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Just setting up first base unit: need help

You are talking about (the tuning rings" on the Imax 99 DONT TOUCH THOSE!!! The rings are pretty much set at the factory and you should not half to mess with them.

I had bought an Solarcon 99 for a spare years ago and after putting it up found that the tuning rings were tampered with and it for some reason was a nightmare getting things reset. I figured just retune them well it took awhile to get those straightened out or to find the sweet spot.

All equipment is matched at manufature in construction as is the antenna . I wouldnt splice that coax just put a new PL-259 end on. The amp[lifier is not an antenna booster its a linear amplifier and most likely has a power on/off hi/lo output power and a receive or bi amp on/off switch.

I would not hook up the amplifier because those can make your setup an extra nightmare if your not familiar in what they are and can do along with troubles they can throw in. If you have neighbors you can make enemies real quick with extra power (Linear Amplifiers) which sometimes can get you more than you bargain for with the Federal Communications commission.

Get the antenna up run the coax to where its going and put a new PL-259 on screw it to the back of the radio or better yet the antenna or output of a (S)tanding (W)ave (R)acial (SWR) meter. You need to make sure the SWR is atleast 1.5 or less. You can run your radio at higher SWR but its efficiancy is going to drop and your basically shooting yourself in the foot so an SWR mter is your best friend and can save you money from damage repairs to radios and amplifiers do to the high SWR missmatch and the continuous running of the equipment in that condition.

MAKE SURE you do that PL-259 correctly or again you will be fighting a losing battle. Make sure the center conductor does not connect with one single strand of the shield braiding ort you will have a short in the coax feedline. This will help you and make sense of what Im saying.

Soldering PL-259 Coax Connecters


Now when you hook up your power supply make sure your red wire goes to red lug and black wire goes to black lug on power supply recheck connections (reversing polarity) mixing up the wires causes damage to the radio Ive repaired a few that were really burnt up and one that couldnt be repaired which brings my next advice ALWAYS RUN A FUSE AND THE PROPPER FUSE IN THE RADIO AND POWER SUPPLY!! The radio that I couldnt repair was hooked up backwards reversed polarity with no fuse inline. Make sure radio is off and click the power switch to the power supply on. Now turn your radio on and have fun!!!
 
thanks for the info guys. I just picked up a "CB/High-Frequency Ham Power SWR Meter Model: 21-534"
and a brand new length of coax since it was pretty cheap. less risk to the radio that way too. both from radio shack. found out they have a decent selection of electronic soldering supplies too. maybe I'll get to play with the swr meter tommorrow night. as for now its off to bed another glorious 10 hour work day tommorrow.
 
OK just my 2 cents first you have a good radio in the conex 3300 BUT if you use the amp keep the RF POWER switch set on lo becaus the amp you have only needs 1 to 4 watts to see 100 watts if your radio was tuned right it should top out around 45 to 48 watts when you talk oh the HI RF POWER setting you can run the antenna at 9 ft but 10 to 20 is better you need to make shure you swrs are between 1.1 and 1.5 BEST a 2.0 will work but it will be hard on the amp and to add that yes what you are running if the FCC ever shows up on you door will git you in some heat but unles you act like a big jurk or try to be king of the hill the fcc wont bother you also if your neighbors are on direct tv or the like or good cable you should not bother them
i run a cobra 148 and a 100 watt amp an a 35 amp power supply into an A-99 that is 30 feet in the air at tip or antenna i can talk 10 to 40 miles on a good day also the radio shack swr meter is an ok one to start but youl need a better 1 as you git more into the hobby have fun 73's
 
Didn't you ask this stuff on the other forum? :D BTW did you get the link for the manual?

I have now. I got tired of waiting 24 hours for my replies to go up, so I skipped out of that forum and came over here. this one seems a little more active on the CB side the other one has so many subforums you can't find anything.

any how off to the garage to check out the SWR meter and drink coffee, I'll check in later and update.
 
OK hooked up SWR meter, ran without the amp hooked up. SWR reading was 1.3 to 1. From what I have read that's not bad. so I did a mic check and first reply was that my modulation blew chunks, turned up the output on my mic and cleared it right up. first broadcast/reply was from about 7-10 miles out. clear as crystal. still have to fine tune the squelch and etc. later on. I'm just glad all the equipment works. now to try and figure out how to get my antenna higher without peeving the wife off. :eek:
 
OK hooked up SWR meter, ran without the amp hooked up. SWR reading was 1.3 to 1. From what I have read that's not bad. so I did a mic check and first reply was that my modulation blew chunks, turned up the output on my mic and cleared it right up. first broadcast/reply was from about 7-10 miles out. clear as crystal. still have to fine tune the squelch and etc. later on. I'm just glad all the equipment works. now to try and figure out how to get my antenna higher without peeving the wife off. :eek:

On the roof, in a tripod that is lag bolted in place. Use a piece of 10 ft rigid conduit as your mast.

Tripods are commonly available in 3 ft, 5 ft, and 10 ft varieties. Leave the "one" leg free, so you can tilt the whole thing up.
 
LOL I understand the logistics of physically getting it higher, the part I am having trouble with is how to do it without ticking the wife off. I really want it on the roof of the house since, my garage is one story and my house is two, two stories with a 10-15 foot mast would be awesome.
 
RustDemon,
All things considered, and keeping in mind the importance of keeping in the good graces of the 'significant other', use the garage and don't worry about it. There would be some differences if it were another 15 - 20 feet higher, sure. But those 'good graces' are important too, if not more important! Use some of that "psycho-logic" stuff on her, as in bribe her with stuff, you know??
- 'Doc
 
height is might,

but for now tell her you are working on the frame for the xmas decoration you had in mind...good luck hope it all comes together for you.:unsure:
 
good graces of the singular source of my love life are definitely important...... I'll work it out eventually....

but on the side, I did more playing around with my SWR meter after work and tested through the range of channels. MY SWR is 1.1 to 1 on channel 1, 1.3 to 1 on channel 20, and 1.5 to 1 on channel 40.

I would like to figure out how to "tune" it so the SWR is 1/1 on channel 20 so its mid band, I don't see how I can adjust it. and I'm not snipping 1/8th inch off the tip either LOL.
 
More on the antenna:

The mounting point on the garage is 9 feet from the ground, which in terms of my house which sits higher the top of our foundation is 2 1/2 feet above ground, so plus 2 1/2' for foundation and 8 feet per story, plus another 5 feet for the gable, if I can sneek a 10 foot post on there it would gain me about 32 and 1/2 feet. hmmmmmm.. plotting :whistle:
 
good graces of the singular source of my love life are definitely important...... I'll work it out eventually....

but on the side, I did more playing around with my SWR meter after work and tested through the range of channels. MY SWR is 1.1 to 1 on channel 1, 1.3 to 1 on channel 20, and 1.5 to 1 on channel 40.

I would like to figure out how to "tune" it so the SWR is 1/1 on channel 20 so its mid band, I don't see how I can adjust it. and I'm not snipping 1/8th inch off the tip either LOL.

You are running an A99 antenna that has tuning rings on the base of it. You don't trim this kind of antenna; you use the tuning rings! Mark where they are before you begin to adjust them. This way you can go back to the way it was if you need to return to your original adjustments.

Don''t move them too much, and be sure to re-calibrate your SWR meter each time you check it.
That is imperative.

Since you are new or have returned to the hobby, then a little reading would be wise to get your mind around it once again:

SWR
 

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