[Elecraft] [Fwd: Re: SSB Output Level & Scope Recommendations]

[Don Wilhelm]

The best recommendation that I can give for a 'scope is to contact Bob
Garcia at esaronel at bellsouth.net

Bob is a Tektronics specialist who often appears at SouthEastern
hamfests (he is located in GA) and is well known as "Mr. 'Scope".  He is
an extremely fair person to deal with and has good 'scopes at a low price.

You will need a couple 10X probes too - I have found that the BUY IT NOW
new $14.99 probes  offered on EBAY work quite well for a good price.

To observe an RF waveform with a 'scope and 10X probe, connect the
transceiver to a dummy load and connect the 'scope probe across the
dummy load - if you cannot get to the connections to the dummy load, a
coax TEE adapter will allow you to gain access to the coax center
conductor.  You can use the same technique with an antenna connected, or
use an Elecraft CP1 in the coax line and observe the -20 dB output from
the forward port of the CP1 (terminate both ports at the CP1).

73,
Don W3FPR

lbailey at aep.com wrote:
> 
> I'm concerned that my SSB output is not matching the set power level. 
>  Reviewing the archive on a search by ALC, I found this note.  It's been 
> years since I've looked to see what scopes are available.  Any 
> recommendations - remembering that  cost is a factor.....maybe a Scope 
> that uses the PC.
> 
> Here's another part to the question....I've never used a scope to look 
> at RF output.  I assume that takes some special circuitry.
> 
> ***from W3FPR note 06/03/07***
> <<The best instrument I know of to check the peak power output is a 
> 'scope. It can indicate the instantaneous RF voltage easily and it is 
> easy to compare that level to a CW reference level. 'Peak indicating' 
> wattmeters do have a time constant to indicate the peak and can be 
> fooled by the audio waveform. In other words, they are not always 
> correct when indicating the peak output of a SSB signal.>>
>