Texas star dx500v

[SR385]

It just gets old.

Same point, explained clearly, over and over and over again....which in itself wouldn't be so bad...but the same guy has done the same thing in I think three amp threads this week alone. The explanation is given, then he goes back on it and tries to mislead people.

The information has been laid out in cartoon simplicity. The only possible way someone would continue through multiple threads to slip by the same misinformation is if they intended to somehow justify using these dirty amps on the ham bands.

There are too many ignorant operators putting out bad signals and it's something I want to stop if it originates from people who don't know any better. That's one of the reasons I stick around here. I've learned a lot here myself and want to keep things clear for the next guy who starts asking these questions.....that I myself was asking when I first got here.

What people want to talk about, or how they phrase it isn't really that big of an issue to me. When people show up with outlaw/out of spec signals, that's where I draw a line. Those signals interfere with other people on the band. It's clearly not legal and it's a pain in the ass while operating around them.

Intentional malice, gets appropriate response.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

ive been considering a ticket for quite a while . i just need to get off my fat azz and and do it . while i do appreciate friendly replies i dont appreciate friendly replies if they allow me to believe something that isnt true . im not saying that has been done here , im just saying thats how i feel . i also understand we are all human and we all sometimes make mistakes with no malace involved

i do enjoy some cb forums , but i have learned that when i want to really know whats up with something that hams are the ones to go to and this forum is my go to place for those answers . im also very thankful to freecell and moleculo for the knowledgable and enjoyable conversations ive had with them on the phone . correct informations does cause me problems on CB forums sometimes , but that to me is because some folks just cant handle the truth .

i do appreciate all efforts to help me and ive learned on THIS FORUM that if a mistake is made that it is corrected somewhere along the way in the progression of the thread .


seems like d1g1man has what the OP was looking for .

 

[Robb]

It just gets old.

Same point, explained clearly, over and over and over again....which in itself wouldn't be so bad...but the same guy has done the same thing in I think three amp threads this week alone. The explanation is given, then he goes back on it and tries to mislead people.

The information has been laid out in cartoon simplicity. The only possible way someone would continue through multiple threads to slip by the same misinformation is if they intended to somehow justify using these dirty amps on the ham bands.

There are too many ignorant operators putting out bad signals and it's something I want to stop if it originates from people who don't know any better. That's one of the reasons I stick around here. I've learned a lot here myself and want to keep things clear for the next guy who starts asking these questions.....that I myself was asking when I first got here.

What people want to talk about, or how they phrase it isn't really that big of an issue to me. When people show up with outlaw/out of spec signals, that's where I draw a line. Those signals interfere with other people on the band. It's clearly not legal and it's a pain in the ass while operating around them.

Intentional malice, gets appropriate response.

So you have the right to call someone a lid- eh? That isn't malice/forethought?
Some Hams that have been around for several years are doing what you are riling about yourself. So what has that got to do with me? I don't even RUN power - as I am new to it all. I've been very careful - like walking on eggs and learning.
Mislead people? Buddy - get over yourself!
Puhleeze!

CB is less restrictive and enjoyed by many Hams as well. I hear them out on 38 LSB all of the time. Go to 10 meters and it is a ghost town - nobody liikes the enviorment - I guess.
Right guess...Gee; I wonder why?

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

whats a "lid" ?
im sure its not the slang term for a measurment that im familiar with ! hahahahaha

 

[Moleculo]

Guys, this isn't the place to egg on the ham/cb battles. While we're conversing online, it's important to understand that: 1. People learn at different rates & 2. It is very difficult to understand intent, discern sarcasm, and other things while reading. I didnt' read any intended misinformation in Rob's post (there were a lot of qualifiers!), but I also understand 385's frustration with lousy signals that trash the band. But let's all remember, we all are interested in the same hobby: radio!

Anyway, as discussed before there is a way you can run that TS500 on 10 meters and be within specs, but you have to be careful doing it. I have done it; I have observed a spectrum analyzer while doing it also (I don't have one personally, though). I will say that of all the bands that I tend to run more than 100 watts on while not mobile, 10 meters and 75 meters would be the most often. While I'm mobile, it's another story!

BTW, 10 meters has been hopping lately...if you can, get over there

 

[Robb]

OK
I can be chillin...

 

[TexasOutlaw]

I am kinda new to this forum. I find the information contained here very useful and entertaining. I know a couple hams and they are great people who are willing to help others. While I do not have a "ham" ticket I am wanting to do so. That way I can expand my radio enjoyment. There are @$$ everywhere. I deal with truck drivers everyday. Hope to get my ticket soon and expand my learning curve.

 

[TonyV225]

Ok I seen a post on power output limits in this thread so I just wanted to interject here. I know Im a little late but owell and if this was cleared up Im sorry for the repeat. 200 watts maximum output pep on 28.300.0 - 28.500.0 USB Phone operation for Techician license holder and thats about it for HF phone operation for Technicians there is some CW on other bands but again 200 watts is pretty much your PEP limits but that really is plenty Ive talked everywhere on 100 watts and the extra 100 ontop of that is actually a nice little extra boost I myself actually run between 400-500 watts and that gets the job done but at times when there alot of noise or pile ups I have had to wind her up but again usually dont have to.

