odd readings from watt meters
 

Hi, I have put up a dipole and I admit it is not a very good one, about
20 feet up, approx 60 ft. It works great as a receiving antenna and I'm
having fun listening, but so far no one can hear me. I have an Icom
IC-735, and using SSB, the watt meter on the radio shows full power as
I talk, but the watt meter on the tuner barely moves. In CW mode both
meters go all the way. Is this a typical symptom of a poor quality
antenna or does it indicate some other problem (besides my antenna
making skills)?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim

odd readings from watt meters
 

James Barrett wrote:
Hi, I have put up a dipole and I admit it is not a very good one, about
20 feet up, approx 60 ft. It works great as a receiving antenna and I'm
having fun listening, but so far no one can hear me. I have an Icom
IC-735, and using SSB, the watt meter on the radio shows full power as
I talk, but the watt meter on the tuner barely moves. In CW mode both
meters go all the way. Is this a typical symptom of a poor quality
antenna or does it indicate some other problem (besides my antenna
making skills)?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim

By the symptoms you describe, I'd say that the reason for the difference
is simply that the meter on the tuner is much slower responding than the
meter on the rig.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

odd readings from watt meters
 

that sounds like something is wrong. try a whistle, see if that gets the
external meter to move properly. then try cw up in the ssb band and see
that the swr isn't wildly different. make sure that the meter you are
watching on the radio isn't the alc or swr or mic audio or compression
instead of power output also, some radios use the meters for multiple things
and it could change without you noticing from cw to ssb since cw doesn't
have mic audio or compression levels.

"James Barrett" wrote in message
. ..
Hi, I have put up a dipole and I admit it is not a very good one, about
20 feet up, approx 60 ft. It works great as a receiving antenna and I'm
having fun listening, but so far no one can hear me. I have an Icom
IC-735, and using SSB, the watt meter on the radio shows full power as I
talk, but the watt meter on the tuner barely moves. In CW mode both meters
go all the way. Is this a typical symptom of a poor quality antenna or
does it indicate some other problem (besides my antenna making skills)?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim

odd readings from watt meters
 

Jim,
I'm wondering what frequency you are trying to use this antenna on?
If it's a frequency where the length of the antenna isn't even close
to the 'ideal' length, the readings would seem about right, sort of,
at least when comparing SSB and CW. What frequency(s)?
- 'Doc

(Receivers aren't near as 'picky' about somethings as transmitters
are. Dang near anything can be used to receive.)

odd readings from watt meters
 

"Dave" wrote in message
news:fsSxj.4684$A93.4076@trndny08...
that sounds like something is wrong. try a whistle, see if that gets the
external meter to move properly. then try cw up in the ssb band and see
that the swr isn't wildly different. make sure that the meter you are
watching on the radio isn't the alc or swr or mic audio or compression
instead of power output also, some radios use the meters for multiple
things and it could change without you noticing from cw to ssb since cw
doesn't have mic audio or compression levels.

"James Barrett" wrote in message
. ..
Hi, I have put up a dipole and I admit it is not a very good one, about
20 feet up, approx 60 ft. It works great as a receiving antenna and I'm
having fun listening, but so far no one can hear me. I have an Icom
IC-735, and using SSB, the watt meter on the radio shows full power as I
talk, but the watt meter on the tuner barely moves. In CW mode both
meters go all the way. Is this a typical symptom of a poor quality
antenna or does it indicate some other problem (besides my antenna making
skills)?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim


On SSB, no power output is produced until the carrier (which is later
suppressed) is modulated. Yeah, you could know this, but it is possible that
you do not. This is in case of the latter.

As the previous responder said (my memory is bad - sorry), if your meter is
slow, the modulated voice peaks may not show up on the meter.

Ed, NM2K

odd readings from watt meters
 

On SSB, no power output is produced until the carrier (which is later
suppressed) is modulated. Yeah, you could know this, but it is possible that
you do not. This is in case of the latter.

As the previous responder said (my memory is bad - sorry), if your meter is
slow, the modulated voice peaks may not show up on the meter.
=========================
However there are umpteen circuits for a'peak-picker/holder' which with
a set suitable time constant will enable any meter to sense the peak
and hold it until the next peak. I don't mean just a simple capacitor


Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH

odd readings from watt meters
 

On Feb 28, 9:11 pm, James Barrett wrote:
Hi, I have put up a dipole and I admit it is not a very good one, about
20 feet up, approx 60 ft. It works great as a receiving antenna and I'm
having fun listening, but so far no one can hear me. I have an Icom
IC-735, and using SSB, the watt meter on the radio shows full power as
I talk, but the watt meter on the tuner barely moves. In CW mode both
meters go all the way. Is this a typical symptom of a poor quality
antenna or does it indicate some other problem (besides my antenna
making skills)?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim

Dunno. Seems a bit strange if no one can hear you.
It sounds like you are using an average reading meter,
vs a peak reading meter.
In the case of an average meter, on SSB voice peaks
you will usually see about 1/3 of your actual output.
IE: with a 100w radio, I'd expect peaks of appx 35w
on the meter. Barely moving seems to be a problem.
Being as the rig seems to be doing full power in CW
mode, I doubt the antenna is the problem. As long as
the SWR is under 2:1 you should be doing full output.
It can probably actually be a bit worse, and still do full
power in many cases.
So that makes me wonder if you might have a mic drive
problem, etc..
What mike are you using? Most older icoms require a
mic preamp. If not, you won't get full drive.
And I think the 735 is one that requires the mic preamp.
Even my 706 requires a preamp if I'm not using a stock
mic. If not, I won't get full drive.
Try the stock hand mike, if you are using something else,
and see what happens.
Average meters will usually read only about 1/3 of actual
output, but barely moving the meter is not right, if CW
if reading correctly. You should see peaks of 25-35
watts if it's working right. Near full power peaks if using
an actual peak reading meter. Most passive "capacitor"
meter hang circuits only read about 80% of full power.
MK