RM Italy KL203P No More Than 3 Watts Dead Key!! 

i know this is an older video, i just got one of these cheap from someone on fb market place, output is working fine but preamp is not working, cant seem to find a block diagram anyways most of the circuits i tested with the except of the transistors seem fine, i noticed when i turn on the preamp the preamp relay does not click till i key up then it clicks, its getting voltage but isnt the relay supposed to turn on when the preamp switch is turned on the click off when keyed? what could make the preamp not work?

Enjoying The Sun 577-Jersey Customs hey man sent you an email

@@odoil071 Shoot me another one my server went down for a bit!! 577

I have one of these 203P radios hooked up to my very faithful clear sounding Realistic 447 otherwise known as a uniden x477 radio. I can't get anything out of it the radio sounds the same as if it the amp were not even on. Also the spec on my 203 says it works from 28-29.7mhz... I mean WTF do I have here another one that only works on side band???? Also the position of the master off on switch confuses me unless the middle linear switch is in the preamp position it will not turn off unless that middle switch is back on preamp... What do I have going on here and don't tell me I don't know how to hook black and red wires to my battery. It turns on just no out put. I am running brand new 4ft twin truckers like I always have the radio works fine just not seem to be kicking the signal. I hooked my SWR & POWER meter to it and it's at 3.5 watt where I set the radio ... The 447 has a variable Rf adjustable SWRs and Mic gain all built into the reasons why when I see these radios up for sale used I buy em up... It works solid always has all these years I have. I hooked up an in box Cobra 29 classic to the amp same shit no kick???? What is going on???

I appreciate the support brother!

KL203 it says on the front

Its prob got the good bi polar tranny in it man.Good deal!@@24nov67

Awesome report brother!!!!!

What is a "final"?

ordered one, hopefully on the way for the weekend ! I live in a 'valley' so am going to be interesting to see what difference the pre-amp and swapping between (now three) different antennas will make !

Nice,yeah that radio is very weak in the TX dept,but It has great audioNo more than 3 watts,have fun bro!!!

@@577buttfan Am emailing you. I have a Uniden Washington with great audio but, on SSB, reports say its off-center. I got the radio from an estate sale.... never been used.

Question? I have a uniden 980 SSB Hooked to KL203P. Getting a 2.5 dead carrier. But when I tun on the amp. It omits a chicken sound. Where am I going wrong.

Awesome brother!!!

@@577buttfan Thanks, I lowered it down to 1.5 watts dead key and it's banging north of 150 watts PEP on my Bird 43 with a peak kit in the 5x switch with a 50 watt slug. Also, you can tell it by the sound of the supply that it is doing the dang thing lol. I looked at it on the scope and it seems to look good there too (not pinching off). Whats crazy is I hooked another radio (Uniden PC68LTX)up that's putting out just a touch over 3 watts deadkey stock and it still is hitting 150 Watt PEP and looks clean and mean on the scope.

Glad it helped!

This video does well for some reason lol???

Nice,stay tuned Ill have new 577 modded radios for sale this winter!

Well if your audio is open and not pinched off and you have forward RMS not PEP you should be ok,but keep a close eye on the amps temp,Id prefer running 2 watts.

Hahaha,ok yeah,I see close to 200 peak out of the 203 after the FQP upgrade..great deal bro!!

Mobile or base..Id use a wilson 1000 for mobile and an Antron 99 for base.

Yeah the 2030 was my goto FET before the 13N10..I have had a couple of the 13N10 blow in radios so Im always looking for a better device.

Always figure at least 25 amps per transistor if they are the big pills,smaller pills like 2290 and 455/454 figure 15 to 20..so for a 4 pill big pill amp I would use 100 amp..if you keep popping fused i would think the amp may have been reverse polarized and the pills could be gone..one way to know is to check the reverse polarity diode..you will be able to see if its cracked and burnt.

