[Drakelist] T-4X issues
Trying to perform the carrier balance adjustment, the control has no effect and the output with gain full ccw is zero no matter what. I am getting output in LSB, USB, and CW when operating normally with key or microphone. I went through carrier oscillator/filter match/ and balance modulator procedure and believe have that adjusted correctly, but had to unbalance with C2 to be able to see effect of tuning T2, T3 and T14, then rebaalance with C2. Evidently this rig has a lot of issues. Any thoughts on where to begin? 73, Curt KB5JO ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Vol 21, Issue 4( MS 4 vibration)
Garey: Thanks for the reply. The issue is on receive and no I don't use 40 very much and I guess this issue might be one of the reasons and the other is the band has not been to good until just lately. The audio is annoying to say the least. I have not had any audio reports that would indicate the same issue on Transmit. I will ask the next time I am on 40. I use an inverted vee antenna at 30 feet going through a MN-200 tuner on 40 . The antenna is cut for 3.972 MHz and I go direct through the tuner on 75 meters .No matching required for that segment of the band.The audio is ok on 75 meters but the vibration on the top of the speaker cabinet is always there whether the audio gain is up or down. I did hear that there was a new circuit board and caps available for the power supply and that it is recommended to do the upgrade with these new parts and circuit board. Not sure if that was done when the supply was rebuilt. I did get a bag of old parts returned to me when the rig was repaired. A couple of caps and a few resistors plus some tubes from the transmitter. Do you sense any vibration when your power supply is running with both receiver and transmitter turned on in the receive mode? Thanks Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
[Drakelist] Deoxit debroke it.
Just tried some Deoxit for the first time after hearing so much about it here on the list.. afterwards, however, I wondered if I might have missed some pithy warning not to use it on Drake rotary switches? My T-4XB R-4B had been working OK before I cleaned a couple of the rotary switches on the transmitter with a tiny bit of Deoxit per directions but when I fired it up again, the receiver won't mute... strange because the only thing done to the setup was the Deoxit on the T-4XB and I'm certain I didn't poke around hard enough to lift or dislodge any prongs on the switch so I'm baffled on this one. None was used on the relay and it closes OK on tune the mute cable checks out and so I'm wondering if the Deoxit might have damaged a contact on the switches? Has anyone else had problems after Deoxit? Comments would be appreciated. Thanks, Doc ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Vol 21, Issue 4( MS 4 vibration)
I've had vibration experiences with several Drake power supplies and have found the following causes. Whether they appy in this instance, I can't say. 1. Critical proximity between a metal case and the transformer, such as with an L4/L4B/L7 supply. A piece of stiff foam rubber cured the problem. 2. Loose transformer laminations and/or windings. Not very common. Through-bolts for the transformer laminations should be tight. A loose winding usually caused noise but little vibration. Some flowable RTV (the kind used to seal windshields and acquariums) oozed into the top of the windings, set to dry, then the same from the bottom; works only if loose windings are near the exposed areas and not hidden. 3. Excessive load on the power supply and/or a capacitor developing lowering internal resistance. Usually a problem only if an over-rated fuse has mistakenly been inserted. Proper size fuze should be used, capacitor checked or replaced, and load current tested. I'm sure there are other causes, these are just the ones I've found to be most common in my personal experiences. 73, Evan ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Vol 21, Issue 4( MS 4 vibration)
Fred - I wanted to clear up what we were talking about. If the issue is on receive, then you need new filter caps in the receiver. The receiver has it's own power supply, completely separate from the AC-4 transmitter supply. Assuming all the caps in the AC-4 have been replaced, there is nothing wrong with doing that in place of the AC-4R 'upgrade' kit. The kit just makes it a lot easier to do. All this is making the perhaps rash assumption that the capacitors the other guy used were good, and not as old as the originals. They probably are fine. I don't recall whether this is a B or C line. However, there are one, (or two,) can type caps in the receivers, plus a couple under the chassis. They should all be replaced since all are well over 30 years old. One or two may still be fine, but even if they are, they won't last much longer and can cause very expensive damage to the receiver if they fail catastrophically, i.e., short. Simplest approach here is the cap replacement kit from Tom at hayseedhamfest.com. He supplies all caps that need to be replaced, along with instructions on how to do it. As for the speaker cabinet vibrating, yes, there is a big transformer right underneath the top surface with considerable AC current running through it that is generating a pretty hefty AC magnetic field. The MS-4 case is steel, and so acts as a large diafrahm and amplifiy the hum. It will vibrate more when you transmit because of the heavy currents. 73, Garey - K4OAH Glen Allen, VA Drake 2-B, 4-B, C-Line TR-4/C Service Supplement CDs www.k4oah.com fjmel...@aol.com wrote: Garey: Thanks for the reply. The issue is on receive and no I don't use 40 very much and I guess this issue might be one of the reasons and the other is the band has not been to good until just lately. The audio is annoying to say the least. I have not had any audio reports that would indicate the same issue on Transmit. I will ask the next time I am on 40. I use an inverted vee antenna at 30 feet going through a MN-200 tuner on 40 . The antenna is cut for 3.972 MHz and I go direct through the tuner on 75 meters .No matching required for that segment of the band.The audio is ok on 75 meters but the vibration on the top of the speaker cabinet is always there whether the audio gain is up or down. I did hear that there was a new circuit board and caps available for the power supply and that it is recommended to do the upgrade with these new parts and circuit board. Not sure if that was done when the supply was rebuilt. I did get a bag of old parts returned to me when the rig was repaired. A couple of caps and a few resistors plus some tubes from the transmitter. Do you sense any vibration when your power supply is running with both receiver and transmitter turned on in the receive mode? Thanks Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Deoxit debroke it.
