Blowing Fuses
Blowing Fuses
I just installed ekl2030 in my new cobra 29 ltd and when i hook up a 10k pot to set bias voltage it blows fuses as soon as i key up. Hooked to +c116 and gate of 2030, ive tried turning resistance both ways, still blows fuses. works fine when i unhook the pot. keys 4 watt and swings around 8 on my old archer meter. the voltage on the gate shows under a volt (0.7 to 0.85) for a split second when i key up without the pot attached and drops back to zero. is it supposed to be a constant voltage ? Ive seen it is supposed to be 2.7 to 3 volts. I wonder if it is okay already without the pot. Im sure my old meter doesnt read swing very well if at all. I see some have rms and pep settings. Sorry for the newb questions , Thanks in advance for any help.
Ok i put 5 amp fuse in and it doesnt blow fuse when pot is turned up high but has almost no output, when i turn up pot the out put comes up still less than a watt but sounds like a cap or something is whining pretty loud and when i turn it up more the 5 amp fuse blows. should i just put the stock parts back in ? Does this mod always work ?
Well, the mod does indeed work if installed correctly, as for the 10k pot, you should not even need it in the cobra 29 as long as you installed the EN1230 Bias chip. I have done hundreds of various model 29s without any issues. When you turned the pot up and it blew the 5 amp fuse, you are dumping a dangerous amount of current through the 2030, there is clearly something wrong in its installation. EDIT: I just read that you are reading the wattage on an archer watt meter, those are not peak reading so the only part that may be correct is the dead key. You will need a peak reading watt meter to measure swing (Dosy or ParaDynamics or simular).
Thats what i was afraid of, It still deadkeys 4 and swings around 7 or 8 on my meter when i hook it up the way the instructions show and re move the pot so I guess i havent damaged any thing. What is all the talk about the setting bias voltage for. Are some guys not installing the en1230 ? Any way thanks for your help. Now I just got to get a new meter
On a the Cobra 29 series radios, all you need to do is install the 2 parts.
You can also change a coupling cap or two (not really necessary). It is possible to tweek the output even further by building your own biasing circuit, but installation is much simpler if you just use the EN1230. Yes, some do indeed build their own bias from scratch, since its only a few parts anyways, but its not really worth the trouble, I have always seen good results with just the EN1230.
Since you do not have a sideband radio, I would not be overly concerned with the bias. If you had a peak reading watt meter, I am certain that even though the dead key is the same, you would see a nice improvement in the peak power output. Personally, I prefer a lower dead key with good loud modulation.
You can also change a coupling cap or two (not really necessary). It is possible to tweek the output even further by building your own biasing circuit, but installation is much simpler if you just use the EN1230. Yes, some do indeed build their own bias from scratch, since its only a few parts anyways, but its not really worth the trouble, I have always seen good results with just the EN1230.
Since you do not have a sideband radio, I would not be overly concerned with the bias. If you had a peak reading watt meter, I am certain that even though the dead key is the same, you would see a nice improvement in the peak power output. Personally, I prefer a lower dead key with good loud modulation.