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T7B04

PRACTICAL CIRCUITS · Symptoms, causes, and cures of common transmitter and receiver problems: overload and overdrive, distortion, interference and consumer electronics, RF feedback

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Which of the following might be the cause of low RF power output from a solid-state transceiver?

  1. APoor amplifier noise figure
  2. BPoor amplifier linearity
  3. CLow SWR
  4. DHigh SWR
Why Solid-state final amplifiers have no easy way to tolerate reflected power, so modern transceivers include a protection circuit that senses SWR and automatically reduces (folds back) drive when the load is badly mismatched. A high SWR on the feedline means a large portion of the power is being reflected back toward the radio, and the protection circuit throttles output to keep the finals from overheating or failing. So an antenna system fault, bad coax, or wrong-band antenna usually shows up first as reduced power out.
Watch out Low SWR is the goal, not a fault, since it means the antenna is accepting the power. Noise figure describes receiver sensitivity, and poor linearity would produce distortion and splatter rather than a drop in power.
High SWR equals power foldback: the rig protects its transistors by turning itself down.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
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The rest of T7B

  1. T7B01 What can you do if you are told your FM handheld or mobile transceiver is over-deviating?
  2. T7B02 What would cause a broadcast AM or FM radio to receive an amateur radio transmission unintentionally?
  3. T7B03 Which of the following can cause radio frequency interference?
  4. T7B04 Which of the following might be the cause of low RF power output from a solid-state transceiver?
  5. T7B05 Which of the following might reduce interference by an amateur station to a non-amateur over-the-air radio re…
  6. T7B06 Which of the following actions should you take if a neighbor tells you that your station's transmissions are …
  7. T7B07 Which of the following can reduce interference to a 2-meter band transceiver from a nearby commercial FM stat…
  8. T7B08 What should you do if something in a neighbor's home is causing harmful interference to your amateur station?
  9. T7B09 What should be the first step to resolve non-fiber optic cable TV interference caused by your amateur radio t…
  10. T7B10 What might be a problem if you receive a report that your audio signal through an FM repeater is distorted or…
  11. T7B11 Which of the following can eliminate distorted voice transmissions?
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