Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
Wow...that sounds familiar! I was a kid in HS in 1963--I could not afford a TO or any other keyer, so I built one in Electronics class. I think I found the TO article somewhere or someone gave it to me. Used it for a while, got my Extra while a Sr in HS and celebrated by buying an Eico Keyer. Still have the Eico but not the HB TO. Looking forward to putting the (new to me)TO on the air with my classic stuff. Yes there is something very satisfying about cutting and bending your own aluminum--I used to really like that. Wish I had a good chassis bending brake and a shear. Curt KU8L On 1/2/2012 12:38 PM, Gary Winblad wrote: To go even more Off Topic... YES Curt, you will like it a lot! W9TO was the designer, hence the name. As a 15 year old kid in 1967 I built my version in our high school electronics shop class. It has never missed a DIT since! As a confirmed Drake lover even back then, I folded up a Drake style chassis/box so it matched my R-4A. As a kid, and as my first attempt at using a sheet metal brake and sheer, it came out a little bit big, but it still matched Drake pretty well if I don't say so myself... My request: I built it from a design in (I am pretty sure) in a 1959 W6SAI Radio Handbook than my dad (SK) had. As copy machines hadn't been invented yet(!?) I of course don't have a copy. DOES ANYONE have this manual and could make me a copy of the article so I at least have a schematic in case it ever breaks??? Or even just confirm that there is indeed a W9TO keyer in there. I have googled and found that there was a pdf copy on line at one time but it seems to have gone away.. TIA and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all, 73, Gary WB6OGD - Original Message - From: Steve Berg wa9...@tbc.net To: drakelist@zerobeat.net Sent: Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:51:59 - (UTC) Subject: Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER Curt, you will like that TO keyer a lot. I have had one for more than 25 years. It is a very good idea to replace all of the capacitors in it as the electrolytics are shot by now, and the black beauties are not in the best of shape, either. Before I replaced the black beauties, the speed of the keyer would vary quite a bit with changes in humidity. Mine has some quirks with the power supply and VR tubes, but it still works very well. I will eventually get those sorted out, too. 73, Steve WA9JML On 1/2/2012 7:15 AM, Eddy Swynar wrote: On 2012-01-01, at 7:50 PM, Curt Nixon wrote: Just picked up a Hallicrafters TO keyer for the vintage desk also. Same keyer basically. */Hi Curt,/* I think that the one major difference betwixt the /EICO/ the /Hallicrafters TO/keyer is that very same ...weak link in the chain that affected mine here, i.e. the /TO/used (I believe) a sealed mercury-wetted keying relay, whereas the /EICO/went with that reed-relay-in-a-field-coil route to achieve its external keying... I say weak link as no offence to the /EICO/designers, but rather, as a potential source for trouble that may well require the owner's attention at some point in its future...trouble is, if said owner is not all that familiar with the whys wherefores of reed relays / field coils (my right hand is raised!), then one can through a /LOT/of vexing gyrations travails in the trouble-shooting process that are simply not necessary...! *: )* */~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/* ___ 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 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] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
On 2012-01-03, at 8:35 AM, Curt wrote: I could not afford a TO or any other keyer, so I built one in Electronics class. Hi Curt, Back in the very early 70's, I had occasion to meet VE3CSK in London, Ontario, while I attended university there... Zenon used, exclusively, a homebrewed an electronic keyer that, in hindsight, was doubtlessly based upon that same design. In any event, it was FESTOONED with 12AU7A tubes, and even sported a homebrewed paddle...needless-to-say, this 21 year old recently-minted Ham was VERY impressed...! Now, what does any of this stuff have to do with things Drake, to keep the Reflector Kwality Kops happy...? Specifically, this: in 1975, Zenon sold his National NC-300 receiver / Johnson Valiant transmitter / Heathkit linear amplifier, and replaced the works with TWO brand new sets of Drake Twins! He set one up on his station operating table, lovingly stored away the second set, for ...future consideration. The Drakes were, in his own words, ...All I'll ever need in Ham radio. It reminded me of the apparently true story of the farmer who, upon learning that Henry Ford was about to dis-continue sales of the Model T, bought himself a lifetime's supply of the cars replaced them as he grew older, and they wore-out, one by one...! ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
