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Jaws792
New member
Username: Jaws792
Post Number: 9
Registered: 5-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 8:03 am: | 
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I have a new RCI 2995 and I am having a problem with it while using the roger beep at times. From what I can gather, here are the symtoms that I am experiancing. When I activate the roger beep and I'm on SSB on a frequency that cuses my SWR to rise to 1.5 or higher, it seems, after I key up the mike and let it go, it turns off the radio for a split second and everything goes dead, then it turns right back on again. It also cancels out the roger beep mode and I have to activate it again. This only happens on SSB, not AM, and it only happens when I have the power setting on high while using the roger beep. There is nothing else wrong with the radio and this seems to be an intermittent issue. There seems to be a relation between the higher SWR and when it happens, although the SWR is still respectable I guess 1.5 or better. It will not occur if I turn the power down or go to a frequency with a lower SWR reading, 1.3 or better, or do not use the roger beep. Again it's only during SSB operation. I am no expert but it seems that the higher reflected power back into the radio is causing this. I am not running the best cable RG8x mini, about 118' of it split into two sections. I was thinking of replacing it with better cable, perhaps with only one piece of Davis RF direct burial. I heard this was good stuff. I tried runnig the radio in line where the cable splits off at 100' and it lowered my SWR and the problem seemed to go away. I do need the 118' feet though because of the radios location. I just thought I would check the shorter run to try an troubleshoot things a bit. I really do not want to send the radio in for repair just yet. Is it wise to just try the new better cable first to see how that performs or possibly adjust the tunnning rings on the Imax 2000?
My SWR is 1.5 on channel one and 1.4 on channel 40 and only 1.2 on channell 90. Or is there an adjustment that needs to be looked at inside the radio? This I know is a tough question to ask without any of you actually seeing the radio but I just thought I'd through it out here to get any possible solution or ideas for further testing. thanks. |
Penrider
Intermediate Member
Username: Penrider
Post Number: 163
Registered: 1-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 2:48 pm: |
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get that coax fixed and ensure that your swr is as low as possible...also, ground your antenna and tower well...high swr can cause all kinds of weird problems...high reflected power may also occur even if your swr reading is low, which can also cause problems
Sean
CEF867
CVC81
Ham252--KE5OZI
(pic is of me and LilBritches-cef899)
"Keep smiling, it makes people wonder what you're up to!!"
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Ironmike
New member
Username: Ironmike
Post Number: 2
Registered: 6-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 3:52 pm: |
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My bet is your power supply/wire guage.
Think of it this way- a legal radio puts out three times as much on SSB at 100% modulation than it does in AM.
A roger beep is likely pushing that high modulation percentage and causing the finals to pull more than your power supply is capable of.
So if you have a healthy adequate power supply make sure the power cable is heavy enough to do the job.
Otherwise it may be an internal radio problem.
$.02 |
Jaws792
Junior Member
Username: Jaws792
Post Number: 10
Registered: 5-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 5:06 pm: |
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Thanks,
Another symptom I noticed is the lights also flicker slightly while on high power in SSB mode when I key up. I didn't know if that added bit of info would help someone with the diagnosis/assessment of the above mentioned problem. I am not sure but I did call the RCI factory and they said that slight flickering was a normal characteristic for the RCI 2995dx. It is one of the newer models with the better power supply and fans built in. I also purchased the external fan kit and the radio is not running hot. Regarding power supply wire/gauge, it is a built in power supply so I would hope they put the right wire gauge in there. I know this can be difficult to troubleshoot a radio on an online forum but just thought I would get some feedback from the group. I will be replacing the cable even though it is new because I heard making long runs with rg8X mini is not the best choice with long runs. And yes I do have my mast grounded with a heavy gauge solid copper wire to an 8ft. copper grounding rod. thanks for any additional comments or questions. |
Ironmike
New member
Username: Ironmike
Post Number: 3
Registered: 6-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, June 24, 2007 - 7:42 pm: |
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I wasn't paying attention and forgot about that being a base rig. Sorry! |
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