Use one of Phil Salas' attenuators in front of the Amp. You'll never over drive it in error and will be happy with the durability of this setup. http://www.ad5x.com/articles.htm
N6DMR -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2012 10:00 AM To: [email protected] Subject: FlexRadio Digest, Vol 89, Issue 2 Send FlexRadio mailing list submissions to [email protected] To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to [email protected] You can reach the person managing the list at [email protected] When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of FlexRadio digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Flex 1500/Amplifier (Dr. William J. Schmidt, II) 2. New SDR (Ronald Arrowood) 3. Re: New SDR (Paul Delaney - K6HR) 4. Re: New SDR (Ken Alexander) 5. SDR (Ronald Arrowood) 6. Re: Flex 1500/Amplifier (Jim Jannuzzo) 7. Re: SDR (Richard Clafton) 8. Flex-5000A RFI on microphone input caused by foot switch PTT microphone connector input resolved by using PTT on back panel. (Bill Bordy, NJ1H ) 9. Re: New SDR (Ray, K9DUR) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 12:08:09 -0500 From: "Dr. William J. Schmidt, II" <[email protected]> To: "'Ray Fallen'" <[email protected]>, <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Flex 1500/Amplifier Message-ID: <002101cd8864$5d105130$1730f390$@com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I just saw this post after returning home from an extended trip and wanted to respond. Using ALC as a method to save an amp from disaster is a pathetic design. Of course it's very cheap to do, but most legitimate designs incorporate something a little more sophisticated like an SWR bridge circuit fed to a processor like a PIC that when thresholds are met, shuts down the amp. Using ALC for cutting back drive is also cheap, but the resulting RF signal is corrupt if the ALC threshold is active (takes action) more than a very small fraction of the time. The result of the closed-loop ALC circuit is a non-linear system that causes distortion on your signal. I've never used ALC and never will. There are much better ways. Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ / J68HZ/ 8P6HK/ ZF2HZ/ PJ4HZ Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch Staunton, Illinois email:? [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Fallen Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2012 6:26 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Flexradio] Flex 1500/Amplifier "Many amps rely on that ALC connection to allow them to cut back on drive in the event of a malfunction such as an intermittent flaky antenna feedline. A momentarily open/shorted antenna could be very bad news for some amps under normal drive. Some argue that you don't really need ALC. I suspect those guys never had an antenna disaster." Not to be rude, but huh? Roger...I've been QRO since back in the 80s and have never used an ALC circuit...just watch your levels and you'll be OK without ALC. HOWEVER, there are several extremely high zoot RF wattmeters out there, the Telepost LP-100A comes to mind, that will unkey the amplifier if there is an "antenna disaster." I'm using an old RF Applications P-3000, which unfortunately is no longer available new...and it's saved me from myself more than a couple of times. Wouldn't be without it. In the words of '41..."wouldn't be prudent." Here's a link for the LP-1000A...it's not cheap...but then neither are amplifier finals... http://www.telepostinc.com/lp100.html 73 ND8L _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List [email protected] http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/ ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1424 / Virus Database: 2437/5234 - Release Date: 08/29/12 ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 13:32:19 -0400 From: "Ronald Arrowood" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Subject: [Flexradio] New SDR Message-ID: <000001cd8867$bd28f740$377ae5c0$@net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Just came from the Shelby Hamfest, saw a 3000 running I believe new SDR Software, version 4? Could not get close enough to see too good. ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2012 10:49:33 -0700 From: "Paul Delaney - K6HR" <[email protected]> To: "'Ronald Arrowood'" <[email protected]>, <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Flexradio] New SDR Message-ID: <0E02689AF36642988A130CC142AF71B7@hambox> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII The current version is 2.3.5 so a version 4 at this time would be a real stretch! Paul Delaney - K6HR [email protected] http://k6hr.dyndns.org:8080 > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:flexradio-bounces@flex- > radio.biz] On Behalf Of Ronald Arrowood > Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2012 10:32 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Flexradio] New SDR > > Just came from the Shelby Hamfest, saw a 3000 running I believe new > SDR Software, version 4? Could not get close enough to see too good. > > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > [email protected] > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flexradio.com/ ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 11:53:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Ken Alexander <[email protected]> To: Paul Delaney - K6HR <[email protected]>, 'Ronald Arrowood' <[email protected]>, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Flexradio] New SDR Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Maybe 2.4?? That would be nice! 73, Ken Alexander VE3HLS ________________________________ From: Paul Delaney - K6HR <[email protected]> To: 'Ronald Arrowood' <[email protected]>; [email protected] Sent: Saturday, September 1, 2012 1:49:33 PM Subject: Re: [Flexradio] New SDR The current version is 2.3.5 so a version 4 at this time would be a real stretch! Paul Delaney - K6HR [email protected] http://k6hr.dyndns.org:8080 > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:flexradio-bounces@flex- > radio.biz] On Behalf Of Ronald Arrowood > Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2012 10:32 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Flexradio] New SDR > > Just came from the Shelby Hamfest, saw a 3000 running I believe new SDR > Software, version 4? Could not get close enough to see too good. > > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > [email protected] > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/? Homepage: > http://www.flexradio.com/ _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List [email protected] http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/? Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/ ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 16:17:33 -0400 From: "Ronald Arrowood" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Subject: [Flexradio] SDR Message-ID: <000301cd887e$d26147e0$7723d7a0$@net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" The Screen was not the same as 2.3.5, and sure I saw 4.?.?, wish I had got a closer look. AB4RA ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 20:21:55 +0000 From: Jim Jannuzzo <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Flex 1500/Amplifier Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" While I agree with these sentiments whole-heartedly, the President of SPE and designer of the Expert series of amps does not. He insisted to the Expert Yahoo group that ALC should always be used with his solid state amps. This was surprising to me, in that the Expert amps have more protection processing power than Fort Knox. Well, maybe not that much, but a lot. They monitor SWR, over power, over drive, imbalance between the power supplies to the two transistor banks, and several dozen fairly esoteric parameters, and go to stanby if anything trips. They also write a message to ROM with the error, so it's a seemingly sophisticated protection circuit. Jim KJ2P > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected]; [email protected] > Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 12:08:09 -0500 > Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Flex 1500/Amplifier > > I just saw this post after returning home from an extended trip and wanted > to respond. > > Using ALC as a method to save an amp from disaster is a pathetic design. Of > course it's very cheap to do, but most legitimate designs incorporate > something a little more sophisticated like an SWR bridge circuit fed to a > processor like a PIC that when thresholds are met, shuts down the amp. > > Using ALC for cutting back drive is also cheap, but the resulting RF signal > is corrupt if the ALC threshold is active (takes action) more than a very > small fraction of the time. The result of the closed-loop ALC circuit is a > non-linear system that causes distortion on your signal. > > I've never used ALC and never will. There are much better ways. > > > Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ / J68HZ/ 8P6HK/ ZF2HZ/ PJ4HZ > > Owner - Operator > Big Signal Ranch > Staunton, Illinois > > email: [email protected] > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Fallen > Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2012 6:26 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Flexradio] Flex 1500/Amplifier > > "Many amps rely on that ALC connection to allow them to cut back on drive in > the event of a malfunction such as an intermittent flaky antenna feedline. A > momentarily open/shorted antenna could be very bad news for some amps under > normal drive. > > Some argue that you don't really need ALC. I suspect those guys never had an > antenna disaster." > > Not to be rude, but huh? > > Roger...I've been QRO since back in the 80s and have never used an ALC > circuit...just watch your levels and you'll be OK without ALC. > > HOWEVER, there are several extremely high zoot RF wattmeters out there, the > Telepost LP-100A comes to mind, that will unkey the amplifier if there is an > "antenna disaster." I'm using an old RF Applications P-3000, which > unfortunately is no longer available new...and it's saved me from myself > more than a couple of times. > > Wouldn't be without it. In the words of '41..."wouldn't be prudent." > > Here's a link for the LP-1000A...it's not cheap...but then neither are > amplifier finals... > > http://www.telepostinc.com/lp100.html > > 73 > ND8L > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > [email protected] > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flexradio.com/ > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1424 / Virus Database: 2437/5234 - Release Date: 08/29/12 > > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > [email protected] > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/ ------------------------------ Message: 7 Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 15:34:22 -0500 From: "Richard Clafton" <[email protected]> To: "'Ronald Arrowood'" <[email protected]>, <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Flexradio] SDR Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Was this the PowerPoint presentation of the new SmartSDR for the 6000 series perhaps? -- Richard A Clafton | the brITish guy | W5\G7EIX RIROC - Hosting - Development - Technology http://www.riroc.com | [email protected] "Jack of all trades, master of none, though often better than the master of one." -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ronald Arrowood Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2012 3:18 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Flexradio] SDR The Screen was not the same as 2.3.5, and sure I saw 4.?.?, wish I had got a closer look. AB4RA _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List [email protected] http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/ ------------------------------ Message: 8 Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2012 17:31:56 -0400 From: "Bill Bordy, NJ1H " <[email protected]> To: FlexRadio Reflector <[email protected]> Subject: [Flexradio] Flex-5000A RFI on microphone input caused by foot switch PTT microphone connector input resolved by using PTT on back panel. Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed For a long time I have been plagued with RFI getting into my audio whenever I used my Heil Sound foot switch on the microphone connector PTT input of my Flex-5000A. That is the only band I had this problem on. It was observable by using the monitor function. I tried chokes and such to correct and none did. For a long time, I simply made a point of not plugging in the foot switch when on 17M. Since 17M isn't a contest band, not that big of a deal; but I would forget to disconnect occasionally. Today, it occurred to me why not try the rear panel PTT input instead. That resolved the problem on 17M. No RFI on 17M now. I will see how it does on the other bands. It makes sense that the RF coupled onto the PTT microphone input could in turn couple into the microphone audio input due to proximity, (internal cable, etc). This possible coupling is removed by using the back panel PTT, or front as the joke goes ;^) . I have discussed this problem with other Flex-5000A users who have had a similar problem. Perhaps this will be of benefit to them and others. 73, Bill NJ1H ------------------------------ Message: 9 Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2012 07:32:54 -0400 From: "Ray, K9DUR" <[email protected]> To: "'Ronald Arrowood'" <[email protected]>, <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Flexradio] New SDR Message-ID: <001101cd88fe$b25136b0$16f3a410$@com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Ronald, Probably v2.4 which is in the final stages of beta testing. 73, Ray, K9DUR http://k9dur.info -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ronald Arrowood Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2012 1:32 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Flexradio] New SDR Just came from the Shelby Hamfest, saw a 3000 running I believe new SDR Software, version 4? Could not get close enough to see too good. _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List [email protected] http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/ ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ FlexRadio mailing list [email protected] http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ End of FlexRadio Digest, Vol 89, Issue 2 **************************************** _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List [email protected] http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flexradio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flexradio.com/
