Allison wrote:

First pull the jumper.
Second pick up the rf at the last "live" stage and bring it to a jack.
I assume the transverter will permit seperate TX and RX paths, the
better ones do. If the pickoff point is more than you need still the
attenuator will not have to be big or high power.

As to just pulling the plug and hoping fo rf leak through, try it it
may work, my bet is no.

The band pass filter for the operating freqency is before the driver
and final so it's clean there. The transverter will also clean up the
input usually. So the level of excess harmonics should not be a
problem.

Allison
KB1gmX

Allison has touched all the important bases - his suggestion is the best
way to do it.

The idea of just pulling the plug will not work - you'll turn all the
power devices into passive diode limiters, and if anything comes out at
all, it will be filthy. Likewise the huge reduction in audio drive will
not work, because the SSB/CW signal will drop down into the circuit
noise, and probably well below the level of the not-quite-suppressed
carrier.

For a complete solution, install a little RF relay to switch the drive
signal to an output socket on the rear of the transceiver. As Allison
says, do this *after* the filters at the operating frequency, just
before the signal enters the driver/PA boards. Also install a DC power
relay to remove the supply to those RF power stages. Wire the two relays
so that when they are not energized, the transceiver works as normal.

The deluxe - and safe - way to control those relays is to supply 12V DC
down the coax cable between the new output socket and the transverter
(using RF chokes and blocking capacitors to separate the DC from the RF
at each end). When the transverter is powered-on, it commands the
transceiver to send it low power. When the transverter is off, the
transceiver simply goes back to normal.

You don't know exactly what power level the driver stages will provide.
If it's too high, attenuate it. If it's too low, use an MMIC amp. If -
as seems very likely - the transverter comes from Down East Microwave,
the facilities you need will probably be on-board.

As Allison says, use a separate route for RX input. This will require
yet another small RF relay (powered the same way as the others) but it
will make sure you can never empty the full transceiver power into the
RX output of the transverter.

This system with DC control down the low-level TX coax will take a
little time to install, but it is highly reliable and very safe. I've
used it on a number of rigs here over the past 20+ years, and it has
never let me down.


--
73 from Ian G3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
Editor, 'The VHF/UHF DX Book'
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek