I have an Astron power supply that is putting out 15.98 volts under a 1 amp load.  I was wondering if this is too high based on the specs for the radio of 13.8v +/- 10%, which comes out to be about 15v.  If it is too high, is there a procedure I can follow to lower it?  The built in meter and my external voltmeter both read the same, so it is not a matter of the built in meter not being calibrated.

Thanks,
Carlton

I have heard of problems with the prolific drivers and have also experienced them first hand.  I have one of the USB Cat62 cables (not the Yaesu one) that I use to connect to my FT-817.  After just a couple of minutes of use, the virtual serial port becomes unresponsive.  I forget on which forum I read it, but lots of people were having the same problem and the general guidance was to stay away from any USB/Serial that had a chipset that required the Prolific drivers.

>They ARE slow to reply to emails, though (if they reply at all)

The "if they reply at all" applies to me.  I sent them several emails a while back and never received a reply.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not going to do business with anyone that doesn't have the common courtesy to respond to an email, especially one that is offering to spend money with them.  If they won't respond to that, I can't imagine how well they would respond to a post-sale support question.

KM3K,

If you wouldn't mind, I would be interested in receiving a copy of your PPT presentation as well.  My email address on qrz is good (I don't want to publish it here out in the 'open').

Thanks,
Carlton

I have an FT-950 as well and while the manual does a decent job of explaining 'what' the filters do, it does not really explain how to effectively use them together to pull out weak signals or other similar operations.

What did you discover regarding using width to recover a weak signal?

73,
Carlton

Simon has turned the source code and rights to HRD over to a group of three guys that will continue development.  Speculation is that it will become a 'for pay' product after an initial release of 5.1 which they say will be free to all currently 'registered' users.  I'm surprised nothing has popped up over here about this development.  There are several threads over on qrz.com about this.

http://www.ham-radio-deluxe.com/News/HRDSold.aspx

http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?313329-PR-HRD-Press-Release&goto=newpost

Ameritron got back in touch with me and confirmed that the switch is indeed an operate/standby switch.  I wonder why they don't update the manual, it's not that much information..lol

Carlton

Thanks for the information!

>re-design the ARI-500/ALS-1300 interface so that Operate/Standby switch of the amp always works, no matter what's hooked up to it.

I agree 100%, adding the ari-500 should not impact the way the controls on the amp. work.  It would also be nice if they had included some LEDs that indicate what band the ari-500 'thinks' it should be changing the amplifier to so you have a way to troubleshoot if things don't operate properly.

I hope that it is, I though it was a pain the way they keep the amp. in operate mode with no way to switch to standby when using the ari-500, at least according to the docs.  I saw the article you referenced.  I wonder if Ameritron has started modifying the units because this unit was bought new directly from Gigaparts.

Carlton

I just bought an ARI-500 from Ameritron.  The unit I received has a toggle switch on the front that is not labeled.  All of the documentation on their website and that I received with the unit make no mention of the switch.  I submitted a help ticket with them and of course have not heard back.  I have been trying to call them but as usual just get a busy signal.  I'm hoping someone here will have the answer.

Thanks,
Carlton

Were you able to get it setup or do you still need help?

Did you find out what the problem was?  I'm having a similar issue.

Did you ever figure out what the problem was? 

Update:  I removed the 10m mod from the amp and examined it under a magnifying glass.  I discovered a solder bridge.  After removing the bridge, everything appears to be working fine.   

Update:  I received the new interface cable and have seen no improvement or change in behavior.

I'm beginning to think that I may end up having to do what K8SI does.