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PALMOAR 450 HD

pimphand442

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Jun 11, 2011
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I was diggin through some old cb stuff of mine and found an old palomar 450 elite hd 4 pill sd1446 and was wondering can anything be done to it for more power what should i run into it and expect out of it i just want to do some good dx'ing with my old amp palomar 250tx i was pushin 175watts with my 148 with it off i deadkey at 4 watts and swing to 13 watts but when i turn amp on i dk at 175 and when i talk it swings backwards to about 150 i dont know why? any help would be appriciated im not sure what its going to do with this 450hd but what causes backswing when amp goes on ? thanks
 

The HD on this amp really stands for "Hardly Drive". Do as said above and never exceed 1.5-2W DK or you will allow all of the magic smoke to escape.

I know because I own one. :laugh:
 
The only way you could see more peak power from the amp is run a radio that swings 20-25 watts. Amplifiers are what they are and for the most part there are no "magic mods" that all of a sudden make them do 500 watts. It does not work like that. With those Palomars run it on the Med power setting and go with it, don't get so caught up in the number you see on a watt meter.


To maximize the output for any amp make sure you have a good battery and alternator that can produce enough amperage. Run the proper gage wire to the amp. Make sure your antenna system is in order and can handle the power.
 
does anybody know where i can find the tuning mods for cobra 148 nw st radio? still dont know why it swings backwards on watt meter when amp is on when off radio swings forward
 
does anybody know where i can find the tuning mods for cobra 148 nw st radio? still dont know why it swings backwards on watt meter when amp is on when off radio swings forward

Your AM dead key from the radio is too high when this happens. If you must run the radio as is then run the amp on Low or Med. This will add some swamping resistors to eat up some of the excess carrier.

Your 148 is a low powered radio 12-14 watts peak on AM and 14-18 SSB is all they are intended to do. Find the VR pot that adjusta the AM carrier and lower it to 2 watts. Then set the amp on Med and have some fun.
 
on ssb with out the amp on it will deadkey at zero and swing close to 25 watts i never checked on ssb till you mentioned ssb so i went to garage and checked just about 25 watts so my am power is too high? how can i lower it but keep the max forward swing i wouldnt mind 2 watt dk to 15 watt swing maybee possible? thanks
 
SSB has no carrier, it's all modulated watts so thats working fine even though I have never seen a 148 do over 20 watts PEP. Meters vary so no biggie there. If the radio was properly tuned and aligned you should be able to get 2 watts AM carrier to swing 12-14 watts no problem. If not you might need a swing kit.
 
i have a swing kit but the paper it came with only show how to install on a cobra 29 and uniden model cb so i cant install that to my 148 no directions.
 
does anybody know where i can find the tuning mods for cobra 148 nw st radio? still dont know why it swings backwards on watt meter when amp is on when off radio swings forward


The best tuning mod for a Cobra 148 Soundtracker is to hurl it into a dumpster. Take the Palomar amps and sell them on ebay and buy a nice X force TNT amp.
 
The best tuning mod for a Cobra 148 Soundtracker is to hurl it into a dumpster. Take the Palomar amps and sell them on ebay and buy a nice X force TNT amp.



I agree, I was trying not to be negative but they don't call em Soundcrappers for nothing.
 
I agree, I was trying not to be negative but they don't call em Soundcrappers for nothing.


I bought a 148 soundtracker when they first came out. After a peak and tune everyone that I talk to on a regular basis told me the radio's audio was as flat as a pancake so I put my Malaysian 148 back in and they said I was cooking with gas again.
Between the awful stock mics that came with the STs and the problematic voltage regulators......well I learned my lesson. I actually threw the radio out in the trash....$150 mistake, but you live and learn!
 

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