Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Vol 21, Issue 4( MS 4 vibration)

2010-03-02 Thread FJMelick
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 
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Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Vol 21, Issue 4( MS 4 vibration)

2010-03-02 Thread k9sqg
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


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Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Vol 21, Issue 4( MS 4 vibration)

2010-03-02 Thread Garey Barrell

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
   


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