Linear Amp Help

[Fanggallo]

Hello,

I was wondering if I could have a little help with this CB Linear Amp I found recently. There is no make/model on it so I have not been finding anything on the internet about it. However, on the front it says "SS-600V". This leads me to believe it is home-made. The amp powers up and the LEDs/fan comes on etc, but there is no real way of seeing if this thing works properly. Besides finding out if this works, my main question is how do I tell how much power this puts out? I don't quite understand pill counting etc..

I attached photos of the board and amp with hopes of having help to identify it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and any help is highly appreciated!

 

[mikewazowski]

Moved to CB Radio forum.

 

[n9mxq]

I'd bet it's a Varmint brand SS-600.. A quick google search will tell you all you need to know.

I couldn't find much about it in the quick search I did, but I'm sure some Internet Archaeology will be worth it

 

[Fanggallo]

I'd bet it's a Varmint brand SS-600.. A quick google search will tell you all you need to know.

I couldn't find much about it in the quick search I did, but I'm sure some Internet Archaeology will be worth it

Thanks. I actually thought that as well yet could not find anything about it being a Varmint.

 

[methusaleh]

It appears that the SD1446 transistors are driving the 2SC2879s. Meant for the CB crowd for sure, with a low input wattage (i.e. deadkey).

 

[LtDoc]

How to find out how much it's putting out? Simple, measure it.
Going only by 'looks', it's certainly not 'new'.
And if you can't, or don't know how to trace out circuits, you have no business trying to do anything with it. Is that a 'smart' remark? Nope, it's common sense, deals with safety. But it's your skin, have fun...
- 'Doc

 

[jaspence]

LtDOC is right. Until you learn considerably more, you risk a burn, shock, or worse and a blown amp.

 

[Fanggallo]

Thanks all. How would be the best way to measure it? DMM?

 

[WA0CBW]

You would measure the output power with a an RF wattmeter calibrated for the CB band.

 

[Fanggallo]

Thank you.

 

[Fanggallo]

Radio and Linear Help!

In order to not jump the gun, I'd like to get some order in what I am trying to do. With that being said, the question is: How do I "ready" my CB to be used with a linear? My CB is a Cobra 29 Chrome Edition with a Road Devil mic, Wilson 1000 and a 102" whip.

My set-up work great, but would should I do if I'm ready for an amp? Should I turn the CB output down to 4w or something? (I believe it's around 10 watts)

I heard I should switch mics being as the road devil is already adding a lot of power.

Any info on how I should "ready" or "modify" my set-up for a pill would be great.

Thanks.

 

[n9mxq]

Yes, return the radio to it's stock 4 watts just to be safe. Don't want to over drive the amp..

Mic's don't add "power" they add modulation.. And turning it down to a sane level (if it's a powered mic) would be advised. If nothing else, dig the stock mic out of storage until you know what it'll do.

Get yourself an SWR/MOD/WATT meter and put it inline between the amp and the antenna.. GROUND EVERYTHING (twice) RF burns are no fun.. Oh, and run the amp power straight to the battery..

You list two antennas.. which do you run? Either should handle to amp, but running both at once will cause problems.

 

[K5MPH]

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Make very sure your cb radio is only putting out 4 watts or you can over drive the amp and burn in up and be sure that your swr's are good.......

 

[Fanggallo]

Thanks for all the great info! However, I am running both antennas at the moment with my cb. It works great and I get out far. You're saying I should only run one with the pill? Which sounds more logical; the 102" or wilson 1000? Is it because of the SWRs that I cannot run both?

 

[sdeeter19555]

4 watts to drive that amp? Try 1/4 watt.

A 1x4 takes almost nothing to drive to full potential and they are easy to overdrive. Ideally you need a variable installed in the radio as the radio output will need to be fine tuned based on the voltage the vehicle is putting out at the time (voltage varies based on temperature typically).

At full output, it will draw nearly 60 amps from the charging system. Is your charging system up to the task?

A 1x4 is definitely not a good starter/entry level amp...you need to know what you're doing.

 

[Fanggallo]

What exactly do you mean by a 1x4 amp? The amp has 4 Toshiba pills 100w each and one black pill which is smaller.

Also, on the connections for the pills there are brown-ish spots that look like burn marks. I'd say they are burn marks but I thought it might be a type of heat glue since it's in various places around the board as well.

 

[sdeeter19555]

1 pill driving 4 pills...a 1x4.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G730A using Tapatalk

 

[Fanggallo]

Not sure. That might be the case. Seeing as there's one black smaller pill and then 4 red pills..

 

[sdeeter19555]

There is nothing to be "not sure" about. Its a single 1446 driving four 2879s, its a 1x4.

 

[KD9KSO]

Have they changed the CB rules about maximum CP from 4 watts, or 12 watts PEP, to whatever you want to send down the line?