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ts bi-lateral dx400

countryboy879

Member
Mar 17, 2008
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hi everyone i need help with this amp.....1st it works good. 2nd i need the power configuration for it it has 4 buttons on it

red=power
white= pre-amp
orange=am
yellow=ssb


now what i want to know is , is there a high, med , low on this amp. i know if i have it on just the red switch it's on full power. and if i have it on red and orange it's on i guess med but when i have it on just orange it doesn't do anything. now is this the same for ssb? thank you ur help in advance.
 

Doesn't appear to be any method for "Hi - Med - Low" power, only "On/Off". The Mode switches only change TR relay delay time. Sorry...
- 'Doc
 
Both orange and yellow in is low power. Both orange and yellow out is high power. I get mixed up on the next step but with either the orange out and yellow in is med/low and the yellow out and orange in is med/hi.....or vice versa. Look at the meter on the amp and what how much the meter deflects to determine which is which.


Also with the yellow button pushed in you will notice a delay in the amp unkeying. This is for SSB delay. If you do not use SSB you can clip the cap in the keying circuit to stop the delay


BC
 
i know i don't use the yellow unless im on ssb i just wanted to know if red orange is med....orange is low and red is high pwr? if that is how this amp works? cause when i put it just on orange it doesn't work
 
Red is power only. You have to have it turned on for it to work. It turns it on and off. The orange and yellow buttons control the power..........you have four different power levels on the amp. You have to use the yellow in order to get the four. If you don't use the yellow you only have two power levels.
 
If you read my first post it tells you how to get all four stages. You HAVE to use the SSB button in order to have all four........again stated in a post. It does not matter if you are on SSB or not to be able to use that button. It will only delay the unkey a second or so.

BC
 
hi everyone i need help with this amp.....1st it works good. 2nd i need the power configuration for it it has 4 buttons on it

red=power
white= pre-amp
orange=am
yellow=ssb


now what i want to know is , is there a high, med , low on this amp. i know if i have it on just the red switch it's on full power. and if i have it on red and orange it's on i guess med but when i have it on just orange it doesn't do anything. now is this the same for ssb? thank you ur help in advance.


It takes only a miniscule amount of common sense to figure it out.
There is a meter on the front of the amp.........there are ONLY 2 buttons on the front of the amp that effect the output. Push buttons and observe the meter deflection...... inside of 30 seconds you should have figured it out.
Good grief man, my 7 year old could have it figured out in 20 seconds.
 
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Thanks for saying what I tried my best not to Pyscho. It is not brain surgery to figure it out. It takes only reading the posts. Just like when people ask questions that a simple search would answer. Sometimes it just does not make sense.
 
Thanks for saying what I tried my best not to Pyscho. It is not brain surgery to figure it out. It takes only reading the posts. Just like when people ask questions that a simple search would answer. Sometimes it just does not make sense.

I don't like being condescending but this thread pushed my psycho switch.
 
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SORRY BUT IM NEW WITH THE TEXAS STARS AMPS AND ALL I ASKED FOR WAS A LITTLE HELP....I KNOW RED IS MY HIGH POWER I JUST HAVE TO GET THE OTHER STAGES DOWN...IF YOU DIDN'T WANT TO HELP DON'T RESPOND BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!I DON'T MEAN TO NASTY BUT READING AND TALKING TO SOMEONE IS DIFFERENT CAUSE EVERYONE WRITES DIFFERENT THEN TALKING!!!!!
 
amp questions

I have the same ts amp. My question is, what is the toggle switch for? Ive seen other ts amps with a rotating knob between the meter and the white button, but mine has a toggle switch. Just asking.
 
Countryboy... Maybe not screaming in caps at people trying to help would get you a bit better response from others.

I have to echo psycho's sentiment, though.

Red is not a hi power switch. It's called a power switch. It turns the friggin amplifier on and off.

You can go get a friggin instruction sheet off Texas Star's website.

There, as Psycho pointed out, an indicator on the front of the amplifier that will tell you what is what, but since you can't seem to figure out what a meter does, how to download a tech sheet, etc., I'll do the rundown for ya:

Red: Power On / Off for the TRANSMIT amplifier
White: Power On / Off for the RECEIVE amplifier
Orange: Hi / Low for AM AND SSB USE
yellow: SSB Delay.

Some "idiots" think that the yellow switch is another "power level". NOPE. The Texas Star amplifiers run such high gain (and in the days of Bilinear, Bilateral and Outcomm, they ran LOTS of gain in EACH stage in their multi-stage amps) that they saturate with normal SSB input levels (and your's is designed for 20 watts MAXIfrigginMUM!!!!). To keep the amplifiers from saturating, trashing the band and sounding like a CB amp, Texas Star switches in a pad on SSB (and as far as I know, they are the ONLY ones that do this) that lowers the stage gain, and incorporates a little feedback (and I'm not going to argue this point, go learn advanced AC if you want to) to lower IMD (what you CBers refer to as "bleedover", depending on the 'order').

You CAN use it as a power level, but that's stupid. Any "power level" switch in a CB amplifier is nothing more than a resistor switched in line (except in a couple hurricanes, some Silver Streaks (yeah, no bullshit, the early ones used a pair of input windings) and a couple other EARLY SS amplifiers) to drop the drive voltage to the stage... Which accomplishes what they wanted, but also increases the VSWR.

Buy an amp big enough for your needs. If it's too big, get an ATTENUATOR to go inline for TX. If it's too small, we call it a driver. :)

As to the gentleman asking what the toggle switch is for, some 'tech's' put a toggle switch in the same place (texas star uses the same chassis for the variables and non-variables.... The plastic front won't have the hold drilled, but the chassis usually do) that the variable goes to switch the SSB delay. NO AMPLIFIER THAT TEXAS STAR PRODUCED HAD A TOGGLE SWITCH THERE!!!! It's a hack, and conjecture as to what it is.

I'd be willing to bet it's a hack to allow another hack to have a "power level" switch out of the yellow "SSB" switch.

--Toll_Free
 
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your ts amp

If you dont have a manual like me (I bought mine at a ham fest), just play around with it. Hook up a good power (watt) meter to your system and dead key your mic so that it is produceing about 2 watts and swinging around 4 to 10 watts while talking or whistleing into your mic. Do this before turning on your amp. Turn on your amp and dead key the mic. Watch your power meter and see what the wattage is at. Push in the colored buttons one by one and watch your meter while talking. Your dx400 if its like mine should produce about 400-450 watts.
 

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