[TenTec] Orion II 15 m CW Transmit Power Fluctuation

[Kim Elmore]

I want to sincerely thank everyone that has chimed in on this, both 
on and off list. A bit more background: I have no antennas nearby the 
rig. My 15 m antenna is up about 60 ft and is about 80 ft total from 
the shack (measured along along the hypotenuse). All of my wiring 
exits the tower at the base and goes immediately underground exiting 
the slab foundation about 5 ft from the rig.

I checked and do not see the problem on 17 m: it appears only on 15 
m. The variation is small (about 5 w from what I can see on my 
external tuner power meter) with very occasional large, quick drops 
that rise back equally fast. I do not see the variations below about 
65 W output. Curiously, my ALC indicator lights only briefly upon key 
down and then goes out at full power on 15 m. Also, power output on 
15 m is only about 70 W into a dummy load. Output on 10 and 12 m is 
about 80 W, 15 m is about 70 W, 17 m is about 90 W, 20 m is 90 W, 30, 
40 and 80 m is 92-95 W, and 160 m is about 85 W.

Note that this is not a precision meter: it's simply the power meter 
on my Ameritron ATR-15 external tuner. I also see small power meter 
fluctuation on the radio when this happens. Station ground is single 
point and exits via a conduit through the slab and under the porch, 
terminating at an 8 ft ground rod (tied to all other grounds) about 8 
ft form the rig.

Carl, N4PY, suggested a full, complete reset. I did a complete reset, 
but nothing changed regarding what I'm seeing. It appears to be 
limited only to 15 m.

I'm reluctant to blame this on RFI quite yet, given that I see 
exactly the same behavior whether I'm going to a dummy load or my 
antenna, and regardless of whether I use the internal tuner or an 
external tuner. The power output seems a bit low on only 15 m and I 
know that it can be adjusted, but as I understand it the adjustment 
is for all bands and it cannot be adjusted band by band. Power output 
on the other bands seems fine, so I'm reluctant to twiddle that 
simply for the sake of 15 m and to the detriment of all the other bands.

None of this additional info is likely to help much, but there it is, 
regardless

73,

Kim N5OP