--- In FT817@..., "styercpd" <styercpd@y...> wrote:
I have an interesting problem with my 817 where it shuts off when I
try to
transmitt on 2 meters. At first I thought it was just the low power
of the batteries
but it still does it when I hook it up to my radioshack 3w regulated
power
supply. I tried it at both 5 and 2.5 watts and it shuts down
whenever I hit ptt. At
A three watt power supply just isn't going to cut it, even at 2.5W, as
the finals are not 100% efficiency, and there is overhead to boot.
You take all the power available, voltage drops below minimum, and the
rig shuts off. I will say that the rig gets there a bit fast for my
taste on alkalines, but we have to be realistic. I'd definitely get a
friend to listen carefully to your signal when you're operating 500mw
with that 3W PS, as supplies that small usually don't have a lot of
filtering - you're probably putting out a bit of a hum.
Now, that 3W PS is perfectly adequate for low duty cycle use in
conjunction with a gel cell (sealed lead-acid) battery. As long as
the battery is near 100% charge, you won't be getting down into the
ripple much, and if it is getting in, choke it. Choke it anyway, if
you have one handy.
With that setup, with good connectors, you are then set up to grab the
gel cell along with the rig and have a competent portable station.
73,
tim
