swen_out_west
Member
Before I get the FCC reg parrots squawking about 'That's against FCC regs. 1. It's a small amp and I highly doubt that the FCC enforcers are on the side of the road waving down people that are slightly over the 4 watt limit (as evident by some of the loud and proud crowd out there), 2. I prospect in areas that the closest person is 10 miles away and I only want the amp as a helping hand on days I am literally in the middle of nowhere.
Just bought a RM kl60 amp to connect to my Uniden 980 since the 980 is apparently very difficult to peak to a higher power out. Besides I want the radio to be stock and under 4 watts power out, I only want the amp for days I need a helping hand when I am out in the middle of the desert. Thus the reason for my question.
All info I have heard about using an amp states that you should turn down the power out to 2 watts. But it seems that this is basically to prolong the life of the amp and provide a cleaner signal. The KL 60 is a very small Amp (second smallest, the smallest with SSB mode) and thus the reason I bought it was to keep the radio stock and untouched, only powering up the amp for a helping hand. I don't want to lower the pwr out since 99 percent of the time I will be using my 980 without the amp. The price for the amp was only $40 so it's not a huge loss if the life expectancy is lowered.
So am I wrong with this train of thought or do I have to lower the power out, but then I have to power it up more often since I live pretty much out in the sticks and 2 watts isn't going to get out very far. Like I say I want to keep it in the glove box (yes, it's small, lol) and only hook it up when needed.
If it helps, I tried it yesterday with a fellow CB'r 4 miles away who is a HAM/CB'r and he claims that my received signal was strong ( not overly strong) and the audio was fairly clean in AM. Not quite perfectly linear in SSB, but that for my use it would be fine. I haven't used my SWR meter (it's a cheap one anyways) yet since I used my RF jumper cable for the amp and will make an extra cable later today.
The specs claim that it is rated at input power of 2 to 5 watts. KL 60
Just bought a RM kl60 amp to connect to my Uniden 980 since the 980 is apparently very difficult to peak to a higher power out. Besides I want the radio to be stock and under 4 watts power out, I only want the amp for days I need a helping hand when I am out in the middle of the desert. Thus the reason for my question.
All info I have heard about using an amp states that you should turn down the power out to 2 watts. But it seems that this is basically to prolong the life of the amp and provide a cleaner signal. The KL 60 is a very small Amp (second smallest, the smallest with SSB mode) and thus the reason I bought it was to keep the radio stock and untouched, only powering up the amp for a helping hand. I don't want to lower the pwr out since 99 percent of the time I will be using my 980 without the amp. The price for the amp was only $40 so it's not a huge loss if the life expectancy is lowered.
So am I wrong with this train of thought or do I have to lower the power out, but then I have to power it up more often since I live pretty much out in the sticks and 2 watts isn't going to get out very far. Like I say I want to keep it in the glove box (yes, it's small, lol) and only hook it up when needed.
If it helps, I tried it yesterday with a fellow CB'r 4 miles away who is a HAM/CB'r and he claims that my received signal was strong ( not overly strong) and the audio was fairly clean in AM. Not quite perfectly linear in SSB, but that for my use it would be fine. I haven't used my SWR meter (it's a cheap one anyways) yet since I used my RF jumper cable for the amp and will make an extra cable later today.
The specs claim that it is rated at input power of 2 to 5 watts. KL 60
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