and 15m marks for 17m,but the most power output is near the 10/12m area for 17m. Go figure! Swr can affect the settings a little too.
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53
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eHam Forums / DXing / RE: Vatican ops and a new pope?
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on: March 14, 2013, 09:32:44 PM
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At about 0000Z 3/15 I kept hearing a weak station sending "HV8E" but not cq. This was on 160m,1806. I was calling cq there then heard him with that call. He never answered me. When I looked up that call,nothing was shown. Another pirate? Heard that signal for a few hours after that.
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56
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eHam Forums / Mods And Repairs / RE: HF rig shuts itself off when tuning dipole on 20 Meters
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on: March 10, 2013, 01:19:52 PM
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You could have rf getting into your rig or power supply. Not sure if that power supply can handle the current demand for the `430. The RS-20 is rated at 16 amps continuous,20 intermittant. It might be fine for ssb,but not cw. If you have a dummy load,will the rig put out 100 watts into it? I`d try that first. If the rig shuts down at anything over 10 watts it sounds like rf is causing it. Could also be coax problem,since the rig works fine with the vertical.
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57
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eHam Forums / Elmers / RE: My ignorance is showing, antenna tuner
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on: March 10, 2013, 12:34:37 PM
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Sorry, probably a stupid question but numerous posters point out that an antenna tuner doesn't change the SWR at the antenna, just in the shack. So....
When I use a tuner, my reception improves. Will I also have an improvement in the signal I transmit? My guess is that because the transmitter has a better impedance match, it will deliver more to the antenna, even though the antenna does not have any real difference than it did before the tuner was used.
If you need the info, the antenna already has SWR on all bands used lower than 2:1.
Thanks
Sam,While the 2:1 match isn`t bad at the antenna end,the problem is with modern rigs seeing any swr that cuts back your power output. For that reason,using the tuner will increase your signal heard because it will enable your rig to put out 100 watts or close to it. It also means your rig will run cooler,very important with today`s rigs. |
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58
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eHam Forums / Misc / RE: 160 METERS - SAME OLD ANSWERS? NO LONGER BELIEVE THEM!
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on: March 07, 2013, 10:48:34 AM
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Not having an antenna for 160,I load up my 80m dipole on that band. I don`t hear much cw there,mostly W1AW around 1802. Plenty of ssb though. I`ve worked mostly local stations on that band. Don`t hear much from 1800-1810,most cw activity is above that. Seems like they`re looking for dx.
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59
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eHam Forums / Misc / RE: In the age of "virtual technical parity" Do Specs matter anymore?
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on: March 07, 2013, 10:28:18 AM
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I`ve seen many times when ARRL was testing a rig that didn`t meet claimed specs,then having it returned to the manufacturer. Curious how many roll of the assembly line like that. For years Uniden has had a cb radio they claim has 7 watts audio ouput. That sounds great,but I have yet to see any radio with that much audio. I would love to see that on the test bench.
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60
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eHam Forums / Misc / RE: In the age of "virtual technical parity" Do Specs matter anymore?
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on: March 06, 2013, 11:51:48 AM
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One problem that exists today is part tolerances. Many components coming from China are off,according to an engineer who posts on this site. I`m sure he`s right. Is that 10 ohm resister really 10 ohms? Now imagine if that was used in medical equipment. Some of those values are way off. Last summer I bought a backwash hose for my pool filter. Got it home and connected it. It lasted a few minutes before bursting wide open. It couldn`t handle the high pressure. Broke apart at the seams,even had multiple pinholes in it. It was the cheapest vinyl I`ve ever seen. Then I looked at the package,"Made in China." A complete waste of $25. I thought to myself,"Thanks to you politicians."
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