Rm italy kl203p and hys tc-300

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Josh380

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First off I believe these amps are made by the same company. Has anyone ever checked how much current these things actually draw under load? The sticker says 20a, but my multimeter tells me it's drawing WAY more than that.

The first time I checked it with a new power supply (12v 30a switching), my meter was telling me that it was drawing over 130a! I thought my meter was lying to me, checked to be sure I was on the right setting, and sure enough, 130a.

It's been a few weeks and I'm noticing a drop in the transmit power of my uhf radio (loss 10w), which is on the same power supply. I've seen this before on another power supply that I ran these amps off of and I'm starting to think they're killing my power supplies and maybe not suitable for home use.

Any ideas, thoughts, comments? And please, let's just stick to the nuts and volts here.
 

Josh380

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It's a switching power supply, not regulated if that makes a difference. If the power supply goes over 30a, does it blow an internal fuse?
 

jay_camaro1

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doesn't matter, you cant get 130 amps out of a 30 amp power supply,, your not using your meter correctly,, and yes those small junk amps will use about 20amps to run them
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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What kind of multimeter are you using? Are you sure the leads are plugged into the correct holes for the internal shunt? Also, you need to know that the meter goes in series with the load to measure current.
 

SCPD

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An RM Italy 203p will on no day draw 30 amps!! If it is, you have some issues!! They are a cheap throw away amp. They draw about 12 amps or so max. Max output is about 70-100 watts pep on SSB. And like said a 30 amp supply can't put out 130amps. Not possible. 30 amps is 30 amps. The power supply can't make more amps than it's designed to. Maybe you have your multi meter set wrong. But those amps as cheap throw away amps at any rate and don't need much input power. About .5-2 watts max dead key on AM, and about 8-10 watts pep. Same for SSB, about 8-12 watts max pep input. This will get you approx. 70-100 clean watts. Anymore and your just seeing your meter dance and making the amp work harder and then it will pull more amperage and get hot as well. Best radio to use with one of these amps is a uniden 980 or a stock single final radio. I could see 13 amps being used by the amp with too much input power. And all that is going to do is make the amp have an early death. And don't believe the spec sheet on that amp either as its exaggerated for sure to help sales. Research the amp some and you'll find that it doesn't take much to make them work cleanly. And that is the plain truth.
 

SCPD

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Ok. That is good. Just make sure your dead key or carrier on AM is set to no more than 2 watts max. I can't stress this enough. And I say 2 watts as if you go any lower the internal meter and diagnostics tend to get skewed readings. If you are using an external meter, turn the dead key down to make the amp key up with about 20-25 watts max and swing up from there. You will have to also adjust the AMC on AM mode to get the proper 1:4 power ratio as well. As for SSB, you can leave that stock. This radio has been talked about on other forums for a long time now and most pair it with the KL203P. Great combo for about 80-100 watts of power max. Keep it closer to 80 watts max and it will last a lot longer as well as adding a fan to the amp and also the radio as they can get hot as well with a long conversation. Just my experience with using mine and from the many others that use them as well. I don't use the rm Italy KL203P, but I do have some amps that are now just sitting in the closet due to the cost of the transistors that are used in them. Toshiba 2879's aren't cheap these days and are getting harder to come by. The RM Italy kl203P is a good little amp that won't break the bank and will give you close to 100 watts. The rest of the equation is the antenna. A good antenna system is a must and will be your biggest help if you don't already have a good one. JMHO's. Hope this helps and have a good one.
 

Josh380

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That's a problem I've been having. I don't trust my external swr meter..it's been dropped on carpet once before, and it doesn't match up with the on board meter. So I've been using the on board meter and my swr goes all over the place. It's not my antenna, and I'm using times microwave lmr240. I've put the radio back to stock (or close enough to it), and my swr is about 1.3 across the band.

The radio gets really hot if I run the amp on sideband, so I don't.

I suspect I have some adjustments to make.
 
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SCPD

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Don't and I repeat, don't trust the internal meter!! Get a new external meter and go from there if you think yours is damaged!! The internal meter is not very accurate. Especially when the power is turned down on AM. Also like I said before, turning AM power below 2 watts will indeed skew the internal meter readings. JMO. Don't use mine. What external meter do you have? I've dropped mine a couple times and it is still working just fine. And I have verified this by placing a dummy load directly at the antenna port. And by also using about a 12" or shorter jumper between radio and meter input. Also at 1.3:1 VSWR, your issue could be partially related to this. Also these amps get finicky with a VSWR above 1.3:1. Read up about them. The RM Italy KL203P. You'll find out what's wrong. Just don't get discouraged. PM me if you have anymore questions as I do know a person that was an RM Italy repair tech. He has seen about every issue with these amps you can imagine. Like I said, most call them throw away amps as it's about cheaper to buy a new one than to have one repaired. Again. Don't get discouraged. Your issue sounds as if you might have a bad match. Not only VSWR, but impedance, resistance, and reactance. Or R and X values on an antenna analyzer. A VSWR meter only tells you part of the issue. But like I said, you most likely can get it resolved. Good luck and be safe working on things.
 

SCPD

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Yeah that is not a very good meter. What most call a truck stop emergency meter. They work about 1/2 the time. Find a decent meter. If possible look around eBay or even check your local radio shack if you have one left, for their VSWR/power meter. Looks like this.
23b9533554d456f3dda63fe24991dc0a.jpg

That or diawa makes a pretty good meter. Stay away from the MFJ meters!! JMHO's. Also if possible get yourself a small 50 ohm dummy load that will handle up to about 100 watts. This will help testing as you can't use an antenna for true readings as your VSWR won't be 1:1 like a 50 ohm dummy load will be. eBay has them or Amazon. Not expensive, but a good tool. Just some things that will help with trouble shooting and also give you proper readings. Again, hope you get it resolved. Also add a fan to that amp. They are known to get hot and this is not good. And also one to the radio if possible, or cut the power back some on the radio. Like I said, a 2 watt dead key with a pep of 8 watts will drive that amp just fine. SSB power on the 980 should be just fine at stock levels. But again, you need a 50 ohm dummy load to perform all of this. Hope some of this helps and have a good one.
 

SCPD

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There is another post here that has some good info in it as well. The thread name is "power question". It explains some things that may not be covered in this post. Again. Hope you get it all resolved. Good day.
 

Josh380

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Yeah..this meter is definitely lying to me. It says my radio is only putting out 1w at stock level. That also means I can't trust it's swr reading. Guess I'm gonna leave it stock until I get a better meter.
 

SCPD

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Those meters are not reliable even new!! Get a new meter and a dummy load and then see the real power. Hope you get it all resolved. Not hard to turn down the dead key and then turn up the modulation on that radio. Let me know when you get a new meter and a dummy load and I can help you set it up for use with the amp. I've seen a bunch of people use that setup and they pair up well together when setup right. I'm sure you'll get it straighten out. Just stay away from the truck stop meters. Every one I have owned or heard about has had issues!!
 
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