Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest,Drake T4XB
Only have idle current any help.. Thanks WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Vol 46, Issue 14
Shure 444 does that price include shipping . Does it have a plug or bare wires. Any damage ? Thanks Fred M ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest Drake T4XB No Output
I have been replying to the people that have been kind enough to answer me but I have been answering them directly to their email address. Not sure how to continue my answers so they appear on the drakelist when that happens. I want to keep the thread alive so it can help others that may be having the same problem but I find it hard to do when they send information to me via their email address When I reply it goes directly to the party that sent me the information. Let me know what to do to share this information with the list and I would be glad to do that. 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Drake B Line No Output
Well, the problem continues. It worked for a short time but is not working again. Replaced V-1 and V2 with tested used tubes. V1 was N.O.S. I did substitution of all the tubes with used and tested tubes without any change in output. The spot position does not put out a signal either. Even when put into AM and using the spot function, I can hardly hear that tone in the receiver either Both VFO's will work the receiver. I have idle current when in tune position or when PTT on mic. no other output. No output when speaking or whistling into the mic either Any other ideas? Where to look next? Sprayed the wafer switches with Deoxit and another plastic safe contact cleaner even though the wafers are phenolic and not plastic. Band switch is not any stiffer than it was when I bought the twins 5 years ago so I don't think that is the problem. I tried 75 meters and 40 meter both with the same results. No output. Where should I start to look for the problem? Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, SPOT FUNCTION TUNE UP
In a message dated 1/2/2012 10:41:28 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, drakelist-requ...@zerobeat.net writes: http://www.mail-archive.com/drakelist@zerobeat.net/msg01540.html Ron: That is exactly how I tune up my B line with the spot function and peak the plate and preselector I have been doing it that way for a few years and that is why I noticed the spot not working any longer. Still no out put other than idle current when in tune position or when PTT is pressed now Maybe a blown Diode or cap in Power supply??What do you think? 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest,Drake Tuner MN-2000 and others
Just a note about keeping settings for your antenna tuner (MN-2000) . I still keep a log book for my station and in the log book under the heading for signal reports received and sent I added a reactance and resistance heading in those columns and write in the setting in those spaces. Just a little helpful hint if you still keep a station log book. Have fun. 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest,Spot function
Anyone know where to look to correct the spot function. My Drake B Line transmitter spot function position works some time and at other times nothing. Sometime a gentle slap will bring it back to life but I don't like to do that. Any ideas? Also Crystal calibrator not working at all. If it is the crystal where is it located? Thanks 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest,Drake B line Twins No output
Well, the earlier problem with the spot frequency function not working has lead to no output at all from the transmitter. It shows idle current only when you go to tune or hold the PTT on the mic. Any ideas where to start. Tubes or power supply? Power supply rebuilt 3 or 4 years ago .After rebuilt it always had a 60 cycle hum on 40 meters. You could feel the cabinet vibrating. Thanks 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Bias current Low
Bias and plate current is low on Drake B Line. Adjustment on back of AC 4 is turned up full. Plate current is only .210 mills. Bias is .04 on plate meter. Any ideas where to start to look for a cure. Thanks 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Crystal calabrator Gone south?
Crystal calibrator on the Drake B line twins. Is this an easy fix or expensive fix or is it something I could locate and fix myself? What equipment is required to locate and repair this item. Looking at he schematic it could be a transistor or and IC in the receiver. Any thoughts? 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Light bulb for inrush currrent protection.