When you upgrade or get your General class ticket then you can get in with the big boys and yes 1,500 watts is PEP output but there are restrictions on some bands or portions of bands and it is also stated that included in that output you have to include the gain of your antenna (Beam ETC) 1000 watts PEP in my book is more than enough in most cases and Im not one to run 1,500 watts because the amplifier can do it I always leave a little breathing room insted of pounding the p!$$ out of my amplifier.

I havent even started looking into my Extra yet so someone else thats an extra class license holder would have to step in and give those rules I know that there is a little extra band portions that are granted to the Extra class ticket holders but the power restrictions are pretty much the same again I could be off and apologize if I am.

 

[The Jerk]

It just gets old.
The only possible way someone would continue through multiple threads to slip by the same misinformation is if they intended to somehow justify using these dirty amps on the ham bands.

I could understand this if it was a "competition amp" (Class C), but aren't the Texas Stars all AB-1 (with exception of their small ones)??? Isn't AB-1 what is said to be clean?

 

[Moleculo]

I could understand this if it was a "competition amp" (Class C), but aren't the Texas Stars all AB-1 (with exception of their small ones)??? Isn't AB-1 what is said to be clean?

It's kind've a lame AB bias design (Keep in mind that I'm not a great tech, so you're getting what you pay for here ) because it's not regulated in any way. That means that the bias circuit does not maintain the proper amount of voltage as the transistors heat up causing the bias to change to class B, even C. There are a couple of ways to regulate it, and it's not really that difficult. There are a bunch of guys here that could put a bias circuit schematic to show how to do it.

The other problem is that there is no output filtering on the amp to kill spurious and harmonic emissions (IMD). The TS amp is pretty good as far as CB type amps go for how little IMD there is if you don't hammer the thing (TS says < 30db, which is true), but it's still not up to spec for the ham bands. Since it's just a single band amplifier, the easiest way to solve this problem is to install a 30Mhz cutoff low pass filter at the output.

Lastly, there is no overdrive protection, input swamping, or ALC on this amp. That means that it will let you overdrive it very easily if you're not careful. It's possible to overdrive most good amateur amps if you really want to, but they usually make it a little more difficult to accidentally do it. If you overdrive it you are guaranteed, 100% of the time that your signal will be "splattering".

All this means that if you want to use it on 10 meters, I'm not going to tell you not to, but you do have to be a little more careful about how you operate it than just hooking it up and talking.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

so , just for conversation , how much difference would the folks on the recieving end tell between a 500v doing 500 watts PEP vs. the ameritron LAS-500M on 10 an 11 meters on SSB , or AM ?

Ameritron

 

[SR385]

If either one is not overdriven, you would not 'hear' the difference.

The adjacent stations would likely notice the TS and not even know you were there with the legal amp.

6m users would likely know you were using the TS too ;-) and likely 20m users.

I used to run class C and AB1 amps all the time years ago for CB. Ran a TS250 for years, a 667 and a sweet 16. Once I found out more about their design, I stopped using them. I couldn't afford a proper mobile amp at the time so I just stuck to regular 100W HF rigs.

Now as a ham, I rarely run power above 40m. Basically if the propagation is there, I don't need it anyway. On the low bands you need power if you are there often, not because of propagation but to overcome the noise level on the bands.

Simplex, local, power can be handy to add a bit of reach, but most other people aren't running it anyway so you will be heard much farther than people can respond and you will also easily cause interference to people you aren't aware of.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

so its not that the signal fidelity of the 500v on the intended channel/frequency to tx on thats the problem but harmonics it can possibly produce on other bands that nearby stations on those other bands might recieve ? is that correct ?
im guessing that if i was adversely affecting any nearby hams (if there are any) that i would have had a complaint by now . but they my not have a cb to tell me im causing them a problem .

 

[Beetle]

Not necessarily just harmonics. Splatter, especially "buckshot", is usually much worse.

 

[SR385]

On SSB, a signal is generally speaking 3kHz or less wide.

If someone has a clean signal there, if they are on 3.808 LSB and you are on 3.805 LSB, you won't hear them, if you are both running 3kHz wide.

A dirty signal (could be a wider signal too, but you need a band scope to see that most easily), they would be splattering down the band another 2kHz or more.

A really dirty signal (clipped audio, flat-topped amp, misaligned rig, lots of reasons) can actually blow by into USB so that if they are on 3.808 LSB, and you were on 3.811, which should be clear, you would hear their USB blow by as well.

I keep forgetting to do this, but I'll try and remember to grab screen shots of both clean and dirty signals and explain what the shots are showing. It's plain as day when you are running a band scope. You can tell if the signal is simply a 6kHz wide SSB signal or if it's dirty or misaligned.

These are the symptoms I'm most bothered by, simply because they encroach on people up and down the band from where the conversation is happening.

When I look at CB signals, they are all over the place with varying issues. The biggest one I see on CB around here with such low activity is that people's radios are by the majority off frequency +/- 3kHz in AM mode. I'm guessing the unlocked clarifier mods and people forgetting to center them up may be the reason there. I was surprised at how wide a spread there is.

Anyone know what the typical AM receive pass band width is for a CB? 8kHz seems to come to mind.