Hi guys. Have purchased a Bearcat 980 and a RM203p amp. Are they ok together out of the box or are tweeks needed ? Thanks
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4x4 Aussie Outback
- Thread starter David Di Salvio
- Start date
You need to lower the am dead key to about 2 watts. Any less and the internal swr meter doesn't operate correctly. If you are using an external swr meter and don't use the internal one much then lower the dead key to about 1-1.5 watts. For SSB I would turn the power back to about 8 watts or so. The back of those radios get hot out of the box and there have been many a blown final as a result. Either lower power, add a heat sink, or add a fan to the back of the radio. The easiest being just lowering the power, which I have done with mine to about 8 watts and it now stays a lot cooler, but does get warm, even with long qso's. The AM dead key is the most important thing to lower before keying the amp. Also make sure your antenna system is as good as it can be. Good antenna, mount, coax, connectors, and a good vswr reading without the amp inline, along the lines of 1.2:1 or below. JMO on the vswr, but I would get it as low as possible without amp in line then add amp. There should be very little if any change in the vswr when you add the amp in line. The 980 and the kl203 are a good little combo for 75-100 watts. Keep the dead key low and lower SSB power and you'll be good to go as long as the antenna system is up to par. JMHO. Good day.
Awesome information thanks so much. Now to find someone in Western Australia to bring the power down.
