Ron Wagner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> made an utterence to the drakelist gang ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Per my e-mail on 6146 conversions, here is that old e-mail from Jan of 2002.
I have done this tuneup procedure for years, with great results. Many people have told me how "slick" it is and saves a lot of wear and tear on your 6JB6s in the twins. I use this on the B line, but would think it should work on any Drake twin line. Please forgive me if this is a repeat. I also do not take credit for the procedure, I think I read it somewhere. Have your RX ready, that is preselector tuned and on frequency that you are going to TX on. Turn the twins to seperate. All the following is done on the TX: - Have the TX attached to a dummy load. - Turn the TX to CW mode so that it does not "warble" when in spot. - I usually run 40 and 80, so the sideband is in the "X" position, not sure, but I think it may need to be there on all bands you use this "pretune up" procedure on. - Turn function to spot. - Turn up the TX gain to about 10 o'clock. - Tune the TX VFO so that you hear a beat note in the RX. - Turn the TX preselector for max volume or S-meter reading on the RX. Basically you are using the RX to detect the peaking of the TX. I can not get my S-meter to move, but I have a vary obvious volume change. - Peak the plate control on the rig for max volume or S-meter reading (During "live" tune up, this is the control that you dip). - You are now basically "tuned up". Only thing needed is to load the finals for "max power" out. - Turn the TX gain down. - Turn the function switch to SSB (or leave in CW if you are running CW). - Turn the sideband switch to desired sideband, or X for CW. - "Final Tune" your TX the same as you would normally. - Your rig should already be "plate dipped" and ready to just "load" to a higher power output. Why this works is that in spot, all the "low power" sections of the rig are "just like" they are during transmit. By allowing the power to "blead through" the final tube and tank circuit the rig allows you to hear the note through the RX antenna. Then when you peak the output, you are tuning the TX preselector for max drive, and peaking the tank circuit for resonance. This is exactly what you are doing during regular tune up. The only difference is that you are using a different observation for resonance (max output, instead of max current dip). I would say that this saves 50% of the "key down" time on the finals during tune up. I do not take credit for this procedure. I am pretty sure that I read this somewhere years ago. But the theory is so obvious when you think about it. 73, Ron -- ============================================================ Visit my astronomy home page. http://www.dma.org/~wagner Amateur Radio Station: WD8SBB - Ron and KB8NRP - Joann ============================================================ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- On Behalf of Ron Wagner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Submissions: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - unsubscribe drakelist in body Hopelessly Lost: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - help in body of message Zerobeat Web Page: http://www.zerobeat.net Brought to you courtesy of TLCHost.net http://www.tlchost.net/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
