MAX PRO output

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RadioMan
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MAX PRO output

Post by RadioMan »

The MAX PRO 1 & 2 are rated 0-5 watts (7watts max). How Do I drive it to 7 watts?
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pcs
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Post by pcs »

How much is your current power supply voltage?
What frequency?
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Post by cliffyk »

I have found with my Max Pro I that you need 16V to push it to 7W, and that it likes to be in the 98MHz to 102MHz range to reach that level--fortunately there's a nice "hole" for me at 101.1 here...

Make sure you have a good heatsink on the RF final if you plan to push it to 6W+

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RadioMan
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Post by RadioMan »

I am only using 13.8v and I operate at 106.9.
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Post by pcs »

Use 15V. There'll be a substantial increase of power.
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Post by Sir Nigel »

Has anyone ever found a well priced power supply that's at least 5-7 watts and pushes 15v? I remember looking for one and had to settle for 13.8v to save a lot of money. Maybe I'm just too cheap.
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Post by cliffyk »

The Mean Well "S" series are very reasonable, 33.00$ US for the 25W units, and $37.00 US for the 40W series. The power is very clean and they are quite reliable.

I've got the S-40-15 in my Max Pro I rig, it can be adjusted from 13.5V to 16.8V and can deliver 2.8A.

You need at least the 25W unit to make sure there's enough power to drive the Max Pro I to 6-7W, the 40W would be best and it's only $4 more.
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Post by Sir Nigel »

Yeah, those are good prices, thanks.

I actually asked because I would like to get a little more power out of my PCI MAX card.

Mark what's the highest I can do in volts for those 15 watt boosters?
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Post by pcs »

15 V.

I don't recommend more, it makes you more vunerable to
damage due to heat and vswr.
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RadioMan
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expanding/compressing coils

Post by RadioMan »

I know about increasing voltage in, but I read in the manual for the MP3 & MP4 that you can get a little more power out by compressing coils L2, L3, & L4 (I may have the numbers for the coils wrong.) Would that make a difference for the MP 2 exciter also?
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Post by cliffyk »

On the MaxPro I it's L2 and/or L3 (really L2 because L3 is just a single "U" piece), and you need to toy with both compressing and expanding them for the best tune--you'll need an effective way to measure the output power to get the most from this. Also be aware that the gain at whatever frequency you tune when making these adjustments will come at the expense of reduced power at significantly higher or lower frequencies.

I do not know for certain about the Max Pro II, however if it's a coil-tuned circuit then there will be a potential for improving output by tweaking the final RF section coils.
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