Perfect drive for alot of amps :)

Oh yeah,you can run more than 100% mod into that amp no worries!! This amp can handle a 3 watt DK but I wouldn’t run any more than 35 PEP swing into it.When I say more than 100% I mean the NPC/RC mod where you can achieve 150% with negative peaks compressed below 100%. But with a stock radio i would not run more than 100% or you will get fuzzy:)

How much would you charge to get the best performance out of my amp and cb?

Im only in the shop from dec through march so where nearing the end of the season..if you hit me up next december I can do that for you. Just shoot me an email when ready and we can talk. paraglidermx)@gmail.com

Ok, sounds good.. thanks

Typo in email. paraglidermx0@gmail.com

Hi,no the RF gain is for receiver only,i modded the radio to have a variable power in that spot,i have a TIP high gain mod video you can check out how to do the mod,I would set vr4 to 100% modulation but you need a scope. Thanks for watching!!

If I was you i would just go for the 200/203P amps,you will see over 100 watts for only a few more bucks and can be plugged into cig lighter...just make sure your radio and antenna are set up for driving the amp and you’ll be golden.

Well if you don’t have a very accurate meter you can get an audio check from a friend,if the audio sounds crisp,open and clear you should be fine my friend..I never had a hand-held open before,you might want to look for a service manual on the radio for TX power alignments. Thanks for stopping by.

@@577buttfan 73!

If you can find a cheap Radio Shack meter online they are great for readingAVG/RMS. These are great i use them all the time on the road and if you see back swing on AVG/RMS your no good. www.ebay.com/itm/Radio-Shack-CB-and-High-Frequency-HAM-SWR-Power-Meter-21-534/183398938475?hash=item2ab36db76b:g:IwIAAOSw~91bgcwv

@@577buttfan I've got an Astatic PDC1 for swr, supposedly reads power too. Back swing is literally when the meter needle no longer moves forward but swings back, right? I'm inclined to just hook up the 203p to my stock cmx760 and go with it. Stock radio should put out about 3.5 dk. This radio is pretty new and I can't find any guidance on opening it and adjusting the carrier.

In the winter i do a little bit,get in touch with me them bro.577 Tom

Shoot me an email brother!! paraglidermx0@gmail.com

Im not sure what devices that has in it,if you could take a few close up HD pics and send them to my email i could give you a better idea how to drive it. paraglidermx0@gmail.com

Sure it would but a stock radio is very restricted especially the 949. I would have it professionally peaked and tuned by well known shop that wont clip limiters or charge you for any snake oil mods they didn’t do. Im in the shop late fall if you contact me i would love to get that radio talking and set up for the 200p.Until then just run it with RF power all the way down into the amp.1-2 watts is all you need. 577 Tom

I would check your modulation. Might find one or both of the main limiters clipped and possibly an r246/238 swing trash mod.Is the radio untouched?

Enjoying The Sun 577-Jersey Customs , correct the radio is stock. Also-I don't run SSB (yet) as I am unsure of internal power adjustments that I should make to reduce power. (Unsure that front panel RF Power adjustment has any effect on ssb. Back to the initial clipped AM modulation, when I do reduce the MIC Gain to half or below, modulation is clear.

The RF power does control the SSB power as well. There is also a VR trimmer inside the radio that is in circuit with the ALC limiter transistor.

Thanks man,really appreciate it!!

Depending on what radio you have a swing kit or variable power mod is the way too go.If you turn down the power inside the radio without adding a TIP 120 high gain swing mod you will loose forward power. Shoot me an email and i can take care of it for ya!! paraglidermx0@gmail.com

It wont toast the amp instantly,but your audio will sound very crunchy and pinched off because the transistors in the amp will be running in saturation,plus it will get very hot..you can turn L-14 down CCW to achieve 2 watts but you will lose a ton of forward power without doing the TIP 120 variable swing mod,that mod allows you to turn your dead key down to nothing and still keep all your forward swing. I can do the mod for you if you want,just send me an email paraglidermx0@gmail.com and Ill give you my contact info.Right now Im busy with seasonal work so it would be a couple weeks before i could get the radio finished,Im usually in the CB shop from late fall till March. Thanks for stopping by.