On 2012-01-01, at 7:50 PM, Curt Nixon wrote: Just picked up a Hallicrafters TO keyer for the vintage desk also. Same keyer basically. Hi Curt, I think that the one major difference betwixt the EICO the Hallicrafters TO keyer is that very same ...weak link in the chain that affected mine here, i.e. the TO used (I believe) a sealed mercury-wetted keying relay, whereas the EICO went with that reed-relay-in-a-field-coil route to achieve its external keying... I say weak link as no offence to the EICO designers, but rather, as a potential source for trouble that may well require the owner's attention at some point in its future...trouble is, if said owner is not all that familiar with the whys wherefores of reed relays / field coils (my right hand is raised!), then one can through a LOT of vexing gyrations travails in the trouble-shooting process that are simply not necessary...! : ) ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
Just don't turn your HA-1 on it's side! Mercury relays don't bounce! 73, Garey - K4OAH Glen Allen, VA Drake 2-B, 2-C/2-NT, 4-A, 4-B, C-Line and TR-4/C Service Supplement CDs www.k4oah.com Eddy Swynar wrote: On 2012-01-01, at 7:50 PM, Curt Nixon wrote: Just picked up a Hallicrafters TO keyer for the vintage desk also. Same keyer basically. */Hi Curt,/* I think that the one major difference betwixt the /EICO/ the /Hallicrafters TO/keyer is that very same ...weak link in the chain that affected mine here, i.e. the /TO/used (I believe) a sealed mercury-wetted keying relay, whereas the /EICO/went with that reed-relay-in-a-field-coil route to achieve its external keying... I say weak link as no offence to the /EICO/designers, but rather, as a potential source for trouble that may well require the owner's attention at some point in its future...trouble is, if said owner is not all that familiar with the whys wherefores of reed relays / field coils (my right hand is raised!), then one can through a /LOT/of vexing gyrations travails in the trouble-shooting process that are simply not necessary...! *: )* */~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/* ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
Curt, you will like that TO keyer a lot. I have had one for more than 25 years. It is a very good idea to replace all of the capacitors in it as the electrolytics are shot by now, and the black beauties are not in the best of shape, either. Before I replaced the black beauties, the speed of the keyer would vary quite a bit with changes in humidity. Mine has some quirks with the power supply and VR tubes, but it still works very well. I will eventually get those sorted out, too. 73, Steve WA9JML On 1/2/2012 7:15 AM, Eddy Swynar wrote: On 2012-01-01, at 7:50 PM, Curt Nixon wrote: Just picked up a Hallicrafters TO keyer for the vintage desk also. Same keyer basically. */Hi Curt,/* I think that the one major difference betwixt the /EICO/ the /Hallicrafters TO/keyer is that very same ...weak link in the chain that affected mine here, i.e. the /TO/used (I believe) a sealed mercury-wetted keying relay, whereas the /EICO/went with that reed-relay-in-a-field-coil route to achieve its external keying... I say weak link as no offence to the /EICO/designers, but rather, as a potential source for trouble that may well require the owner's attention at some point in its future...trouble is, if said owner is not all that familiar with the whys wherefores of reed relays / field coils (my right hand is raised!), then one can through a /LOT/of vexing gyrations travails in the trouble-shooting process that are simply not necessary...! *: )* */~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/* ___ 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] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
To go even more Off Topic... YES Curt, you will like it a lot! W9TO was the designer, hence the name. As a 15 year old kid in 1967 I built my version in our high school electronics shop class. It has never missed a DIT since! As a confirmed Drake lover even back then, I folded up a Drake style chassis/box so it matched my R-4A. As a kid, and as my first attempt at using a sheet metal brake and sheer, it came out a little bit big, but it still matched Drake pretty well if I don't say so myself... My request: I built it from a design in (I am pretty sure) in a 1959 W6SAI Radio Handbook than my dad (SK) had. As copy machines hadn't been invented yet(!?) I of course don't have a copy. DOES ANYONE have this manual and could make me a copy of the article so I at least have a schematic in case it ever breaks??? Or even just confirm that there is indeed a W9TO keyer in there. I have googled and found that there was a pdf copy on line at one time but it seems to have gone away.. TIA and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all, 73, Gary WB6OGD - Original Message - From: Steve Berg wa9...