Merlin

too much input on the d/k?

harmonics?

overmodulating (are you running a power mike, or clipped limiter)?

xxxtreme22r

hmmmm hi-jack on. Dang it. lol Sorry O.P.

The radio has three power outputs one of which should give a 1W dead key. No power mike just an older High Gear mike. I've tried with mike gain down to half and still somewhat of a squeal, but did manage to get it out turning the mike gain down. However then it sounds like I am talking through as fish bowl. Not sure if that's the case with and without the SS 225 or straight radio.

SWR seems ok between the radio and the SSR 225 as well. If it were high I would think it's because too high of a dead key or the need for a low pass filter.

Overmodulation could be an issue though as the radio has been tweaked. Just not sure what all has been done to it, since I am not the original owner of the radio.

Merlin

the fish bowl effect is probably harmonics or heterodyning.

overmodulation could be the result of a clipped limiter (one of the most common golden screwdriver "tweaks and peaks". combine that w/ a powermike and you've got the recipie for overmodulation.

JoshToy84

Woohoo! I just got an email from the shop I bought my radio from. Turns out I got the last one they had in stock! Dunno if they're getting another shipment, but from what Ranger says their last shipment is to be sometime in between January and March.

They said that it was gonna ship out Monday, so hopefully I'll have it by Wednesday or Thursday. I'll take some pics once I get it installed.

xxxtreme22r

what antenna are you gonna run with that? BTW if your gonna set your SWR with that (which you really should) make sure the meter you use is capable of handling the 400W or at least the 200W since measuring is usually done during dead key.

JoshToy84

Hmm...that's weird. This radio has an swr button, but no knob that I can see to calibrate it.

Anyway, I've got a rad shack no ground plane antenna, but I'm sure it's not going to handle the power. A person on a CB forum told me a story about him setting his rad shack antenna aflame from keying with just 250 watts. So, I'll be getting a 102" steel whip.

xxxtreme22r

some radios have the calibration on them, but most do not and you have to adjust it at the antenna making it shorter or longer, most of the good antennas have adjuster already on the antenna itself. Those 102's aren't adjustable but assuming good ground and no obstructions should be good to go. If you have High SWR with the 102" it's almost always an issue with the mount not being grounded well enough.

Mudd Duck 1

^^^^Agreed. Sweet radio btw I wanna see pics once you have it.

JoshToy84

Good to know. I forget though, it's been years since I've adjusted swr. How much are you supposed to cut off for each adjustment? 1/8th inch? I know it's always better to not cut enough off than too much.

xxxtreme22r

you don't cut a 102" it's designed to be the correct wavelength already.

As far as adjusting, if swr for CH 1 is lower than CH 40 then you shorten by small amounts. Till they are as even as you can get them. Opposite is true if CH 1 is higher then CH 40 then you lengthen. Now you only need to cut the bottom of the antenna if you run out of room to stick the whip into it's mount. To lengthen you put less into the mount.

Now on an adjustable antenna like a firestick there is a screw on it you turn. My Wilson Flex has an adjustable top that you lengthen/shorten like a mag mount, but even with the top completely off I have a higher swr on 40 then I do on 1. But it's still under 1.5.

When adjusting SWR some people would rather just adjust so they have the lower SWR on the channel they use the most instead of evening it out across the channels.

JoshToy84

Ok...gotcha. Well, we'll see what happens when I power it on.

Merlin

congrats! nice radio - i was really looking at one of the older rangers with the built-in amp to simplify wiring in my DD, but just wasn't sure the alt. and electricals were up to it.

i've heard nothing but good things about them, though, so i think you should have years of trouble-free talking.

Merlin

unless you really need the height, or don't need to go through drive-thrus, parking garages, etc... there are shorter options like bottom load or wound antennas like the firestiks, skipshooters, wilsons, etc...

250w isn't gonna damage any of them, they can handle a fair amount (within reason) of power w/o melting, etc...

not sure about the firestiks, but the skipshooters have fairly similar construction, and can handle 600w easily.

heck, even if you ran a LOT of power, the wilson 5000 can handle it - lots of people here running power use the wilson 5000 or even the wilson 1000 with no ill effects.

i'm just using a 25 year old 102" whip because i'm too cheap and lazy - too cheap to pick up another antenna, and too lazy to fab up new mounts for a new antenna.

when i get around to it, i'll get a MM open coil antenna if i ever decide to get back into the scene again.

JoshToy84

I've seen the tip of a firestik get launched across a parking lot, across the street, and landed in the parking lot across the street, so I won't be doing that.

But considering that I'll eventually be getting a lift and some knobbies for my truck, I think the 102" will look pretty sweet.

JoshToy84

Of course..I'll post em as soon as I get it installed. I was able to find one actual picture of the radio on google images, and let me tell ya, the picture Ranger uses doesn't do it justice at all. It looks like they actually chromed the casing, it doesn't look like it's plated.

JoshToy84

Just got my radio yesterday, and let me tell you, this thing is bitchin and to my surprise with my 102" steel whip, I have a 1:1 match across the band, right out of the box:



I made a contact already with someone in the midwest--I heard him just barely over the static and couldn't get back to him, but I did hear him respond to me.

Here's the weird thing, the freq counter shows me a few kc's off freq, but everyone I've talked to says I sound right on. But from my understanding, since it's digital, it's not actually showing the true TX freq. Sadly though, I dropped the radio in my room last night and bent the volume and mic gain knobs...can't adjust my squelch, but everything else works just fine.

xxxtreme22r

Interesting way to mount, any better photos of how you mounted that?

Told ya the 102" probably won't need any tuning. You might be able to get even better SWR by bonding the body/doors etc to the frame.

JoshToy84

Well, I don't think you can get any better than a 1:1 match. Actually, this radio weighs about 8 pounds..was going to mount it under the glove box, but there's no way it'll support that weight, so it's actually mounted to the screw that is on the side that holds your radio bezel in.

Oh...and apparently I'd inadvertedly (sp?) bought a higher output battery when I replaced it about 3 weeks ago, so the radio actually is being powered well. The truck bogs down ever so slightly when I key down with full power, but it's not enough to cause an issue.

Merlin

not sure about your particular model, but i know on some other export radios, the freqs tend to drift a little until they get warmed up. the SS3900 models (and i'd suspect their Connex counterparts and whoever else they share boards and parts commonality with) are known to drift for a couple of minutes after your turn them on.

my SS3900GHP didn't come w/ a freq counter built-in, so i picked up an external one, and i can watch the freqs drift around for a couple of minutes and then stabilize on a channel. doesn't seem to affect sound quality at all (freq changes +/- must be minimal) so i don't worry about it.

Merlin

thanks for posting the weight - i was considering one of those radios (actually its predecessor) some time ago, but wasn't sure of the height and weight (was going to be mounted hanging under the dash). didn't want to hit a bump and find the radio on the floor.