EXTERNAL PREAMP WHILE USING ANTENNA /TRANSCEIVER SWITCH

[Stellasstillarat]

I really feel this is something I should know and belive I do but don't want to make a freshman mistake.
This is a picture of my two position Dawia.
It being used to switch between two stations and not antennas.
I may eventually hook up my maco 150 preamp.

How do I put it online correctly?

 

[Robb]

IMO . . . preamps are a waste of time . . . they pick up far too much noise . . . does not make up for a crummy antenna or radio . . . better off with a band pass filter . . . IMO . . .

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Unless you have a nice low noise preamp like a GaAsFET type and it is on VHF and above. 99.9% of the preamps just make the meter read higher without making anything any clearer. the problem is noise floor. Most radios have a better front-end than the preamps used for 11m so adding a preamp actually makes it harder to hear the really weak station despite thinking to the contrary. I have used preamp on VHF and good ones work great but I have yet to see similar performance on 11m.

 

[Stellasstillarat]

My maco 150 definitely helped me hear skip contacts that without would've made it almost impossible to make due to tje lack of ears. My a99 at 12 '
made it difficult. Now the I max may have changed all that. I will not know until I begin making and listening to dx. For now the preamp will stay boxed up.

IMO . . . preamps are a waste of time . . . they pick up far too much noise . . . does not make up for a crummy antenna or radio . . . better off with a band pass filter . . . IMO . . .

 

[9C1Driver]

My maco 150 definitely helped me hear skip contacts that without would've made it almost impossible to make due to tje lack of ears. My a99 at 12 '
made it difficult. Now the I max may have changed all that. I will not know until I begin making and listening to dx. For now the preamp will stay boxed up.

This comment makes no sense. When the "skip conditions" are good on a busy channel it sounds like half the country is talking. A pre-amp will not dig some weak station out of the noise for you. It will boost everything including the noise level and be of no use. You could do the same thing by cranking your volume level up. A good receive alignment of your radio will be of much more use then any pre-amp.

A pre-amp is at best useful maybe 10% of the time. They all bring in so much noise the over all gain is lost.

 

[Stellasstillarat]

I should've been more specific.
Although I don't think it will matter to you as you obviously don't believe preamps serve any purpose.
When on 27.555 usb and listening exclusively fo stations coming in from across the Atlantic and Pacific, I sometimes have difficulty hearing a station with absolutly no s-unit and in the noise level.
My maco 150 with a slight touch of the gain knob will bring this station to a point that makes hearing them much easier.
Whether you believe it or not really don't matter. It works for me and that's what counts.
I hooked it up and it works like a charm.
I will begin using it once I run into a situation I explained.
I don't know if thrse types of preamps have any type of filtering but my maco helps me to hear a station I otherwise could never have a qso with .

This comment makes no sense. When the "skip conditions" are good on a busy channel it sounds like half the country is talking. A pre-amp will not dig some weak station out of the noise for you. It will boost everything including the noise level and be of no use. You could do the same thing by cranking your volume level up. A good receive alignment of your radio will be of much more use then any pre-amp.

A pre-amp is at best useful maybe 10% of the time. They all bring in so much noise the over all gain is lost.

 

[Stellasstillarat]

After looking closely at the coax I figured it out.
It actually wasn't difficult but I wish instead of telling me why one doesn't need one or why one doesn't like them.
I wish someone would've atlest added the answer to my question.
which was how to hook up an exsternal preamp.

 

[wavrider]

Ameco PT3

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/preamps/2158.html

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2395

I have one and they DO work well

 

[Blackcat630]

After looking closely at the coax I figured it out.
It actually wasn't difficult but I wish instead of telling me why one doesn't need one or why one doesn't like them.
I wish someone would've atlest added the answer to my question.
which was how to hook up an exsternal preamp.

If your using the switch to switch between 2 radios and you want the pre amp to amplify both radios put it in line w main antenna coax. If you only want it to amplify one particular radio..put the pre amp in line with only that specific radios coax line before your switch.

 

[vkrules]

Best place for a pre amp is at the antenna . But that can be problematic,especially with the 1kw amp in line. You should most likely put it between the radio and amp.

 

[Stellasstillarat]

I did originally hook it up to operate after the amp in order to amplifie the signal on both my sonar and madison.
It worked fine but somthing was telling me it wasn't correct.
After a second look I realized the maco 150 was only made to handle 50 watts.
I'm positive one key of the mic on the sonar/Palomar 300a or the Madison/phantom would've put the maco in the parts box.
I'm glad I took a second look at what I thought what was wrong.
It was an easy desistion. I only use the sonar for local talk.
It works excellent on the madison.
I actually came across another Maco 150 for $45 and pulled the trigger on it emedietly.
I may keep it for a backup but when worldwide skip begins to rool in and if I find it to be lively on AM I may decide to hook it up to the sonar. It may sound redundant to use two exsternal p reamps, but if you only knew what a difference it makes on my Madison for ssb you'd understand. It sucks having an antenna only 12' off the ground. On the other hand I'm happy to have a station that actually performs well for what it is. Thanks to all. 73.

Best place for a pre amp is at the antenna . But that can be problematic,especially with the 1kw amp in line. You should most likely put it between the radio and amp.

 

[StrangeBrew]

Did a quick google on these, seems the Maco 150 preamp has what they call a "noise eliminator circuit". Maybe this model actually has some type of filtering?