Digital RF Signal amp

[W4EMS]

MFJ and others make dual band rf power amps usually for using handhelds as mobile/base.

While I know these work reasonably well on analog will they also work with D-Star and/or P25? Or does someone make a digital rf amp?

Looking at the Icom ID-80 and thinking the amp would allow mobile as well as portable use similar to what I have done in the past with the T7A.
Thanks,
Doc W4EMS

 

[n5ims]

While there may be some low cost (or low quality anyway) amps that introduce distortion or other noise that may not be noticable on analog, but cause issues with digital signals, it shouldn't matter to the amp if the signal is analog or digital. To the amp, the antenna, and the coax, the signal is simply RF.

Where the difference matters is to the radio, where the signal is converted from RF into something a human can understand. The radio will need to know that a signal is digital as well as what kind of digital encoding is used so it can properly translate that signal for you. Nothing else in the path will need to do this translation.

 

[W4EMS]

Thanks.

 

[prcguy]

I think the key to this is most digital encountered in amateur radio is fsk and no different than FM. If there was an AM component or multiple carriers then the type of amp would become critical.
prcguy.

 

[rfradioconsult]

P25 is C4FM, should be ok.

 

[key2_altfire]

FSK has the same peak-to-average ratio as sine, so a regular analog amp should have the same average power output on FSK or FM.

Some other digital modulations (QAM for example, but a lot of others too) will have a higher peak-to-average ratio and the average output power will be commensurately lower.

 

[Cloydlane]

i think P25's c4fm is a good option

 

[fineshot1]

I think the only thing that will matter regarding an rf amplifier concerning DStar is
the question as to how fast the amp can key up.

With DStar there is station ID and other info in the first few hundred milliseconds
of a transmission so if the amp does not key up fast enough there is the potential
for that data to get cut off.

That is about the only issue i can think of concerning rf amp usage with DStar.

 

[stevelton]

One thing to remember. Digital that is FDMA is ok through most amps that can handle FM, but TDMA (aka. P25 Phase 2, and MOTOTRBO) probably wont work because the fast switching time that the amp would have to do back and forth from transmitting and receiving.

Here we use NXDN, later I will hook up my 100w uhf mobile amp and see how well it works among our local group.

Steven

 

[jhsands]

Where might I find an 850Mhz handheld amplifier? Searching for 800Mhz or 850Mhz amplifier yields pages upon pages of only cell amps.

TIA