@tbc.net To: drakelist@zerobeat.net Sent: Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:51:59 - (UTC) Subject: Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER Curt, you will like that TO keyer a lot. I have had one for more than 25 years. It is a very good idea to replace all of the capacitors in it as the electrolytics are shot by now, and the black beauties are not in the best of shape, either. Before I replaced the black beauties, the speed of the keyer would vary quite a bit with changes in humidity. Mine has some quirks with the power supply and VR tubes, but it still works very well. I will eventually get those sorted out, too. 73, Steve WA9JML On 1/2/2012 7:15 AM, Eddy Swynar wrote: On 2012-01-01, at 7:50 PM, Curt Nixon wrote: Just picked up a Hallicrafters TO keyer for the vintage desk also. Same keyer basically. */Hi Curt,/* I think that the one major difference betwixt the /EICO/ the /Hallicrafters TO/keyer is that very same ...weak link in the chain that affected mine here, i.e. the /TO/used (I believe) a sealed mercury-wetted keying relay, whereas the /EICO/went with that reed-relay-in-a-field-coil route to achieve its external keying... I say weak link as no offence to the /EICO/designers, but rather, as a potential source for trouble that may well require the owner's attention at some point in its future...trouble is, if said owner is not all that familiar with the whys wherefores of reed relays / field coils (my right hand is raised!), then one can through a /LOT/of vexing gyrations travails in the trouble-shooting process that are simply not necessary...! *: )* */~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/* ___ 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 mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
Gary - The 'TO Keyer' was never published!! I have a copy somewhere of the original schematic made by Jim Ricks, W9TO, that he sent out to interested individuals. Apparently he was already in talks with Bill Halligan to market it, as the schematic was marked 'do not distribute' or something to that effect. I also have a '59 Handbook here (I think that's the brown one) and will see if I can find it. I believe it's on the internet as well. Here is one location. http://www.4shared.com/office/U11xlK2Z/1959_-_The_radio_handbook_15th.html A quick scan of the INDEX does not show an electronic keyer of any kind. May have been a later edition. My first keyer was built about 1959 from an old (then!) QST article. Had a 2D21 Thyratron, a 12AT7 divider, and an 0A2 regulator. It worked 'ok' but was extremely sensitive to line voltage changes. Unfortunately my Mom got a new electric skillet for Christmas that same year, and while I'm trying to NCS a net upstairs she's fixing dinner in the kitchen. Every time that @%$# skillet would turn ON (or OFF) the line voltage would shift enough that I had to readjust the thyratron for the correct speed. Made things interesting! :-) 73, Garey - K4OAH Glen Allen, VA Drake 2-B, 2-C/2-NT, 4-A, 4-B, C-Line and TR-4/C Service Supplement CDs www.k4oah.com Gary Winblad wrote: To go even more Off Topic... YES Curt, you will like it a lot! W9TO was the designer, hence the name. As a 15 year old kid in 1967 I built my version in our high school electronics shop class. It has never missed a DIT since! As a confirmed Drake lover even back then, I folded up a Drake style chassis/box so it matched my R-4A. As a kid, and as my first attempt at using a sheet metal brake and sheer, it came out a little bit big, but it still matched Drake pretty well if I don't say so myself... My request: I built it from a design in (I am pretty sure) in a 1959 W6SAI Radio Handbook than my dad (SK) had. As copy machines hadn't been invented yet(!?) I of course don't have a copy. DOES ANYONE have this manual and could make me a copy of the article so I at least have a schematic in case it ever breaks??? Or even just confirm that there is indeed a W9TO keyer in there. I have googled and found that there was a pdf copy on line at one time but it seems to have gone away.. TIA and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all, 73, Gary WB6OGD - Original Message - From: Steve Berg wa9...