Doc - Nah, I don't think you can blame it on DeoxIT. Got the FUNCTION switch in the ON position? 73, Garey - K4OAH Glen Allen, VA Drake 2-B, 4-B, C-Line TR-4/C Service Supplement CDs www.k4oah.com HaloNet wrote: Just tried some Deoxit for the first time after hearing so much about it here on the list.. afterwards, however, I wondered if I might have missed some pithy warning not to use it on Drake rotary switches? My T-4XB R-4B had been working OK before I cleaned a couple of the rotary switches on the transmitter with a tiny bit of Deoxit per directions but when I fired it up again, the receiver won't mute... strange because the only thing done to the setup was the Deoxit on the T-4XB and I'm certain I didn't poke around hard enough to lift or dislodge any prongs on the switch so I'm baffled on this one. None was used on the relay and it closes OK on tune the mute cable checks out and so I'm wondering if the Deoxit might have damaged a contact on the switches? Has anyone else had problems after Deoxit? Comments would be appreciated. Thanks, Doc ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
[Drakelist] ( MS 4 vibration) and Capacitor Replacement
Garey, I agree that Tom's capacitor kits are excellent, but they really don't come with instructions as such, even though the cans symbols on the bottom even match the originals. You won't say it, but I will, that the guys need your fine CD's to find some of the little hummers on the boards that Drake hid them on!!! I find the combination of Toms kits and your CD's to be VERY helpful to me (and neither of these gentlemen asked me to say that). One word of advice though, get a GOOD solder gun to unstick the can tabs from the chassis and resolder the new ones down. My wimpy little Weller got replaced with a nice, D550 (200/260W) that works well!! It also solders antenna wires like a champ, so will see lots of use around here. 73, Don, WB5HAK ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] ( MS 4 vibration) and Capacitor Replacement
I've found that a 200 watt soldering IRON is one beefy, easy way to desolder just about anything soldered to a chassis. -Original Message- From: Don Cunningham wb5...@martineer.net To: k4...@mindspring.com; Drakelist drakelist@zerobeat.net Sent: Tue, Mar 2, 2010 7:22 pm Subject: [Drakelist] ( MS 4 vibration) and Capacitor Replacement Garey, I agree that Tom's capacitor kits are excellent, but they really don't come with instructions as such, even though the cans symbols on the bottom even match the originals. You won't say it, but I will, that the guys need your fine CD's to find some of the little hummers on the boards that Drake hid them on!!! I find the combination of Toms kits and your CD's to be VERY helpful to me (and neither of these gentlemen asked me to say that). One word of advice though, get a GOOD solder gun to unstick the can tabs from the chassis and resolder the new ones down. My wimpy little Weller got replaced with a nice, D550 (200/260W) that works well!! It also solders antenna wires like a champ, so will see lots of use around here. 73, Don, WB5HAK ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Deoxit debroke it.
Hard to imagine DeOxit causing the problem as you used it sparingly (vs flooding the wafer and possible inducing swelling). Did you exercise the rig immediately after applying the DeOxit? It is somewhat conductive until dry. Dennis AE6C On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 2:34 PM, HaloNet halo@verizon.net wrote: Just tried some Deoxit for the first time after hearing so much about it here on the list.. afterwards, however, I wondered if I might have missed some pithy warning not to use it on Drake rotary switches? My T-4XB R-4B had been working OK before I cleaned a couple of the rotary switches on the transmitter with a tiny bit of Deoxit per directions but when I fired it up again, the receiver won't mute... strange because the only thing done to the setup was the Deoxit on the T-4XB and I'm certain I didn't poke around hard enough to lift or dislodge any prongs on the switch so I'm baffled on this one. None was used on the relay and it closes OK on tune the mute cable checks out and so I'm wondering if the Deoxit might have damaged a contact on the switches? Has anyone else had problems after Deoxit? Comments would be appreciated. Thanks, Doc ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
[Drakelist] Deoxit debroke it.
I sold a Drake C Line to a ham friend a few years back. It had been fully functional for me for months and the fellow came over to pick them up. I fired them both up in front of him, on my antenna and went everywhere, all bands, everything worked - HAD FUN! He carried them out to his truck (smiling), they went on the passenger seats with towels over them. I get a phone call an hour after he left (here), him wondering why this receiver is DED. Nothing - flat out unresponsive. My jaw hit the floor. Something happened in the cool down period at my place, during the truck ride, or upon setup on his side. He's an honest and smart ham. I learned never to assume any cause nor affect with things so mechanical in nature. My guess - the deoxit may seem like a red flag but it could be s many other things... Steve Berg wa9jml at tbc.net Tue Mar 2 22:18:41 EST 2010 I have used de-oxit many times on old National, and Clegg equipment, both on switches and on pots. So far, I have had no trouble from it. I may even have saturated the wafers on a switch or two in the process to no ill effects. I am much more careful with it now, though. Many of these components are almost if not impossible to find now, and I don't want to take any unnecessary chances in wrecking something. Steve WA9JML ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
