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View Full Version : Xforce straight 12 minimum to maximum input to drive the xforce???



T-bone
01-21-2017, 07:40 AM
Morning!!! Looking for someone who knows the minimum and maximum output from radio to drive an XFORCE Straight 12 Base...Thank you, BTW, What knowledge I lack with this particular product, I am experienced in all other aspects. This is my 38th year in comms...

Fogdog
01-25-2017, 10:36 AM
go to their website, and ask. they are very helpful.

JesseJamesDallas
01-25-2017, 11:00 PM
From XForces web site: So when you key the radio, with the Amp turned ON, you can have up to a 300w DK and be OK...Depending on the radio, you might need a driver to get 300w DK out of the Amp...

"Maximum Recommended Dead Key Power Output From The Amp To The Antenna=300w"

T-bone
01-25-2017, 11:30 PM
Thank you, the website says "300 Watts from Amp to antenna.

T-bone
01-25-2017, 11:33 PM
Thank you. The website says "300 Watts" from amp to antenna??? Go figure?

222DBFL
01-26-2017, 05:21 AM
Just some food for thought T-bone. Why not look into an 8 pill and spend more on your antenna setup. You'll be happy you did. For a truly good 5/8 wave antenna the Shockwave antenna made in America, or the I10K both are good antennas. That or a good beam or quad antenna. Just some food for thought. At the levels an 8 pill will put out you will gain maybe 1/2 an s-unit to a receiving station, maybe a little more but you spend much more money. Your antenna will make or break your entire system!! Just some food for thought. Have a good day.

222DBFL
01-26-2017, 05:24 AM
And they are taking about 300 watts dead key from the amp. Think you know that, but just making sure. Which would make 1200 watts a good 1 to 4 power ratio 300 to 1200 watts. Maybe a little more. But I'd say not much. JMHO's. Again, have a good day.

JesseJamesDallas
01-26-2017, 06:43 AM
Thank you, the website says "300 Watts from Amp to antenna.
Well...Yes... that's the way it works...watts leave the radio into the Amp...Watts leave Amp and head towards the antenna via coax cable. Once the watts get to the antenna, the antenna set's them free!:clap2:

222DBFL
01-28-2017, 05:19 AM
T-bone any updates to share. Radio, amp(s), antenna, tower height. Just curious. Don't remember if you posted how high your tower was or what antenna you will be using. Again, just curious as to what you may have already in place or know how high you plan on being. And response would be cool. I do understand if you don't want to say anything either.
Anyways. Hope all is well and have a great weekend man!!
73 and God Bless
Sean

T-bone
01-30-2017, 06:30 AM
I'm in the process of building a radio shack as I have been out of it for a few years. First I need to find the right radio that is capable of driving a product in the most efficient way. The radio has to be close to the exact dead key and the most power out PEP which isn't much. Once I do that I am looking for a 50 foot plus tower. A Jogunn antenna as I have owned 4 in the past and only had one problem. The 8+8 star does not have ears. I had 2 pre-amp going but the we!aaaareceive part was very bad. I narrowed it down to 1 Jogunn so far. Okay, Radio, Product that connects between the radio and antenna. A pre-amp, Tower, Antenna, lnline Meters, Rotor, All directional antenn, Coax...not the cheap stuff, rotor wire, and probably something I am forgetting. I'm anxious..happy anxious about this but Stuck on the right radio that will dead key 2 or 3 and swing 20 or a hair more. I need suggestions, AM/FM/SSB and CW. No noise toys, I wouldn't mind having a full band transceiver however to get it to dead key 2 and swing to 20 is impossible I understand it sounds different on AM from lack of modulation but with DSP and Compression I believe it sounds good. Anyway still looking. Thanks for asking...Mike.

222DBFL
01-30-2017, 02:05 PM
Not real sure about these newer radios. I have an Optima MK3 mostly for SSB and it does 50-60 watts pep. Variable power. AM it's not the best radio I have, but it does do just fine with the right mic. Again it's how you set the radio up.
As far as new radios go I would at the magnum 1. They seem to be pretty rock solid on SSB and work well on AM too. They are a dual final radio. 35-40 watts pep. Variable dead key. Get one tuned back to get just what you need for power out of it. Won't hurt for sure. Keep from overdriving the amp. JMHO. There are other radios, like the RCI 2950, and a bunch more. But be careful as I have heard some say that export radios just don't play nice with amps like the one you are getting. A 2-4 pill amp yes, but 8-12 pill and larger I have heard that they tend not to work too well together. I could be totally wrong so don't quote me on that. Just what I have read. Anyhow. Look around for radios. There a a few that you will see large amps being used with. YouTube vids help a lot!! Good luck and hope some of the text wall helps [emoji6][emoji6]

222DBFL
01-30-2017, 02:05 PM
And yes you have a lot to get!! It takes time and money to do it right though!!!

JesseJamesDallas
01-30-2017, 05:38 PM
A RCI 2980wx has a variable DK, so you can go as low as 1w if you want, and the radio swings around 40w...

