Sorry, this isn't actually a repeater-builder question, but it is a repeater problem, and this is where I thought I could get the best info for the problem.
We have a Mark IV that has worked well for 9 years. It's really still working well, but here is what is going on. With a Bird watt meter, the Mark IV shows 3 watts out. If another member of the club, using the same meter and a dummy load, shows 32 watts (usual for the Mark IV). We also have a backup repeater, and Icom IC-RP1510 that has always had an output of 18 watts, and still does. It shows 18 watts out, 1 reflected, same as it always has. These output readings are before the duplexers (Wacom 641). The mystery is the Mark IV works fine into a dummy load, but not at the site. The Icom works the same as always. The a/c voltage (this is at a hospital) is 124 volts. It is a multi-transmitter site, and the MFJ analyzer shows our DB 224 as "pegged" on the swr, then it will drop briefly to a low SWR, and then go back up for a couple of minutes, and then drop again . I "think" the MFJ analyzer is just getting RF'ed from another transmitter, and that the Bird is much more reliable under these circumstances. The Icom with 18 watts out, 1 reflected leads me to believe the system is fine, but why would the Mark IV have an output of 3 watts into the Bird watt meter (nothing reflected), but into a dummy load, the Mark IV behaves as it should. My only other thoughts on testing would be to take a 50 watt 2m rig/ps and a different Vswr/wattmeter up and see how it behaves with the system. Any help/ideas would be appreciated. Tnx... 73, Mike K9MI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
