I've got a Galaxy 225 amp which is a Palomar 225 clone. When I bought it the compensator cap on the output transformer was missing and a feedback resistor had broken solder. After soldering the resistor down and replacing the 820pf cap, the amp now has a weird problem
It never worked right since I had it. Now when I put output on low power, the swr seems good and it keys 5 watts and swings to 15. On medium power the SWR starts good, pauses, then the needle slams hard into the red. On medium the power output starts at 20 watts, pauses, then slams the needle to 45 watts. With audio it only swings to 50 watts. What could cause this symptom time and time again?
Its so odd that it would wait for a second, act like its working and then just go haywire.
On full power, the swr immediately is in the red and power deadkeys at 50 and swings to only 55 with audio.
Both pills get warm and seem to be working and don't show any signs of wear or burning.
Before I put the 820pf cap on, I had the same results minus the weird pause on swr and power before going haywire: It just went haywire immediately
I can't spend much money on this amp, but I figured I could fix it. Its getting to be a real PITA.
Anybody have any pointers? Its not my meter, it works fine with just my radio.
Also, going through the amp once more before getting too mad, I discovered that the cap in the upper left hand corner was broken on one lead. According to this thread:
http://www.worldwidedx.com/amplifiers/33661-palomar-225-questions.html
the cap controls delay for SSB. Could this be causing my problem? I doubt it is but it is the only physical problem I can see. I'm only thinking this because of the pause in needle movement before slamming to the red. But this only happens on medium power, not any other setting.
I am just so confused and I'm trying to get my first amp working properly on a budget
It never worked right since I had it. Now when I put output on low power, the swr seems good and it keys 5 watts and swings to 15. On medium power the SWR starts good, pauses, then the needle slams hard into the red. On medium the power output starts at 20 watts, pauses, then slams the needle to 45 watts. With audio it only swings to 50 watts. What could cause this symptom time and time again?
Its so odd that it would wait for a second, act like its working and then just go haywire.
On full power, the swr immediately is in the red and power deadkeys at 50 and swings to only 55 with audio.
Both pills get warm and seem to be working and don't show any signs of wear or burning.
Before I put the 820pf cap on, I had the same results minus the weird pause on swr and power before going haywire: It just went haywire immediately
I can't spend much money on this amp, but I figured I could fix it. Its getting to be a real PITA.
Anybody have any pointers? Its not my meter, it works fine with just my radio.
Also, going through the amp once more before getting too mad, I discovered that the cap in the upper left hand corner was broken on one lead. According to this thread:
http://www.worldwidedx.com/amplifiers/33661-palomar-225-questions.html
the cap controls delay for SSB. Could this be causing my problem? I doubt it is but it is the only physical problem I can see. I'm only thinking this because of the pause in needle movement before slamming to the red. But this only happens on medium power, not any other setting.
I am just so confused and I'm trying to get my first amp working properly on a budget