@tbc.net To: drakelist@zerobeat.net Sent: Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:51:59 - (UTC) Subject: Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER Curt, you will like that TO keyer a lot. I have had one for more than 25 years. It is a very good idea to replace all of the capacitors in it as the electrolytics are shot by now, and the black beauties are not in the best of shape, either. Before I replaced the black beauties, the speed of the keyer would vary quite a bit with changes in humidity. Mine has some quirks with the power supply and VR tubes, but it still works very well. I will eventually get those sorted out, too. 73, Steve WA9JML On 1/2/2012 7:15 AM, Eddy Swynar wrote: On 2012-01-01, at 7:50 PM, Curt Nixon wrote: Just picked up a Hallicrafters TO keyer for the vintage desk also. Same keyer basically. */Hi Curt,/* I think that the one major difference betwixt the /EICO/ the /Hallicrafters TO/keyer is that very same ...weak link in the chain that affected mine here, i.e. the /TO/used (I believe) a sealed mercury-wetted keying relay, whereas the /EICO/went with that reed-relay-in-a-field-coil route to achieve its external keying... I say weak link as no offence to the /EICO/designers, but rather, as a potential source for trouble that may well require the owner's attention at some point in its future...trouble is, if said owner is not all that familiar with the whys wherefores of reed relays / field coils (my right hand is raised!), then one can through a /LOT/of vexing gyrations travails in the trouble-shooting process that are simply not necessary...! *: )* */~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/* ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
Gary - My keyer was in QST for December !954. 73, Garey - K4OAH Glen Allen, VA Drake 2-B, 2-C/2-NT, 4-A, 4-B, C-Line and TR-4/C Service Supplement CDs www.k4oah.com Gary Winblad wrote: To go even more Off Topic... YES Curt, you will like it a lot! W9TO was the designer, hence the name. As a 15 year old kid in 1967 I built my version in our high school electronics shop class. It has never missed a DIT since! As a confirmed Drake lover even back then, I folded up a Drake style chassis/box so it matched my R-4A. As a kid, and as my first attempt at using a sheet metal brake and sheer, it came out a little bit big, but it still matched Drake pretty well if I don't say so myself... My request: I built it from a design in (I am pretty sure) in a 1959 W6SAI Radio Handbook than my dad (SK) had. As copy machines hadn't been invented yet(!?) I of course don't have a copy. DOES ANYONE have this manual and could make me a copy of the article so I at least have a schematic in case it ever breaks??? Or even just confirm that there is indeed a W9TO keyer in there. I have googled and found that there was a pdf copy on line at one time but it seems to have gone away.. TIA and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all, 73, Gary WB6OGD - Original Message - From: Steve Berg wa9...@tbc.net To: drakelist@zerobeat.net Sent: Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:51:59 - (UTC) Subject: Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER Curt, you will like that TO keyer a lot. I have had one for more than 25 years. It is a very good idea to replace all of the capacitors in it as the electrolytics are shot by now, and the black beauties are not in the best of shape, either. Before I replaced the black beauties, the speed of the keyer would vary quite a bit with changes in humidity. Mine has some quirks with the power supply and VR tubes, but it still works very well. I will eventually get those sorted out, too. 73, Steve WA9JML On 1/2/2012 7:15 AM, Eddy Swynar wrote: On 2012-01-01, at 7:50 PM, Curt Nixon wrote: Just picked up a Hallicrafters TO keyer for the vintage desk also. Same keyer basically. */Hi Curt,/* I think that the one major difference betwixt the /EICO/ the /Hallicrafters TO/keyer is that very same ...weak link in the chain that affected mine here, i.e. the /TO/used (I believe) a sealed mercury-wetted keying relay, whereas the /EICO/went with that reed-relay-in-a-field-coil route to achieve its external keying... I say weak link as no offence to the /EICO/designers, but rather, as a potential source for trouble that may well require the owner's attention at some point in its future...trouble is, if said owner is not all that familiar with the whys wherefores of reed relays / field coils (my right hand is raised!), then one can through a /LOT/of vexing gyrations travails in the trouble-shooting process that are simply not necessary...! *: )* */~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/* ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