There is a transistor in the circuit that switches the pre amp on and off that usually goes bad or the relay has issues. Bump bump!

Enjoying The Sun 577-Jersey Customs ok thank you for letting me know I appreciate it one more question the Galaxy DX 959 has automatic SWR right now at Channel One 1.2 on channel 40 I'm at 1.4 do you know how much this will through my swr off. An I understand this helps with how far you can push out but does it help pull single in. An do you no how many watts the 959 is putting out from the box

Enjoying The Sun 577-Jersey Customs ok so I installed this amp an with just the raido I'm at 1.5 through 1 to 40 then when I switch the amp on it brings my swr to 1.1 for all channels

You really cant beat these little KL series amps..you will be able to talk around the world on skip with the right conditions. You would need a 20 amp power supply too run both tho...they sell those 30 amp switchers on ebay for $25 that would do the trick!!

@@577buttfan Would the radio have to be powered down when running the amp? Kind of a novice here. Is RF gain different from power level of the radio? Thanks.

I have had great results with 3 or 6ft.Id personoly use 6ft.Or just whatever it takes to go from point A to B as long as your antenna is in tune.

unmodulated carrier

The solder they used on them is so hard to melt I believe its silver solder so pretty much a throw away amp.

Does it do any of the same symptoms with the amp out of line?Make sure your hooked up TX/RX correctly and make sure you have a good ground.Really good ground.Go straight to the battery with the amp and use 20a fuse.Get your SWR checked and set.If its an older radio the radio could be causing problems bad cap high ESR ect.

@@577buttfan Sorry for late response. Thank you for the reply. I'm going to try that. What gauge wire should I use? Do you think a low pass filter would help? I know they sell them for these amps.

Yeah ,hit me up paraglidermx0@gmail.com

Total input power.Anymore than 3 watts carrier or dead key and the amp swings back on RMS not good. Ive also put more than 10 RMS total swing into one and they hold up great!!Just make sure your carrier power is less than 3.

The best for the Mc Kinley is the KL-200p

No more than 3 watts Bird DK.

Open it up,if it has 4x220 case transistors in it more than likely yes or a good clone.

Its not the cleanest amp its a cheap CB amp..if you keep your AMC set to 100% mod it doesn’t look bad at all. But if you want that rip your face off AM trucker audio its going to look dirty no matter what :)

Yeah with a clean shot and properly tuned antenna youll get alot more than 20 miles lol.

they all do that jump up a little bit but don't worry about it

Yes correct 3 watts from the radio..tha amp should produce between 25-35 with 1-2 watts DK. As long as your RMS behind thre amp is swinging forward your good to go but you need a good RMS meter like a Bird not just a pep hobby meter.

If that has the MRF 455's in it i would be super careful,but if you have the big pills(Toshiba 2879 your good to go as long as you have forward RMS or AVG power and good SWR).Just use a single final radio :)

foxman362 What do you mean black things are bad? Is that like a subconscious racial thing bro?

Radical AM I don’t think he meant it like that. Obviously his English isn’t the greatest

Haha,you need to buy a cheap power meter and see if your putting out,if the amp still functions you should see some watts!!@@MET90LX

Nope.These are great throw away amp!!

@@577buttfan you ship to Canada?

Well if the battery is 12v and your not keying the amp there is a short somewhere.

Just a good RG8X brother with silver/teflon 259s.All 3 and 6ft.My SWR is 1.1 with 50 ohms and very minimal reactance.

@@577buttfan Thanks!

Im sorry I dont understand your question...you need at least 4x2sc2879s to run the italy amp into it safely. An fqp single final rig is a hot rig,that FET is badass!!

Thats a strong radio depending on how its all set up it may draw more than 10 amps.Between the radio and amp you should be fine with 30.Just make sure its set up properly with correct carrier achieving forward RMS clean audio ect...I would also run a fan on the amp especially in SSB mode.If your worried you can put a cheap amp meter inline with the positive power buss.

