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Mosfet mod for early Ranger 2950DX?

ExitThirteen

ExitThirteen

Grumpy and Cranky
Apr 18, 2008
1,968
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Cornpatch of Iowa
Heya folks,

Was wondering if anyone had a site/link for the Ranger 2950DX to convert to Mosfets? I have an early ID Ranger 2950DX with the transistor finals, only runs about 40W PEP on SSB. My friend has the newer ID one with the mosfets, and his runs about 55-60W PEP on SSB. The board is #EPT695011A.

Also, when I got this radio, the green backlight display behind the LCD is bad, where can I get another one of these? Do I contact Ranger directly, or is there a site or shop I could buy one through? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! :D
 

I did see that mod, but that's for the EKL mosfets, the ERF2030's... the new 2950DX radios run IRF520 mosfets, and I wanted to convert mine over to the IRF520's. Sorry for not being clear about this in my initial post. Thanks for the reply though!
 
your lengthy diatribe is off topic.

i provided the link to point out to ExitThirteen that the ERF2030 is simply a re-labelled IRF520. they're the same damn device.

"....I have an early ID Ranger 2950DX with the transistor finals, only runs about 40W PEP on SSB. My friend has the newer ID one with the mosfets, and his runs about 55-60W PEP on SSB."

the swap is worth neither the money or the effort.
 
Last edited:
freecell said:
i provided the link to point out to ExitThirteen that the ERF2030 is simply a re-labelled IRF520. they're the same damn device.
Click to expand...

I don't agree with this after having ripped open both mosfets and doing AB comparisons. The buss for the drain looks to be heavier on the 2030s. Possibly designed to carry more current. I think some more data is required before we say they are "exactly" the same.

-Ray
 
ExitThirteen said:
Heya folks,
My friend has the newer ID one with the mosfets, and his runs about 55-60W PEP on SSB. The board is #EPT695011A.
Click to expand...

The effective difference between 45 and 60W is pretty much nil.

I wouldn't bother doing this swap until your finals give out.
 
who's the manufacturer of the 520 you opened? a slightly larger drain buss is no more of an anomaly than you would find if you cracked 520's made by the slew of manufacturers who produced them, International Rectifier, Samsung, SGS Thomson and ST MicroElectronics just to name a few.
 
Very interesting responses.... :D


But since there's a few people saying that it's really not worth the trouble converting over, I'll keep it as is, and let it talk. It does sound really nice on the air, and it works fine, so in light of that, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Reason I didn't want to do the EKL mod is because I know those take the "companion" parts, and the companion parts isn't something that is in the newer ID models of this radio. I was originally going to just copy what my friend's radio had in it to this one, but since this radio is SMT, it'd be hard for me to see if there are things in the TX circuit that are of different values between the final version and the mosfet version (which I know there are a couple things that are obvious).

Anyhow, it's all good, thanks to all who responded and posted links for me. Cheers!

-Exit
 
freecell said:
your lengthy diatribe is off topic.
........ the ERF2030 is simply a re-labelled IRF520. they're the same damn device.
Click to expand...

they are not the same device. take any radio that comes factory with the 520 and substitute the 520 with the 2030. in other words, remove the 520's and replace with 2030's. then look at the output with a scope. you will see the 2030 is not stable in a circuit designed for the 520 (especially at low power). many times it will get by in an am/fm only radio, but we have always had problems with an ssb capable radio that comes standard with the 520.
 

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