Hunter399
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Posts posted by Hunter399
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For those interested I sent my radio back to midland and they are gonna test the new one before sending back out. In talking with them they sent me their testing document. It’s Interesting to me you could potentially get a MXT400 and if you’re lucky have higher watts versus an unlucky MXT500 owner.
- marcspaz and AdmiralCochrane
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I was debating if I needed to run a small ground wire from my NMO mount to my rack. I have no interference and get good SWR numbers. Probably my ocd kicking in. Would this even help? I assume it’s not needed in this case?
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On 1/18/2022 at 10:42 PM, Mtkester said:
I just put my pile of $400 garbage, otherwise known as an MXT500, on the meter as well and she peaked out at 36.4 watts using a 13.8 volt, 30 amp power supply. Already submitted a return request for it. I knew it was going to be disappointing… I didn’t believe Midland would actual add fraud to the long list of this radio’s shortcomings.
Have they returned it and did the new one read higher? Debating returning mine as well
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5 hours ago, marcspaz said:
No, I'm sorry.. That is not what I am trying to say. What I mean is, none of your measurements are in agreement with one another.. Therefore I do not trust the 40 W reading.
I believe that either you need to calibrate your watt meter, your amp meter, your volt meter, some combination of the three or all three.
I need to measure the volts better, I wasn’t thinking of the loss across how far the wire is i know the amps are spot on.
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21 hours ago, marcspaz said:
No. Regardless of if you are using a dummy load or an antenna, there are 2 formulas used for calculating power, resistance, current and voltage. The first is Voltage / Current * Resistance. If you have any 2 of the 3, you can find the 1 unknown value. The second is Power / Voltage * Current. Again, if you have any 2 of the 3, you can find the 1 unknown value.
We are going to use the second of the 2 formulas. We know you have 7.5 amps at 14.6vdc. We are going to multiply the two for a total of 109.5 watts of total consumed power by the radio. The transmitter has an efficiency rating of 55% (per the manufacturer, and a very common value). That means we are going to take 45% away from the 109.5w, being 109.5 * 0.55 = 60.225 watts out to the antenna or dummy load. If your meter is reading 40w, then either the watt meter is not correct or the measured voltage or current are not correct.
So as long as my power going to the radio is correct I shouldn’t be concerned it’s only putting out the 40 watts?
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54 minutes ago, marcspaz said:
@Hunter399 at 55% efficiency, that puts you over 60 watts.
Due to not testing power with a dummy load?
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So I tested my amps and I am showing 7.5 amps at 14.6 volts. My electrical system runs higher volts for my agm batteries etc. so with the higher voltage I am within that 8 amp range discussed. Still only showing 40-41 watts, I’ll have to call as well.
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I did reach out today and they are sending a new antenna. So I will test that new one when it arrives, for now just running around with the 6db on. If this new one doesn’t work I’ll try a laird one.
I forgot to ask them regarding my 40 watt output. Are they sending you a new one? I don’t have a dummy load for testing, isn’t that the only accurate way to measure power or is through the antenna and wire ok?
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I assume if my swr is good on the other two antennas then my wire routing and location are good?
Also, with the power reading at 40 or so watts on the other two antennas is normal? Off a 50 watt radio is that normal loss?
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Hey guys,
I just received my SWR meter and ran some tests to check my antennas and triple check a good mounting location etc.
My 6db antenna and the little 2.4db antenna included in the MXT500 box are both good at 1.00 to 1.01 across all frequencies.
Now my midland ghost antenna, which I planned on being my primary antenna is showing 1.67 to sometimes 2.00 on some frequencies which is bad. Also noted the watts being higher.
Is this a bad ghost antenna?
pics included for reference.
Thanks in advance.
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Thanks again for the help guys! So on my handheld KG-935G I keyed up and received a Morse code return. So I assume It worked! Just need to get my MXT500 setup
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13 hours ago, n4gix said:
Note also that listing is not completely accurate, as the offset is NOT +0.6 mHz but rather is +5.0 mHz...
I was confused by that as well. Setting up tones on my midland MXT500 is kinda a pain. Do you set 141.3 for both TX and RX I assume?
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Do you guys know if the shark fin on my truck. FM/GPS receiver would cause interference?
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Thanks guys! That makes sense!
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I am also very new to GMRS and using repeaters etc. I didn’t see this discussed so I was wanting clarification. Thanks in advance!
On repeater book I found a repeater north of me. Just so o understand this correctly tx 462.625 and RX 467.625.
What’s travel tone?
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Thanks for the responses, when I get home from out of town I can take better pictures. I have a solar panel on my hood so idk if that would effect things or absorb/block signal. I also have a stainless steel bed cap and rack on that as well. Would mounting towards the rear of the cabs rack be better?
here are some old pics on my phone to give you an idea for now. Thanks again!
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Hey guys,
Just relieved my GMRS license and before I instal the new MXT500 on my Tacoma I just had a few questions. Looking at possible ways to route my wires it looks like the power and antenna wire will have to go through the same hole in the firewall. Then I will be running the antenna cable opposite side of my windshield as my light bar and other electrical accessories I have installed on my racks. Will having the two cables close in the cab and the firewall cause issues?
My second question is antenna mounting. I plan to use both the midland ghost 3db and 6db antennas. I was planning on mounting the antenna to the side of my Offroad rack as shown in the picture attached. I am out of town so dont have a good pic of my rack set up to send. I just have a lot of mods done to my Tacoma already so wire routing and mounting options are limited. Will this be ok? Should I buy an SWR meter as well?
Thanks for the help. I am new to this and looking to get the best performance I can.
Got My New MXT500 - Not Impressed
in Equipment Reviews
Posted
Just as an update, sent my radio in last week. Received the tested replacement and I get 48.7 watts. So that’s much better now!