[TenTec] 160 Meter Problem

[Jim Allen]

I'm out here in the shack now with the radio to a dummy load. To answer
Carl's question, no, there was no noticeable change in current going from
receive to tune.  I tune at very low power, just enough to make the AH-4
happy, and generally run QRP anyway.  When I "tune" now, the red "tune" LED
illuminates, the green "ALC" illuminates, the audio goes away and nothing
else.  There is no output.

As I advance the PWR control, and get on the other side of halfway, there
are occasional spikes on the meter, very short.  As the PWR is advanced,
the Ic suddenly jumps from zero to about 10, then increases erratically up
to near 20, with no output on the wattmeter.

On 80M, as I advance the PWR, the output shown on the wattmeter and FWD
meter increases smoothly up to 100 watts.  Ic advances slowly then up to
about 16 amps at full power.

On 40, it draws more than 20 amps at full PWR, slightly more than 100 watts
on the wattmeter.  On 30M, it draws about 13 amps and gives about 35
watts.  On 20M, full 100 watts on about 15 amps.  Same on 17, except Ic is
about 18 amps. and the same on 15, 12 and 10M, with some variation in Ic
between 15 and 18 amps.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.  Any ideas?

73 de W6OGC  Jim Allen


On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 9:36 AM, Carl Moreschi <n4py3 at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Was the Omni VI drawing lots of current from the power supply when you
> keyed it on 160?
>
> Carl Moreschi N4PY
> 58 Hogwood Rd
> Louisburg, NC 27549
> www.n4py.com
>
>
> On 8/18/2014 10:31 AM, Jim Allen wrote:
>
>> The AH-4 actually matches just about anything as long as it is longer than
>> 7M, the longer the better, but not an even 1/4 wl.  There is a
>> spreadsheet
>> of "forbidden lengths" available in the Yahoo Groups files section.
>>
>> I intend to run the Omni VI+ on a dummy load today, on every band, but I
>> saw nothing that made me think the match was a problem.  I can imagine
>> seeing a bad load would "fold back" power but there was nothing to fold.
>>
>> The 706 matched up just fine, same antenna, same feed line, same tuner,
>> same connector, etc.
>>
>> I'll report back if anything develops.
>>
>> 73 de W6OGC  Jim Allen
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 9:17 AM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP<Rick at dj0ip.de>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  Start with a dummy load.
>>> Make sure the Omni VI is working OK on the dummy load.
>>>
>>> I'm surprised the AH-4 even found a match.
>>> It is only rated to cover 80 thru 10m.
>>> I used an AH-4 a lot in the past but I could never get it to load
>>> anything
>>> up on 160m.
>>>
>>> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>>> (Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim
>>> Allen
>>> Sent: Monday, August 18, 2014 4:12 PM
>>> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>>> Subject: [TenTec] 160 Meter Problem
>>>
>>> I was sitting in the shack minding my own business last night when I
>>> noticed
>>> on the DX cluster that W1AW/5 was on 1821.5 in Oklahoma.  I have not
>>> tried
>>> 160M here, but do have a 130' dipole and an AH-4 to match it with, which
>>> might work, so I thought, "what the hey?"
>>>
>>> I got it all set up and could hear W1AW/5 extraordinarily well.  I moved
>>> up
>>> the band a bit to tune and ........ nothing.  No output whatsoever.  I
>>> checked... traced the coax, antenna connected to wattmeter, wattmeter
>>> connected to Omni VI+, AH-4 tune control getting power, etc.  All seemed
>>> to
>>> be in order.  I tried again... nothing.  The radio went into tune no
>>> output
>>> no tone, nothing.  I switched to 80M, found a clear spot, tuned normally.
>>> I went back to 160M, nothing.  I advanced the power knob from nothing to
>>> as
>>> high as I dared... still nothing.
>>>
>>> I then moved to the 706MKIIG, got it going on 160 and made the contact,
>>> no
>>> problem, although I did have to use 100 watts instead of 5.
>>>
>>> This is the first time I have tried this Omni VI+ on 160M, but it seems
>>> to
>>> be working just fine on the other bands, very well, actually.
>>>
>>> What could this be?  Where should I start?
>>>
>>> 73 de W6OGC  Jim Allen
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