Base Radio

The only difference between a base radio and a mobile radio is that the base has a built in power supply,where as the mobile,of course does not. If you were to put most base radios beside a mobile radio you would find that the internal components are basically the same.Especially with today's manufacturers building pretty much the same radio as every one else does. Now.If you were to go back say 30 years then you would find a big difference between base radios because most builders used there own designs rather than the cookie cutter radios built today. Do you need a base radio? Absolutely not. I have had them all over the years and its not worth the extra money for a base unless you just want to impress someone with that huge radio sitting on your shelf.

Just in case you dont know.When you put up your Antron.Get it up to at least 36 feet measured from the base of the antenna,not the top and use the very best coax you can afford. This is a good starting point and will help you to be heard at greater distances,if you can go higher then by all means do so. You would really be shocked at the difference height can play in the performance of your setup.

 

Most of the time you dont have to do a lot of readjusting on those to get the SWR down but it is always best to check,just to make sure. You really really need to go up higher before you set your SWR and lock everything down. It needs to be up and away from anything that could cause interference such as a metal roof because that will not only effect the antennas stand wave (SWR) but you transmit and receive as well. I know you may think it's working fine but your really missing out on a bunch by having the antenna at 10 feet. If i remember correctly..If your only looking at talking to people in a rage of 500 to 1000 miles then 20 feet or higher will work,if you want to talk to people further out then you need to go above 36 feet. Check this site out for more info on this. http://signalengineering.com/ultimate/angle_of_radiation.html

If you set your SWR now at 10 feet then odds are you will have to at the very least,recheck it when you go higher. Remember to run your coax in lengths of 3 feet.Meaning that you increase by 3 feet (18-21-24 and so on) and not 1 or 2 feet. 3 feet of coax is equal to one wave length and is the way to go or you will have a helluva time setting your SWR. Dont be afraid to use as much coax as you need but just make sure you are using good coax,not the cheap stuff or you will regret it!

Really,in all honestly,you need to make sure your SWR is down to under 1.5 before you start using the radio or else you could over heat your finals and cause them to fail....oh and dont chase the perfect 1.1 SWR because neither you or anyone your talking to will be able to tell a difference so it's a wast of time. But just as an example...If your using 50 feet of standard coax with an SWR of 1.5 your power output (with a 40 watt radio) will be around 33 watts. With a 1.1 SWR you gain a little over 1 watt so its not worth the time. Now If you use good low loss coax then your looking at an increase of radiated power from 33 to 37 watts whether your SWR is 1.1 or 1.5 which is why i like to tell people to use the best coax they can afford.

As far as you not sounding good it could be a number of things. Poor ground,very high SWR,poor coax but if your meter is showing pegged out when you hold a dead key then you may have turned up the variable power to max. A really high dead key will most definitely kill your modulation and cause you to sound week. But first thing first.Get your antenna up higher,set your SWR and then you will know where to look next.


One last thing. The 2950 is not designed to be a big loud radio like a Connex or Galaxy is. These things are more for outstanding side band performance rather than AM performance so dont be surprised if your still sounding a little week compared to other big radios out there.You can mod these radios for more modulation and such but you kill the radios side band performance because of those mods.It's yours so you do what you want but if you really like talking DX then SSB is the way to go. You can talk around the world on SSB when others can barely talk across the state on AM...and that's with just 20 to 30 watts from the radio alone. God bless!

 

Try this,

The 2950 has a relative SWR meter built in. I do not know if anyone has been inside the radio and messed with the SWR meter adjustment, but let's assume it has not been messed with.

SWR METER: This function allows the checking of relative SWR. To use this function, set the unit to AM mode and push the SWR button on the front panel (you should see SWR on the show on the display) while holding down the PTT switch on the microphone. The bars on the meter will indicate approximate SWR. If there is no bar, your antenna system is well matched. If several bars appear, the antenna needs adjustment. The fewer the bars, the better the match.

That is from the manual.

I wouldn't move those rings, I have been installing those antennas for over 10 years for people and have NEVER had to move them, yup I said it, NEVER

 

I suggest you read http://signalengineering.com/ultimate/coax_basics.html about coax lengths.

As to height above ground -- While you article http://signalengineering.com/ultimate/angle_of_radiation.html is a good overview one point it did not explain was ground reflection and it's affect on antenna height.

Leon
kc0iv

 

Corn what type of coax are you using? And try turning your Mic gain fully clockwise.

 

I've ran both, no one will know what your are running (base vs. mobile) unless you tell them.

 

a base radio is a mobile ina bigger case with a built in power supply. you are better off with a mobile and a power supply. Its much more cost effective to change out radios if you choose, also an external power supply is much more durable then one in a base radio.