Yup. I had to learn that the hard way. I restored a TO for our club and when I finished with the new caps I plugged it inon its side. Circuit works, but no keying. The relay must be bad. For the first time I looked closely at the relay and then the light build went off in my head. Turned the unit over and it worked fine. FYI. Some folks find the sidetone annoying. It's just a sawtooth from a neon bulb relaxation oscillator. So I inserted a series resonant LC circuit directly in series iwth the secondary of T2. I used what I had in the junkbox that provided a decent Q at the chosen note (31mH torroid and 1.33uF worth of parallel mylars). If the network is too lossy the amplitude will be affected and the harmonic attentuation not as effective. This basically translates into chosing a decent inductor that doesn't have a high series resistance. I opted for a tone (750Hz) that was a little lower than what Hallicrafters used so the timing capacitor across the NE2 got padded with 160pF to bring the series LC into resonance (peaking the amplitude in the process). The result was a very pleasing note. The components fit easily under the chassis. Dennis AE6C On 1/2/12, Garey Barrell k4...@mindspring.com wrote: Just don't turn your HA-1 on it's side! Mercury relays don't bounce! 73, Garey - K4OAH Glen Allen, VA Drake 2-B, 2-C/2-NT, 4-A, 4-B, C-Line and TR-4/C Service Supplement CDs www.k4oah.com Eddy Swynar wrote: On 2012-01-01, at 7:50 PM, Curt Nixon wrote: Just picked up a Hallicrafters TO keyer for the vintage desk also. Same keyer basically. */Hi Curt,/* I think that the one major difference betwixt the /EICO/ the /Hallicrafters TO/keyer is that very same ...weak link in the chain that affected mine here, i.e. the /TO/used (I believe) a sealed mercury-wetted keying relay, whereas the /EICO/went with that reed-relay-in-a-field-coil route to achieve its external keying... I say weak link as no offence to the /EICO/designers, but rather, as a potential source for trouble that may well require the owner's attention at some point in its future...trouble is, if said owner is not all that familiar with the whys wherefores of reed relays / field coils (my right hand is raised!), then one can through a /LOT/of vexing gyrations travails in the trouble-shooting process that are simply not necessary...! *: )* */~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/* ___ 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] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
Hi Guys, To-day I just discovered something that is specific to the old EICO Model 717 electronic keyer---but it just *could* be applicable to any other gear in your possession that utilizes a field coil / reed relay to accomplish rapid circuit switching... Anyway, FWIW---delete if uninterested... I found that the keying characteristics of the internal audio oscillator in this vintage tube-type keyer followed that of the mechanical keying mechanism very well: however, the external device being keyed displayed a noticeably truncated first dit---almost a contact bounce effect. The circuitry of the 717 in this application utilizes an ultra-miniature reed relay to key one's rig---the relay is located right in the middle of a field coil that activates it. I found with my keyer that the location of the relay inside the coil was haphazard, at best---plenty of room to float---and so I experimented with moving the relay through the length of the coil, to see what effect, if any, this might have on the make of the first dit. I found that (obviously) moving the relay too far OUT of the field coil stopped the keying process entirely. However, moving it too far INTO the coil merely exaggerated the bounce effect... I finally located the relay so that about 1/4 of it extended OUTSIDE of the field coil itself---and I'm very happy to proclaim that the keying is perfect now. Previous to this discovery, I had swapped subbed tube after tube n the circuit, with various degrees of success. In hindsight, I can see now that any good or bad effects were most likely induced by the relay/coil moving fore/aft of one another during the process of my removing the keyer from its enclosure! To guard against any future such variables, I applied two blobs of silicone sealant to the coil, bonding each end to the chassis...hopefully this will forever preserve ...the sweet spot of the location betwixt these two components... ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
On Sun, 1 Jan 2012 13:59:22 -0500, Eddy Swynar wrote: To-day I just discovered something that is specific to the old EICO Model 717 electronic keyer---but it just *could* be applicable to any other gear in your possession that utilizes a field coil / reed relay to accomplish rapid circuit switching... Thanks, Eddy! I acquired a 717 in GV condition a couple of years ago because the price was right, and becuase that's the keyer that my Elmer had in his all-Swan station back in 1975. To the newly-minted teenage Novice, that was just the coolest thing ever! I finally got a round tuit a couple of weeks ago and set it up in the shack. Did your 1/4 measurement include the wire terminal on the end, or just the glass body of the reed? Interestingly, I touched base with my Elmer around 10 or so years later, after I had acquired my TR-7. He had retired the Swan gear and replaced it with - guess what? A TR-7! I don't know if he still used that 717 with it. 73 -Jim -- Ham Radio NU0C Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.S.A. TR7/RV7/R7A/L7, TR6/RV6, T4XC/R4C/L4B, NCL2000, SB104A, R390A, GT550A/RV550A, HyGain 3750, IBM PS/2 - all vintage, all the time! Give a man a URL, and he will learn for an hour; teach him to Google, and he will learn for a lifetime. HyGain 3750 User's Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HyGain_3750/ http://incolor.inetnebr.com/jshorney http://www.nebraskaghosts.org ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