Never had a JoGunn antenna, but I do have a MaCo shooting star, which has dual polarity, and I got no complaints with it...Did have a Lightning L4 quad antenna before the MaCo, and liked it, but got tired of having to bring it down to fix boken wires after everyother thunderstorm that would blow threw...Then finally one good thunderstorm turned it into a pretzel anyway, which gave me a good excuse to get the MaCo...

T-bone
01-31-2017, 09:03 PM
Not trying to say your writing no by any means, I did have a Straight 8 XForce that I never had any problems with. It's was an 8 or a 10. Can't remember, Someone else suggested a Magnum, the debate is will more power punch through when the skip is rolling yet you can talk skip a n 4 watts on the CB band. I'm just ready to do this, it's a been 4 months planning this and I am not getting anywhere. But my elderly father had surgery and needs help, not as much help as I give humor my mother gives him because it's over 2 months and he is almost back to better than he was. No joke, for years the doctors did not find his arteries were clogged and was a walking heart attack but his heart is exceptionally strong as through the years I have helped him cut down trees sometimes he would cut them down, cut them into logs then start splitting it. They have electric heat but with all this wood they use a wood stove mostly. Anyway the 2995DXCF with the internal amp cut off transmits 20+ watts. Still I erased the responses and forgot how much dead key and peak out to drive a 2X12. I am embarrassed to ask again as XForce refuses to respond. I did make him mad because if your running a 1 or 2 dead key it tends to shorten the life of your radios amp then I told him that 40 watts peak was way too much for a 2X12, he became angrier and stopped communicating even though I bought one in the past. Time to help my father get ready for bed. Something will come up . By the way where are you located? I'm in the mountains of Western North Carolina about 2200 feet above sea level. N.C. also has the highest mountain east of the Mississippi, it's over 6000 feet above sea level but a good place to take a mobile, hook up a base all directional and run some power, it usually transmits farther than what you can receive. Okay, have a good one and please keep in touch. I don't get out alot much.

222DBFL
01-31-2017, 09:30 PM
I am in Daytona Bch., FL. I think JJD is somewhere in TX. I talk to some gents up in NC when the conditions permit or have permitted in the past. The DX cycle is over and it isn't going to get better until about 2019. Til then you can get some occasional DX. But not like it was a couple years ago. Or even last year. It has been taking a dive and has gone dead for many. Guess having water close by doesn't hurt. The ocean helps and so does the salt water river (Intercoastal Waterway), that is not too far from me. 3 miles and beach is about 4 miles. So plenty of near by salt water. When DX was good, talking to EU daily was easy. Not so anymore.
Guess what I am getting at is that unless you have a lot of locals, then you might as well take your time getting set up. No need to rush unless you have some local pals that are giving you a playfully hard time about not getting on air yet. You don't have to put up a large beam to talk locally or DX for that matter. A good 5/8 wave vertical antenna like the Hy Gain SPT500, or a Shockwave, Mr. Coily, or even an I10K interceptor would work well if placed up high as possible. Would work well for both local and DX. I get wanting to place up a large tower and antenna and such, but it's not necessary to just get on the air and talk. Not trying to tell you what to do or how to do it. Just bringing up some food for thought and some things that are facts. Like the DX being non existent majority of the time these days. It's just not an everyday thing at this time. JMHO's. Hope all turns out well for your father and it does sound as if he is on the right track.
Also I think last you posted, XForce recommended a 300 watt dead key out of the amp (2x12). Could be wrong here, but I believe that is what you stated early on in one of your posts. That would place the PEP power somewhere around 1200-1500 watts pep depending on the mode of operation. AM or SSB. I think you also said a 2 watt dead key was needed for the 2x12 or somewhere around there. It's how much power out of the radio to make the amp key up to about 300 watts that is truly needed, whatever that may end up being. At any rate, don't get discouraged. It takes time and lots of effort to get things all setup right. Won't happen overnight or even over a weekend if you take your time and do things the right way. But you'll be happy you did! Take your time that is!
Again, hope all goes well for you and yours. Maybe one day I'll catch you on the air. Until then be safe and good luck with the setup whatever you decide to do.
73 and God Bless.

T-bone
01-31-2017, 09:35 PM
On the XForce website it says "A maximum of 300 watts from amp to antenna which makes no sense. Saltwater definitely makes a difference.

222DBFL
02-01-2017, 04:51 AM
What that means T-bone is that you can dead key a 300 watt max carrier out of the amp. With that said, a good 1:4 power ratio would be 300 watts dead key and approx 12-1500 watts of PEP power. With 1200 watts being the 1:4 ratio. Yes you can go above this, but adding a couple hundred watts when you are already getting 1200 watts out isn't going to make a bit of difference to the receiving station. It will just make your watt meter dance a little more. If you keep it at the 1:4 power ratio, the amp will last a lot longer. And I think that rating you gave as well as I did is 300 watts max carrier or dead key out of amp. Forget re antenna part per say. They are just adding the antenna into the mix to let you know that is the max carrier out of the amp going to the antenna. Could have been a dummy load for that matter. But remember, 300 watts max dead key and keep the PEP power to about 1500 watts max.!!! I would shoot more for 1200 watts, but we all run out equipment different. These are JMO's, and other might disagree. Maybe some others will reply as well. Hope that helped some. It's early so forgive me if I messed up something LOL!