[hpsdr] Munin/Alex questions

[John]

Greetings,

I have connected together my Hermes, Alex and Munin together and am 
running with the latest Hermes firmware and OpenHPSDR mRx (v. 3.2.9, 
2/13/14).  If I posted my observations I would surely labeled as 
suffering from delusions!  At least that is what I would think if 
someone posted what I'm seeing.  Therefore I'll just ask two 
questions for now.  :)

1.)   In OpenHPSDRmRx setup, under PA gain, one must increase the 
numbers in order to increase the power output.   That seems 
backwards, but that is what worked for me.  I do not have a 
calibrated power measurement system, so I  set the PA gains for a 
little under 100 Watts using the reading derived from the software 
defaults.  With an old Bird  30db 500W attenuator as a load at about 
1 Watt indicated the indicated SWR is 1.0:1.  If I increase the power 
to 30 Watts indicated, the SWR is 1.5:1.  My question is:  Will using 
the default forward power settings adversely affect the operation of 
the Hermes/Munin/Alex system, or will the power indication just be incorrect?

2.)  How does Hermes/Alex/Munin work when there is a high SWR?  Is 
the power pulsed or held constant?  It seems as though the forward 
power readings are much higher than the average power supply current 
would allow.  If the readings are peak readings and the power is 
pulsed that would explain what I am seeing.

Best regards,

John,  WoGN