[50mhz] [FT-857] RE: [SMIRK] [VHF] 6 Open into Central America and Carribean

[Chris Boone]

Did that.....13.8 is on the meter...with engine running....redid the power
connections a while back....one massive #4 into the cab fused at
60amps...then a tap block....each fused at 30amps....with the cables running
to my 857, my 100w Astro Spectra company radio and others....no problem
there.
Thanks for the reply anyway......Ya never know!

-----Original Message-----
From: kd4e [mailto:doc at kd4e.com] 
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 9:59 PM
To: FT-857 at yahoogroups.com
Cc: 'Chris Boone'; 'ed'; vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu; SMIRK at mailman.qth.net;
flwss at flwss.net; 'aSFDXA'; 50mhz at mailman.qth.net; FT-857D at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [FT-857] RE: [SMIRK] [VHF] 6 Open into Central America and
Carribean

I observed low output on 6M with my FT-857D, checked the coax
connectors, then noticed that the voltage was dropping on 6M
but not anywhere near as much on 10 or 20M

I reduced the number of interconnects in the power line and in
the process discovered that one cable connector was loose -
probably from a recent mobile-portable adventure - and another
had an inline filter which was creating most of loss under power
draw stress.

Once those weaknesses were resolved I again  had full power
on 6M.

My guess is that the HF final is less efficient on 6M and that it
demands more current - especially if the voltage source sags.

All that to say that you may want to check our your power supply
prior to sending it out for service.