@@577buttfan I’m thinking I should be good with 30 to got me a nice 30 amp power supply couldn’t do the 50 right now

You should have some head room left with a 30 bro.

@@577buttfan I got a 45 lol

Now you'll be able to run all the LED lights in your shack to lol :)

The 13N10 will work jut fine in place of the originals.

Not supposed to have any carrier on SSB,try turning down the mic gain all the way should have nothing if you have a carrier the carrier balance needs to be adjusted.

MAtt at radio garage has em sometimes.

Yes as long as you have forward RMS/Average on a meter and the audio sounds open and crisp.

Enjoying The Sun 577-Jersey Customs How high a deadkey can you run a Texas 500 with? Thanks in advance brother

Depends on of it's the HD high drive or LD low drive amp

Lower the dead key from radio and see if you can find a spot it wont,if It still dips back with 1/2 watt then you may have a bad cap or transistors could be going leaky.

thanks for the reply!i have a schematic from the linear and try too check it out....the zetagi has 2x mrf 422 in it running on 24 volts,pushing 160 watts on the meter and drawing 12,5 ampere max.....

Oh ok,Im not familiar with that amp at all or the devices. I would check out the data sheet for the 422s also too see if you are within spec with everything.

I got all 3 footers on my bench,whatever gives you a good tune efficiency..6 foot..9 foot ect...

I would just set up the radio so you are seeing a dead key between 25-40 watts out of the amp on a dummy load with good meter,depends on how you want to sound,25 will have alot more audio than 40..also might want to get a small PC fan for the top of the amp.I run all my 200/203 amps at around 30. peace 577

You will be fine with this amp yup..just keep it at 2 watts! I have swung close to 50 pep into these all day long.

No I sold all my shit too fly :)

Na,you can dead key higher as long as your forwrd AVG or RMS is moving forward.

As long as you RMS is swinging forward your good to go. Id try 2 watts and adjust from there.

You could detune L14 but you will lose a slew of forward power,in order to keep your full peak forward power you have to do a swing mod,preferably the TIP variable mod...that way you can dial the drive in perfect every time.

I would have the radio peaked and tuned,should do fine with 5-6 in swinging 25 pep or so.

This amp draws 7-10 amps depending on how you drive it,yes its fine in a car,a Texas Star DX 350 is about the limit I would put in a car without adding a battery and upgrading the alternator system. Just make sure you go straight to battery and use a 15a fuse :)

Enjoying The Sun 577-Jersey Customs thank you for input. It’s what’s been holding me back from getting an amp. When I do get one it’ll be an amp similar to this one if not the same and I’ll play it safe and have a shop hardwire the entire set up. I still plug into the cigarette port and it’s been working so far just fine thus far.

Oh yeah,you can plug these into a 10 amp cig port no problem..especially if your not using a real hot radio to drive. Your welcome and have a great Holiday!!

It has an internal fuse but I would use a 15 amp external also.

@@577buttfan got a 30 amp in line fuse for it

Stock 980 runs about 4 watts so yes of coarse.

As long as your not dipping back on RMS and your audio is clean and open you should be fine..

This amp will handle 25-30 PEP SSB drive no problem. Thanks for watching.

You can but it will get way too hot..I would have the radio peaked and tuned and the carrier set to 2 watts man..If you want too send it shoot me an email.

Around $100.

About 129 bucks

Yes,as long as you have the DK set to 1-2 watts and your modulation in check meaning no clipped limiters.

If you have 6 watts dead key or 6 watts under no modulation,no its not safe at all. You want to see about 25-30 watt dead key out of amp and swing to 100-140 pep under audio. Thanks for stopping by :)

I showed on video with 4 watts dead key thats like max for this amp,after that you are going to sound like crap..the 20 swing should be just fine,I drove hi output dual final exports into this amp before with no issues as long as your dead key set properly.

no,your audio will sound all pinched off and the amp will get super hot and possibly blow a device or both.

The lower you go the dirtier it will get too so keep that in mind :)

​@@577buttfanok