What transverter is everyone using with their flex?

Scotty

As topic states what good 2m/440 transverter is everyone using these days? I see the gentleman from Ukraine selling them but I have not found anyone using them.

w0pd

I use Q5 Signal VHF and UHF transverters. They work perfectly.

ka9ees

@Scotty A friend of mine K0OWG is using one from the Ukraine (the Transverter Store). He likes it. I have one ordered, but it's not here yet. Mine is a kit. I bought it with the attenuator board. Then found out I didn't need it.

73,

Ed KA9EES

Scotty

Yeah I looked at them but kinda pricey. Might be worth saving for.

ka9ees

@Scotty

You can get one already built from The Transverter Store for $75 USD. That's cheap.

Scotty

> @ka9ees said:
> @Scotty
> You can get one already built from The Transverter Store for $75 USD. That's cheap.

Yeah I looked at the Q5 ones which my comment was directed at, I shoulda quoted it haha. The Q5 ones look nice but $500 for the cheapest one.

Bob KC9RF

I have one from the transverter store and it works well on 2 meters.

There are some you tube videos that might help you with setup .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8JQ0SIUlI8

Just be carefull with input and output power. the above video covers that topic.

Ken Hansen

I just started playing with my Transverter-Store transverter (2M, no attenuator, pre-assembled), and it seems to work, but...

Let me start by saying, my sole intention is to be able to operate local FM repeaters near my remote QTH (about 50 miles from home QTH). With a 10 watt 2m Radio I can hit the repeaters with my base antenna - my goal is to do the same with the transverter.

Currently I have my transverter set up with 0.0 dB RX Gain and 5.0 dBm Max. Power:

And when I run the transverter on 2M I see this:

That looks like a horrible mess!

I CAN "hit" at least one local repeater with this setup, so RF is going out to the antenna on the right frequency, with the right CTCSS tone and offset (Yay!), but the audio seems muffled/quiet - that's my first issue.

My second issue is without a VHF wattmeter (I know, I'll get one for my next visit), I'm having a hard time knowing what Max. Power setting I should use to drive the transverter. I do have a "brick" 2M power amp (the world famous Radio Shack HT Amplifier) that I could use, once I sort out the radio's Max. Power -> Transverter RF output correlation.

I suspect the 2M band just looks like that when examined under my "Flex Microscope," but my dual-band radio does NOT show an S7 noise floor (is the Flex "juicing" the RX from the transverter?).

The muffled audio seems odd, no thoughts there.

Any pointers on Max. Power setting before I return with a proper VHF wattmeter?

IF I can sort this out to my satisfaction, I'll likely upgrade to the newest Transverters the Transverter-Store offers - they have a TCXO and additional filtering to reduce spurious emissions.

144/28 MHz TCXO SERIES ASSEMBLED IN BOX TRANSVERTER WITHOUT ATTENUATOR BOARD (transverters-store.com)

Thanks in advance.

Ken, N2VIP

DL4RCE

Hi,

Using http://www.ha1ya.hu/

2m TRV ME2HT-PRO

73 de Volker

Lynn Hansen

Ken,

The Flex max power setting setting says it’s in dBm so your 5 dBm setting is only 3.2 milliwatts. 5 watts is +37 dBm.

Lynn, KU7Q

Lynn Hansen

Sorry, it looks like you wanted 5 dBm. Never mind 🙄

LA9AKA Hans Chr.

Have a look at the transverters from HA1YA also!

www.ha1ya.hu/transverters.htm

73 de LA9AKA

Ken Hansen

Thanks Hans and Lynn.

Because I'm easily distracted, I haven't gotten back to this project, but that will change this week.

Based on what I saw at this site: dBm to mW conversion calculator (rapidtables.com)

5 dBm -> 3.16 mW

10 dBm -> 10 mW

15 dBm -> 31.6 mW

16 dBm -> 39.8 mW

and 17 dBm -> 50.12 mW

And my Transverter-Store transverter wants 1-50 mW ( 144/28 MHz ASSEMBLED IN BOX TRANSVERTER WITHOUT ATTENUATOR BOARD (transverters-store.com) ), so I guess the answer is to try turning up the transverter drive level and see what happens...

Of course, since I stepped away from this and returned fresh, I realized the transverter manufacturer includes dBm drive levels in their web page:

"Driving power - 1 ... 50 mW (0.05 W max.) or 0 ... 17 dBm"

If that was there earlier, I somehow missed it.

Neil D Friedman N3DF

Another vote for Q5. High quality build, easy setup and great customer service.

