AMERITRON ALS-1306 - Initial Operation Procedure; Fault Identification and Resolution

Revision 2
19
Warning
light
Steady
Warning
light Flash
Fault Cause or Cure
SWR TX
Antenna Reflected
Power
High antenna SWR or
intermittent antenna or feed line
connection
SWR, PA Band
Wrong filter Exciter or amplifier on
incompatible band, filter failure
PA TX
PA FET too hot Excessive power for duty cycle
or SWR, lack of proper airflow
PA Combiner unbalance
10M, PA,
TX
Illegal 11 meter Excessive 27 MHz signal level
REM, PA
No or wrong band when
on remote
Defective or improper remote
cable, or bad radio band data
information
Initial Operation
For your personal and equipment safety, double-check all wiring and connections (fig. 1) before
turning power on. After you have verified amplifier connections, follow the procedures below.
The following steps are necessary during initial checks:
1. Place the MULTIMETER switch (fig.2 ref 5) in the HV2 position. Place the ALC SET
control (fig.2 ref 4) full clockwise (10 on knob scale). The multimeter is the right-side
scale on the rightmost panel meter (fig.2 ref 5).
2. With the STANDBY/OPERATE switch (fig.2 ref 7) on STANDBY, turn the power
switch (ref 8) ON.
3. There will be a slightly delayed “click” from the power supply. HV2 (fig.2, ref 2) should
immediately rise to near full scale, and after a slight delay, you should hear another
“click”. The meters and the appropriate BAND LED (fig.2, ref 3) should illuminate.
4. The multimeter HV2 scale (fig.2, ref 2, bottom right scale) should read between 45 and
55 volts.
5. Change the meter switch (fig.2 ref 6) to HV1. The voltage should be the same as in step
4.
6. Rotate the BAND switch (fig.2 ref 3) through all positions. The appropriate BAND LED
will illuminate, and you should hear band-filter relays switch between 160-80, 80-40, 40-
30, 20-17, 15-12, and 10-6 selector position changes.
7. Set the BAND switch (fig.2 ref 3) to a band where you have a good 50-ohm high-power
load connected.
8. Change the meter switch (ref 6) to REF. In this position, the multimeter indicates
reflected power.
9. With no modulation in the FM, AM, RTTY, or CW mode, and the amplifier still on
standby, adjust your exciter power to about ten watts. This is to have a steady
unmodulated carrier. Verify you have very low power, ideally around 10-watts carrier
(not critical), and that VSWR of the antenna system is low. You should see almost no
deflection on the reflected power scale (fig.1 ref 2) with the MULTIMETER switch in