> Don, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on maximum connection > distance electrically for a VFO. Barry used to run a VFO on the 300G > and included a short cable with it for that purpose. I know someone > (maybe Paul, VJB?) actually removed the lower window in the door and > stuck the same T-368 unit inside their 300G. I'm hoping to have it > back on the air by fall and don't mind starting out crystal-controlled > to get things sorted out, but will want the flexibility to move around > for the exact reasons you mentioned. I'd like to have it on the bench > next to the transmitter, but that could end up being 8-10 feet going > through the transmitter's access holes. > > ~ Todd, KA1KAQ/4
If it is a high-Z output directly from the plate of the tube through a parallel tuned circuit, like the stock T-368 unit or commercial ham VFO's like the VF-1 or Johnson 122, I would say maybe 5-6 feet at most, because the capacitance of the coax running to the transmitter begins to swamp out the tuning capacitance in the VFO output circuit. If it uses link coupling or other system of low-Z output, you can probably use a long a run as you need without any problems. I modified my T-368 unit to link coupled output.. I salvaged a bandswitch wafer from a junker parts unit, disassembled the bandswitch in the good unit and added the new wafer. I cut the metal sleeves and shortened one section by the thickness of the wafer, and reassembled the switch with the additional wafer. I then removed each of the slug tuned output coils and added a few turns of wire at the cold end. One end of the coupling coil was grounded and the other end went out through a new connection terminal. I don't recall whether there was a spare terminal or if I had to fabricate an additional one. The new bandswitch wafer is used to select the appropriate output coil link and take the output to a BNC connector I installed at the rear of the unit. I removed the stock BNC near the output tube and disconnected the wire lead going to it. After the mod, I can get 200-250 mw of power into a 50-ohm load. I replaced the 6000 tube with a 6AG7, which required rewiring the octal socket. I run only about 200 volts on the 6AG7 and the rest of the tubes in the unit. The unit wouldn't track perfectly across the entire range as it did before the mod, but it does track across each of the ham bands with negligible error. Since I don't have any use for frequency coverage outside the amateur bands, that's no problem. I might have a slight problem to work out if I ever try to cover both 40m and 30m using the 6-12 mHz range; I have never tried it to see how much output I get on 30m. I use RG-59 to couple the VFO to each of the transmitters. The longest run goes to the Gates on 160m, about 15 ft. I get more than adequate drive for any of the rigs. Don k4kyv _______________________________________________________________ This message was typed using the DVORAK keyboard layout. http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/ http://gigliwood.com/abcd/ ______________________________________________________________ Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net AMRadio mailing list Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Post: [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] with the word unsubscribe in the message body. This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
