Uniden 980ssb Power adjust

[IronGuts]

Recently bought uniden 980 ssb. Found the pots for AM and ssb power. Hooked up to power meter and AM is around 3 watts, ssb around 10 watts. With a minor adjust i can increase AM power to about 4.5 watts. I haven't tried adjusting the ssb. My question is, is it okay to do power adjustments without doing anything else? I read somewhere that when you do this you need to adjust modulation, etc., and that it's a complicated process and shouldnt be done unless the whole system is being fine tuned. Bottom line: is it okay to simply adjust to increase power on both AM and ssb without doing anything else. Thanks from a greenhorn.

 

[jazzsinger]

Recently bought uniden 980 ssb. Found the pots for AM and ssb power. Hooked up to power meter and AM is around 3 watts, ssb around 10 watts. With a minor adjust i can increase AM power to about 4.5 watts. I haven't tried adjusting the ssb. My question is, is it okay to do power adjustments without doing anything else? I read somewhere that when you do this you need to adjust modulation, etc., and that it's a complicated process and shouldnt be done unless the whole system is being fine tuned. Bottom line: is it okay to simply adjust to increase power on both AM and ssb without doing anything else. Thanks from a greenhorn.

the short answer is no, its not worth turning power up for numerous reasons.



the power components will last longer if they are run at design power levels.

the signal will most likely be dirtier.

you may be unable to properly modulate an increased carrier, or more likely pop components trying too.

the main reason its pointless is very simple, the gain from an extra watt or two is totally unnoticeable at the receive end so completely pointless, but may well be better at causing tvi/rfi with your neighbours making you very popular in the neighbourhood.

chances are your radio will sound like shit, letting every sensible user around you know you've fucked up your pride and joy. trust me, you don't need radio direction finding equipment to suss out who the morons that tamper with radios without knowing what they are doing are, all you need to do is listen to their shitty transmissions,

if you still struggle to realise who they are, they have one dead fire giveaway when seeking repair of what they fucked up " honest, i didn't touch it, it just blew up"

i wish i had a pound for every bellend that told me that in the past 3 decades

is it still worth it?


bottom line,

without the proper tools, service gear and knowledge, only a complete fucking moron takes the side screws out their radio, without the knowledge/equipment the odds against you fucking it up are about 50/50, never wonder why these same experts don't tweak their tv's or hifi's,

 

[9C1Driver]

As a general rule, when I buy a new radio I buy from a place that does good tech work. This way the radio is already tuned when I get it and it needs nothing.

That said I assume the AM numbers you are speaking of are dead key correct? If your radio is stock I see no problem bumping the modulation pot a tad, and adjusting the AM dead key down to match up to an amplifier. As far as SSB power, that is easy to adjust as well. I would be curious to see what the range of output is stock, then set it to 75% of the max SSB output.

Again best option is send it to a good tech, but if that's not an option the above statement applies.

 

[Mudfoot]

I don't tweak my HiFi or TV because they are properly adjusted from the factory.

CB's are usually thrown together and boxed for shipment.

 

[roadrage]

There is nothing wrong with having your radio tuned. In fact, it should be done on most, if not all, 11M radios. It isn't going to shorten the life of any components unless it isn't done correctly. Factory settings tend to be less than what the radio is designed for. If the FCC took one radio from a manufactured lot and tested it to be 4.01W, they would seize the entire lot, not just the one radio. Mass productions will yeild a +/- factor for output of the radios. If Uniden or Cobra or Galaxy took the time to put every radio on a scope and fine tune it, they wouldn't stay in buisness long. All it takes is one that is one radio on the + side to have a whole batch confiscated. To be safe, they tune the radios lower. Having it tuned at the CB shop will put the radio the way it should come from the factory. They check it for flaws, align it to be on frequency, and adjust the modulation. Choosing the right shop is critical. I wouldn't really be adjusting anything myself. Shops invest thousands of dollars in equipment for a reason.

 

[RatsoW8]

I've lost count of how many radios I've purchased that were "tuned up" to death that I had to revive back to factory specs.

I always though Uniden radios were all factory aligned to spec by vested virgins with engineering degrees before they shipped from the factory?

 

[Onthecoast]

I can agree with not butchering the radio but a lot of people may be disappointed if the dont make some adjustment. I think my 980 was putting out 3 watts AM and between 4-6 on ssb which on SSB is not even half of the legal output

 

[2RT307]

I've lost count of how many radios I've purchased that were "tuned up" to death that I had to revive back to factory specs.

I always though Uniden radios were all factory aligned to spec by vested virgins with engineering degrees before they shipped from the factory?

No, Uniden uses Vestal Virgins with Engineering Degrees. They aren't fully vested until they've been there at least 7 years. :laugh:

73,
RT307

 

[roadrage]

I can agree with not butchering the radio but a lot of people may be disappointed if the dont make some adjustment. I think my 980 was putting out 3 watts AM and between 4-6 on ssb which on SSB is not even half of the legal output

I totally agree. I am just saying that to have a "without a doubt" smokin radio, it should be tuned by a pro with the proper equip. DTB has done several radios for me. They work good enough that I don't even care what the wattmeter says.

 

[RatsoW8]

No, Uniden uses Vestal Virgins with Engineering Degrees. They aren't fully vested until they've been there at least 7 years. :laugh:

73,
RT307

No..I was referring to their 401k

 

[IronGuts]

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate your advice.
By the way, there was great skip today. I live in northern minnesota and have my radio in my truck. I have a larsen nmo27 antenna on the roof. I heard Hawaii, Florida, SoCal, and more today, but have picked the UK, new york, and others. Sometime i hope someone mught pick me up from a distance but im only running a barefoot mobile. Itd actually be great to talk rather than just listen. I wonder if i need an amp up here of if i just keep trying.

 

[Mudfoot]

Just have to be patient and persistent.

 

[roadrage]

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate your advice.
By the way, there was great skip today. I live in northern minnesota and have my radio in my truck. I have a larsen nmo27 antenna on the roof. I heard Hawaii, Florida, SoCal, and more today, but have picked the UK, new york, and others. Sometime i hope someone mught pick me up from a distance but im only running a barefoot mobile. Itd actually be great to talk rather than just listen. I wonder if i need an amp up here of if i just keep trying.

500 eager radio heads keying up to get down, its hard to punch through the muck. Especially when 3/4 of them are running power. Amps will help make it easier. Antenna over power though. Thats where I'd start.

 

[jazzsinger]

I don't tweak my HiFi or TV because they are properly adjusted from the factory.

CB's are usually thrown together and boxed for shipment.

i think you'll find tv's aren't properly adjusted in the factory for use in a living room, in most cases they are set up to look best in a fluorescent lit sales environment.

as for hifi's they also can generally be improved on from default settings, although they don't need opened up to do anything.

i doubt very much the production lines for similar price range tv's, hifi's or cb's is much different in today's disposable electronics environment, there's no shortage of known faults on new hifi's / tv's as there is on radios and that includes the premiere makers too.

very few things electronic are R+D'd like they used to be 20 years or so ago, its the price you pay for the consumer demanding cheaper items with more features, corners need to be cut somewhere.

 

[Grogan]

My cobra 29 LX was well acording to my meters two of them 4 watts from the factory modulation was 60 to 70% I opened the pot fully and adjust from the mic gain. the power would olny go to about a 5.5 watt dead key and down to 3.25 to get any lower or higher work must be done by changeing a few parts......left it at 4 watts and am useinga RK-56 mic, the stock mics just dont seem put out that good. Another power mic I don't hear to many people useing is the Cobra power mic, the one with the 9 volt battery and red light. High gear HM-75