PGXL learnings

Sergey KN7K

Well, I thought it worked, but testing again this evening, my original statement  stays true - when PGXL wake up from stand by, it is bouncing my input power from 100w to 50w on Flex6600.
Any time i change it in TX Band setting above 50w, it is automatically go back to 50w.
Seems like SW Safety level.
Can other owner confirm that you radio can get more than 50w input when  PGXL in Operate status.
Sergey, KN7K

Sergey KN7K

Keith, sorry to hear about your (well your amp) issues.
I would agree that some kind of oscillation ocures as Id is going very high and seems like SW algo just report it as Hi SWR.
At this point I do not want to speculate about possible route course as I understand it is not easy to figure out.
I collected requested info for Flex - my setup, Antenna measurements charts and so on.
Hopefully they can figure it out.
Sergey, KN7K

KF4HR

Can other owner confirm that you radio can get more than 50w input when  PGXL in Operate status.

Sergey - I checked.  No problem driving my PG-XL with over 50 watts.  40M Band,  50 watts of drive maintained 1572 watts, and 65 watts drive maintained 1908 watts.  I experienced no errors or warnings of any kind.  These tests were using the Tune mode, a 5K Palstar Dummy Load, Flex-6700 running at 13.6vdc (13.1vdc keyed), and 248vac feeding my PG-XL.  

I hope they can resolve your issue quickly.

Sergey KN7K

Great, Thanks for checking.
I have no problem to drive more than 50W in Tune mode, but it bouncing back in operation mode to 50w only and on some bands I can not get 1500w from PGXL with drive at 50w.
Did you try CW or SSB or FT8 to drive output power from SSDR >50w?
Thanks

KF4HR

No problem exceeding 50 watts of drive in CW and SSB modes.  (I don't use FT8).  I tried several bands.  No problems or errors >50w drive.

Erik SM0JCA

TX power settings is made at two different places on my Flexradio 6600.
1) TX Band settings where the setting is made per band and the level is stored when saving profiles alternatively when you change the power slider. The value is stored on the fly automatically.
2) Under the tab SETTINGS/TX you have a second max power level value. Look at the very bottom of the window for TX timings and there you will find Max Power. Mine is set to 100W. That is the default value for the radios max power as I understand.

Maybe your setting is 50W, just an idea! If you can check that and tell us what you find.

Erik SM0JCA

K1UO Larry

Serge,      It is easy enough to do a firmware upgrade in the Amp.  Have you tried reloading the firmware level in case the original is corrupted .  I think a reload of the radio firmware would not hurt either at this point.   Also, as others have mentioned, maybe delete and rebuild your 160M profile on the Bands that kick back to 50W,

Good luck.

Sergey KN7K

What SSDR SW are you using? I am on ver3.1.8.
I will share my video shortly
Sergey, KN7K

Sergey KN7K

Here is demonstration of SSDR limit output power to 50w whenever PGXL switch status from Standby to Operate.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=11UWyanu7JIV17NZLj4LxhzLZ62ty37Z0

Can someone let me know what I am doing wrong or how to make it more than 50w?
Thanks
Sergey, KN7K

KF4HR

I'm also using SSDR v3.1.8, and my PG-XL is using firmware version 3.2.15.

Sergey KN7K

hmm, same here...

Please check my video below
Sergey, KN7K

Chris DL5NAM

What happen if you Power OFF PGXL? Same behavior? 

Sergey KN7K

Chris,
When PGXL is Off it is the same as PGXL in Standby mode.
I can set and operate any power from 0 to 100w. 
Sergey, KN7K

Chris DL5NAM

and in Operate Mode independent?

Chris DL5NAM

sorry : CW, SSB or Digi

Sergey KN7K

yes, i see the same on CW, SSB, DIGU

KA9CFD

I wonder if its something about your transmit profile and the new auto save feature. Have you tried to create a new transmit profile or reset the one you are using and see what happens? Maybe turn off the Maestro also. I dont own one so I dont know how it effects things. GL de ka9cfd

Sergey KN7K

KA9CFD - Bingo!

Today I decided to turn just radio - I could change output power on my 6600 to anything form 0 to 100w.
Than I added Maestro - same as above - all good.
Than I added Stacks3 - that's where the limit to 50w outpout coming from.
Found than menu and changed from 50w to 70w for now



Thanks everyone for ideas and inputs.
This one for sure is the user issue
One mystery solved.
Sergey, KN7K

KF4HR

Glad to hear your issue is resolved.  I assume that's the same transmit parameter listed in SSDR under Settings -> Radio Setup -> TX -> Max Power.

Sergey KN7K

Yes, the same parameter.
But Stack3 will take over that parameter if set to the lower value than SSDR.
 In my case SSDR set for 100w Max Power and Stacks3 was at 50w, so Stack3 overrule SSDR

Sergey, KN7K

KF4HR

Wow, I wasn't aware of that.  Thanks, good to know!

Ian1

Had a feeling there was a 3rd party software causing this.
I trouble shot a similar issue with DDUTIL for a Ham on here.

Glad it worked out.

Ian
KM4CQG

KF4HR

Sergey - Reference the Max Power settings in SSDR and Stacks3, I was experimenting with these parameters.  In my case I could not get Stacks3 to override this setting in SSDR.  When I made a Max Power change in SSDR it automatically changes in Stacks3, and vice versa. 

Sergey KN7K

Interesting, it does do on my setup.
Anyway, I put 80w in Stacks3 and leave 100w in SSDR.
anytime PGXL going from Standby to Operate SSDR power changes to 80w and it works for me.
Sergey, KN7K 

Sergey KN7K

Update on my Hi SWR issue on 160m.
Received my PGXL back from Flex few days ago, did not have much time for testing but short tests show that issue is gone. After Bias calibration by Flex I cannot reproduce it on 160m.
I just did the same tests as before-slowly increasing input power from 100 to 1500W and 1500w from 100w. No issues.
Sergey, KN7K

WX7Y

That is so exciting, mine is back there now for the BIAS update and it is working for you. 
Hope mine get's back here in good shape and doesn't get lost again and works better.
73's
Bret
WX7Y