Ken Hansen

Q5 products do look nice, I especially like the selection of output levels. I'm working with what I have, and if this turns into something I want to stick with, the Q5 transverters will be on my short list.

They have a very nice 5 band transverter (spoiler alert, its $2K).

Ted S

Regarding the RX Noise level you are experiencing.

"I suspect the 2M band just looks like that when examined under my "Flex Microscope," but my dual-band radio does NOT show an S7 noise floor (is the Flex "juicing" the RX from the transverter?)."

Remember you are using the flex 28 MHz input as your IF so you don't want nearly as much gain as if it was operating as a 28 MHz receiver. The +16dB of gain is likely way to much, the transverter is going to have plenty of gain, so I suspect you want the to have at least 8dB of attenuation in place, maybe more depending on the conversion gain of the transverter.

Ted WR4T

Ken Hansen

Ted, thanks - I'll look into that.

what I did find, when I cleared my mind, took a break and returned to the project (the radio is remote, only visit it every couple weeks) is that when I swapped transverters with another from the same source (Ukraine transverter store) the band was much more well-behaved.

unfortunately, that transverter has an attenuation board installed, so TX testing will have to wait until I either replace the transverter or take the attenuator out of the circuit.

in other news, it seems the latest SSDR update (3.2.6, I think it was) limits the drive level to the transverter to +10 DBm, where it used to accept values up to 16. Not a problem, just an observation.

Ken Hansen

The Transverter Store now offers a couple new models that look interesting. One is a dual-band 2m and 70cm transverter, the other are improved models of several transverters with better filtering and a TCXO for better stability.

2m TCXO Transverter:

https://transverters-store.com/144mhz_tcxo_assembled_without_att.htm

Dual-band TCXO Transverter is listed on eBay, not on site?

Bill AB7AA

I have just installed a custom Q5 432 transverter. The RF filter was ordered to cover the entire 432-450 band so that I can do satellite, DX SSB, or FM repeaters or anything else in that band (except TV).

Very expensive but with the Flex 6700 it has some capability that most other radios lack. I have it installed with the 2M LDPA amp and with the DIPS diplexer/switch allowing full duplex operation. Other than satellites, this allows viewing two panadapters covering the entire 2M and 440 FM bands while simultaneously monitoring 8 different repeaters. This is better than scanning because if the scanner were to dwell on a conversation, you could miss a call on a different channel. If you hear a call but did not get to view it in time, you can tell which channel was active by the waterfall display, which can be set for an extended time. It is also nice to talk on one band while still monitoring the other.

Already I have developed a technique to deal with noise spurs that uses the RIT feature. I offset the RIT by as much as 2.5 KC away from the spur so that I can set the squelch, but because of FM capture it demodulates the intended signal perfectly. And of course transmit is not affected.

Now if Flex would only bring back D-Star and introduce the other digital voice modes it would make the 6700 a better return on the investment.

I'm reluctant to invest in a 900 MHz transverter because all of the FM operations in my area employ DPL/DCS codes which the 6700 presently doesn't generate. Is the Flex flexible enough to include these?

Bill AB7AA

GeorgeK

I just got the newer Ukrain , " medium power dual band, transverter. Thi issue i came up with is that it requires 2 connections one for the XVTR-A transverter port , (This is a flex 6400) . The schematic shows that a separate 28mhz input is required. The transverter has 2 sma connections one marked 28mhz out, the other marked input 28 mhz. Reading the 6400 manual indicates the XVTR is function as both in. out. Can anyone offer advice. ? Looks as if a connection to Ant 2 might be required.

Ken Hansen

I think you're fine, the xverter port has two connections RX in and Xverter. I'm away from my station, but I think you're fine.

curious to learn how it works for you

Harold Rosee

GeorgeK

Go on ebay and look there. They have a diagram of how to hook that transverter up.

I just ordered one myself. Looks like a nice one for dual band.

chris1165

So by mistake, I ordered the TCXO VHF Transverter with an Attenuator board installed. The documentation is difficult to read. Does anyone know how to bypass the Attenuator?

ka9ees

@chris1165

If you're talking about the one from the "Transverter Store" or ePay. Email Sergey. He'll tell you how to do it.

Barry Isseks

I also need document or insight into bypassig the attenuator board in this combined 2m transverter unit...

Ken Hansen

It should be fairly self-evident, but I understand the manufacturer used to share instructions to bypass the attenuator board so I suspect they are out there somewhere. It should just be a single lead from the RF in connector and a single lead to the transverter board - shorting the two together should solve the problem.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, I plan to bypass the attenuator in my transverter as well.

Ken