I have made a few local AM contacts on 50.4 AM with good success. I can
get
20+ miles with S9 reports both ways with a guy with a 3 element beam, and 15
watts. I run about 25 watts output. I am using a ku4ab square loop at about
25'. Last night 6 was hot, and I could hear SSB, and CW from several states.
At one point the guys were complaining of too much QRM, and wall to wall
signals. Move up to 50.4, and nothing heard. I put out several CQ's on AM,
and no responses. When do the AMers on six meters get on? So far I hear
mostly baby monitors, old style cordless phones, DSL spurs, HDTV spurs,
computer spurs, and only an occasional local AMer. I've heard stories of how
50.4 can get packed like 29.6 FM does. So far I have not had the experience.
:(
I have a G50 question. Does the power transformer in the G50 get
uncomfortably hot to the touch? Mine does. I have turned down the 6L6 idle
current in receive (and boost it during receive). That helped a little. I
use a variac set to 117 vac. That transformer is hot in about 15 minutes of
receiving after turn on. I notice the interleaving of the core is poor, but
I am afraid I may have a shorted turn, or maybe these just use cheap lossy
iron. With 117 vac in, my DVM shows 390-0-390 from the HV winding. I am
afraid to leave my G50 on (squelched) waiting for someone to pop a signal on
50.4 Mhz.
Listening to SSB on the G50 using the VFO spot feature is not too good.
I
played with my audio generator (goes to 455 kc) and put a two turn coil
around the G50 last IF tube. That works pretty good if you set the level for
about 20 over 9 on the S-Meter. Looks like I need a BFO to be made up.
Any thoughts about the hot biscuit transformer?
Jim Candela
WD5JKO
