Thursday, November 24, 2011

Warning regarding Accessories connected to your Radio

Warning regarding accessories connected to your radio
Information from West Mountain Radio web site.
http://www.westmountainradio.com/content.php?page=supportpro
If you have a Rig Blaster or other interface connected to your 12 volt radio, DO NOT connect the negative terminal of the accessory to the negative terminal of your power supply. Here's why. If for any reason the 12 negative connection for your radio becomes disconnected from the power supply, the full current drawn by the radio will also flow through the ground loop circuit of the accessory. Your accessory will most likely fry and you may damage your radio. Connect the NEGATIVE wire of your accessory to the ground terminal on your rig, or use a wall wart (ugh). Better yet, to avoid ground loops, connect all your accessories to a separate DC source.
Example; use a 12 volt 10 AmpHour AGM battery, fused of course. The current draw on most of these accessories is in the milli amp range and will last weeks even if not turned off....
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My Stamp Collecting Blog

My Stamp Collecting Blog

Counter Added January 1, 2011

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HOW TO READ PROPAGATION NUMBERS

The A index [ LOW is GOOD ]

  • 1 to 6 is BEST
  • 7 to 9 is OK
  • 11 or more is BAD

Represents the overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere ("Ap" if averaged from the Kp-Index) (an average of the eight 3-hour K-Indices) ('A' referring to amplitude) over a given 24 hour period, ranging (linearly) typically from 1-100 but theoretically up to 400.

A lower A-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Ap-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

SFI index [ HIGH is GOOD ]

  • 70 NOT GOOD
  • 80 GOOD
  • 90 BETTER
  • 100+ BEST

The measure of total radio emissions from the sun at 10.7cm (2800 MHz), on a scale of 60 (no sunspots) to 300, generally corresponding to the sunspot level, but being too low in energy to cause ionization, not related to the ionization level of the Ionosphere.

Higher Solar Flux generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; Solar Flux rarely affects the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

K index [ LOW is GOOD ]

  • 0 or 1 is BEST
  • 2 is OK
  • 3 or more is BAD
  • 5 is VERY VERY BAD

The overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere ("Kp" if averaged over the planet) over the past 3 hours, measured by 13 magnetometers between 46 & 63 degrees of latitude, and ranging quasi-logarithmically from 0-9. Designed to detect solar particle radiation by its magnetic effect. A higher K-index generally means worse HF conditions.

A lower K-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Kp-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

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