by reduce the power of 100 W rigs. SOMETIMES YOU CAN REDUCE THE POWER
WITHOUT AN ATTENUATOR! If your rig has an ALC input (usually it is a
jack, often RCA-or phono-type on the rear chassis), you can often force a
power reduction by introducing a negative voltage to the center pin.
I've built a small box which works with both my Kenwood and my Icom.
It is quite simple:
I use a 1.5V AA battery, and wired + to ground. The - terminal goes to one
end of a 25K pot, and the wiper of the pot goes to the center conducter
of a piece of shielded wire (the + side of battery connects to the shield
of the shielded wire). It should look something like this:
----------------------/\/\/\/\/\/\/
| ^
| |
|- |_________________________ to ALC
_____ ----------------
------- (battery) |
|+ -----
----- \ \ \ (gnd)
\ \ \ (ground) .
TUNE: load xmtr for minimum power output and gradually
adjust POT for desired power levels. Suggest you feed
this into a dummy load while making adjustments.
My Icom 725 literally will reduce to milliwatt levels (far lower power
than my ability to measure it!)
Warning, reduce power before connecting to transverter, otherwise your
transverter may be damaged by excess RF!
Good luck. de Alan, W6RCL
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