Has anyone heard any additional information about using a light bulb in the AC line ahead of your radios ac input to reduce the inrush current to the rigs as they are turned on. I would like to hear more about doing that if the information is available. It seems there is quit a surge when I turn on the transmitter Drake T4xB. Thanks 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Crystals for Drake twins
Yes, I have bought crystals from Carling, not to bad but I did order my second crystal from International Crystal. They are still in business and it takes about 2 weeks and with shipping and insurance was only $30.00 I had them ship UPS, not the post office. These are new manufactured crystal and I would order from them again if I need more. They are top quality crystals and should last a life time. Both are good but I like International best. Your choice. 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Vol 31, Issue 1 Pre tuning B line
Thanks Gary and others for your input. Yes the plate meter fluctuates too . Max plate current 260 mills.At first I thought it was the antenna moving in the wind but when I checked it on the dummy load it did the same thing. I guess I will just wait until it stops working all together. I can't afford to have the Drake guru in this area repair it again for another $400.00 I guess he is good but he sure is expensive. I spent $500. for the twins and they worked fine for a year or two.Then the intermittent problem started. So I took them to the Guru in the Cleveland area for repair. He rebuilt the power supply and some tubes and a general tune up $400. And now here we go again. If I spend another $400. I could have bought a brand new rig. I will see if I can locate another ham that can help at a lower price. I like the Drake twins and don't want to get rid of them. I don't abuse the rigs and always pre tune with the spot feature so the rig is tuned before I add the plate current and then just peak tune for max output using the watt meter on the drake MN-2000. I double check for peak output but only advance the plate current so I have a 10 watt reading on the watt meter and adjust RF tune and preselctor for peak output still with 10 watts . If all is at max on the 10 watt setting I advance the plate current to max to check max watt meter output . It is usually 100 watts on 75 meters. Swr is 1.3 to 1.5 above 3.900. Below 3.900 I use the tuner to get a good swr usually 1.3 :1 The antenna is cut for the higher end of the 75 meter band where I do most of my activity. Anyway that's the story best I can tell it . So thanks again for the replies. It does seem more of a problem when the rig is on all day. Could be heat related. 73 de Fred WD8ADG Thanks again for all the input. 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest,New Thread
Tune up Drake B Line. Pre tune using spot settings. Fine tune on antenna with about 10 watts. Not all the time but some time when peaking the pre-selector on the receiver the output will drop suddenly or increase suddenly to 40 watts. The output on the Drake MN 2000 watt meter will show a fluctuation on the meter. Moving the meterback and forth a couple of watts from the 10 watt setting. Any ideas? Poor RCA cables? MN 2000 meter circuit? Anyone else ever see this on the output meter. It just drives me nuts to see erratic readings like this on the output meter. I get 260 mills on the transmitter meter so the output seems ok but it just drives me crazy to have this kind of issue with the rig. The rig was gone over a couple of years ago including rebuilding the power supply and some additional tube replacements. about $400.00 worth of repairs and upgrades. It was working at the time but was experiencing another intermittent problem. Anyone else every experience these kinds of problems with their Drake B line ? Thanks 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest New Thread
Any advise about replacing the existing RCA cables on a pair of Drake B line twins. Can the cables be replaced with a good quality Audio/Video cables? Is the cable length important? Not talking about the injection cable just the other 3 cables. Thanks Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, New thread Best way to reduce drive to amp.
Using a Drake B line. What is the best way to reduce the drive to the Amp.? Reduce mic. gain or reduce transmitter output of by using the preselector? How do you do it? Thanks 73 de Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] R4B T4XB Tuning up
I use the spot position on the Transmitter and tune for max on the receiver s meter. Preselectors first and main tuning knob on Transmitter second. Plate next and load control at 3.5 for 80 meters and 4.5 on 40 meters and higher freq. I noticed that I get an additional 20 to 30 watts output when I check the watt meter if I tweek the preselector on the receiver again. Is this normal? If so why? Thanks Fred WD8ADG ___ 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] MS-4 speaker and power supply
I had the supply rebuilt 2 years ago and noticed that if I lay my finger tips on the top of the speaker cabinet I can feel a vibration as soon as I turn on the transmitter switch. On 40 meters I can hear some audio distortion or a frog in the throat sound to the audio. Anyone else have that issue on 40 meters? Caps were replaced according to the guy that rebuilt the supply and did the other tune ups on the rigs (T4XB R4B). If I take it back to him again it will probably cost me another small fortune to have him check it out or repair it. Any ideas? Power supply was working fine when I took it to him but I allowed him to talk me into a rebuild because it was old and it sounded like the right thing to do at the time .I am not sure now if he installed the new circuit board at that time or if that board was even available then. Thanks 73 Fred WD8ADG ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
Re: [Drakelist] Drakelist Digest, Vol 20, Issue 30
In the past I have not been able to forward anything to theDrake web site. Now that I have changed to a cable network and a new computer I hope this gets thru to the Drake site. Fred M ___ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