On Sun, 1 Jan 2012 13:59:22 -0500, Eddy Swynar wrote: EICO Model 717 electronic keyer BTW, I combined the multi-GIF 717 manual I found on the internet into a single PDF document. If you want a copy, I can send it to you off-list. 73 -Jim -- Ham Radio NU0C Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.S.A. TR7/RV7/R7A/L7, TR6/RV6, T4XC/R4C/L4B, NCL2000, SB104A, R390A, GT550A/RV550A, HyGain 3750, IBM PS/2 - all vintage, all the time! Give a man a URL, and he will learn for an hour; teach him to Google, and he will learn for a lifetime. HyGain 3750 User's Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HyGain_3750/ http://incolor.inetnebr.com/jshorney http://www.nebraskaghosts.org ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
Hi Jim, On 2012-01-01, at 2:41 PM, Jim Shorney wrote: Did your 1/4 measurement include the wire terminal on the end, or just the glass body of the reed? I'm very glad that my little hint and/or kink re. the EICO 717 keyer touched an appreciative nerve with you! In answer to your question, it is THE GLASS BODY OF THE REED RELAY ITSELF that protrudes 1/4 (or so) from the rear of the field coil. You need to ascertain that you even have the same problem that I had in the first place---and in this regard, you will must key a rig / external audio oscillator to accomplish this. DO NOT rely upon the keying characteristics of the audio oscillator internal to the 717 itself in your critique---it is NOT driven by the filed coil / reed relay assembly... Jim, you would not BELIEVE the trouble-shooting gymnastics that I put myself through, before realizing that the fix was so simple! I swapped tubes, I RFI-proofed the power leads / keying leads entering exiting the 717, AD NAUSEAM...and all for the simple sake of moving one small relay... The best laid plans of mice men...or, As William Shakespeare would say, ...T'was ever thus! Hi Hi Oh well, at least it's fixed---and maybe my headache here will prevent another one out there in cyberspace somewhere...! ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Slightly Off-Topic: EICO 717 KEYER
Cool... I've had mine since it was new...use it now and again but it has developed the extra dit issue as many of these has. I am going to try this fix. Just picked up a Hallicrafters TO keyer for the vintage desk also. Same keyer basically. Curt KU8L On 1/1/2012 1:59 PM, Eddy Swynar wrote: */Hi Guys,/* To-day I just discovered something that is specific to the old /EICO Model 717 /electronic keyer---but it just */could/* be applicable to any other gear in your possession that utilizes a field coil / reed relay to accomplish rapid circuit switching... Anyway, FWIW---/delete if uninterested.../ I found that the keying characteristics of the internal audio oscillator in this vintage tube-type keyer followed that of the mechanical keying mechanism very well: however, the external device being keyed displayed a noticeably truncated first dit---almost a contact bounce effect. The circuitry of the /717/in this application utilizes an ultra-miniature reed relay to key one's rig---the relay is located right in the middle of a field coil that activates it. I found with my keyer that the location of the relay inside the coil was haphazard, at best---plenty of room to float---and so I experimented with moving the relay through the length of the coil, to see what effect, if any, this might have on the make of the first dit. I found that (obviously) moving the relay too far /OUT/of the field coil stopped the keying process entirely. However, moving it too far /INTO/the coil merely exaggerated the bounce effect... I finally located the relay so that about 1/4 of it extended */OUTSIDE/*of the field coil itself---and I'm very happy to proclaim that the keying is perfect now. Previous to this discovery, I had swapped subbed tube after tube n the circuit, with various degrees of success. In hindsight, I can see now that any good or bad effects were most likely induced by the relay/coil moving fore/aft of one another during the process of my removing the keyer from its enclosure! To guard against any future such variables, I applied two blobs of silicone sealant to the coil, bonding each end to the chassis...hopefully this will forever preserve ...the sweet spot of the location betwixt these two components... */~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ/* ___ 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
