[TenTec] corsair power amp bias

[Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP]

GM Spencer,

OK, I understand, but as I said, that makes no difference when running CW.
The idle bias only affects the amount of current drawn when the rig idles.
The amplifiers don't idle in CW mode, nor while you are in RX.  
They only idle when you press the PTT in SSB, but don't speak.

It would make a difference on SSB, but on the other hand if you reduce bias in SSB, you will have distortion.
Can't do that either.

What you need to do there is reduce RX current drain.
In the days of analog rigs, I used to turn off the dial lamps on my (original) Omni, use headphones, not the speaker, and that reduced the total current drain on RX to just 350mA.  Of course when they added digital read-out to the Omni, that drove the current drain up considerably.

The old Argonauts 505 and 509 only required 150mA of current on RX.  
They were even better for long operations from battery.

I once worked a DX-pedition where I ran off of batteries for 10 days with the Omni, running it at 50w CW.
I also ran the Field Day contest off of my motorcycle battery many times, running most of the 24 hours from the tiny battery.  I know very well what the real culprit of battery drain is: it's the RX current drain, not the TX current - unless you're running really high power.

That 10 day dx-pedition is described here:
http://www.dj0ip.de/my-expeditions/andorra-1979/ 

And a typical motorbike expedition is shown here:
http://www.dj0ip.de/my-expeditions/isle-of-mann-1992/ 

73
Rick, DJ0IP


-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Spencer
Sent: Friday, September 20, 2013 5:46 AM
To: tentec at contesting.com
Subject: [TenTec] corsair power amp bias

I run low power in the Arizona desert with my tiny RV with battery and solar. The rig is cheap(free), simple and effective. 
Every μamp counts.
Spencer W1GAK
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