So my 820HG gets super hot when I’m high power. Is this normal ? Or do I have a bad unit? Thanks.
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Kenwood NX-820HG Type D Super Hot !
- Thread starter Hectomilan
- Start date
I would say about 1 minute or minute and half. Idk if transmitting in Wideband could be the issue ?
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
No.
1 to 1 1/2 minutes might heat it up. Most commercial radios are not designed for long winded ham use and won't dissipate heat quite as fast.
Other possibility is a previous owner was messing with the tuning settings and cranked up the RF output without watching the current consumption. A common thing I've seen with some ham operators setting too much importance on the number of watts….
Is there any way to lower the RF power with the software ?
I'm sure there is a setting. I know a icom I use has a power setting in software. It has 3 power settings. You may have to program a key in software to radio so you can change power setting by a button on radio.
Correct I have the radio programmed with 3 of the same frequency, each of them has a different power rating. 1 is High 2 is Med 3 is Low. I want to know if theirs a way to actually lower the wattage. Example High power is about 45watts and my question is if theirs a way for high power to throw 40 watts instead. So pretty much manually lower the wattage on each mode.
You would need a professional service monitor to do this correctly, but a digital watt meter, and putting the radio into test mode (CTRL-T)
and then adjusting the power output for each level.
NOTE! be careful on how low you set it, this can be damaging to it also.
Like the GM300, if you set it too low, like an irlp node FBX, you can wear out the power amp just as quick because its not within
the normal operational current it needs.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
If you have not adjusted it, then don't mess with it. It's not as simple as turning the settings down. It requires watching the current consumption of the radio while adjusting the radio connected to an accurate watt meter and 50Ω load.
My point was, don't mess with the settings in the test menu, and when buying used radios, you take a gamble that some previous owner didn't screw with it.
1 minute or more of dead keying the radio at high power can result in the chassis warming up It's normal. If it's super hot, like you cannot touch it, then it may indicate an issue with the radio.
Man both you and K4defm are super awesome ! Always answering my questions in a quick manner. I went to the Motorola side, asked a few questions on my new Motorola R7 about a week ago and still no help ! Thanks again.
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
Remember that low cost compact mobile radios aren't designed or intended for "gas bag" ham operation, even at lower power levels. The PA's simply lack the heat dissipation. You could always add a fan to get the heat off the chassis. I'd recommend using a higher power radio like an XTL5000 HP set at about 60 percent power, and add a fan- if you want to use it as a high duty cycle application. If you need 100 percent, really should look at a repeater/base that can do 100 percent duty cycle if you care about something lasting.
Is the Non HP uhf 1 still deliver 100watts ? Or what’s the difference thanks.
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
Mid power V/U XTLs are 50-55watts
HP are 110 watts
