| Author |
Message |
    
Xlaxx
| | Posted on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 9:52 pm: | 
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I just bought new tubes for my dad's old rig. Can someone help me with the adjustments I need to make so that I don't fry the tubes right away?
Don't you have to adjust the bias and let the tubes heat up/cook for a while before transmitting?
Could use some help,... thanks,...I am not really 'tech' inclined so please keep it simple,...
Thanks again guys! |
Scrapiron63
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 25, 2003 - 1:32 pm: |
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Xlaxx, the owners manual tells how to neutralize the tubes, and yes they need to be. IF you don't have a manual you can probably find one online. I can't remember the process, but its not very complicated or I couldn't have done it. ha |
Xlaxx
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 25, 2003 - 10:32 pm: |
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Scrap-
Thanks for the help. I have never gotten this unit to work since owning it,... 3 years now. Great door stopper and boat anchor!
Traded an AM filter from Crafter, bought new tubes, got an additional crystal and mod and now I'm kinda stuck!
Wish I could get it going. Tubes were a little bit of dough.
Thanks
XLAXX |
2600
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 12:47 am: |
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Hey Xlaxx, did you rewire the mode switch on the front panel after installing the AM filter in the empty slot? That slot is turned on only in "CW" mode unless the wires on the mode switch get changed. The radio doesn't know that it's an "AM" filter. Yaesu assumed the second slot would be used for a narrow filter on CW mode only. Simply bolting it in, soldering the pins and removing the two disc capacitors gets you a very wide-banded CW receiver. AM receive will still sound the same, because the SSB filter is still wired to that click of the mode switch.
Bringing one of them back to life presents a list of routine challenges. I remember in the old days the air-cooled Volkswagens would just run and run until the "rubbing block" on the ignition points wore down. When the points just wouldn't open any more it wouldn't start. The mechanics I knew at the time called this a "Tow in for tuneup" job.
The rotary switches in that radio have silver-plated contacts that acquire a layer of black silver tarnish with the passing of decades. They are designed to be "self-cleaning" if you twist them now and again. A switch that never gets twisted will just build up a layer of tarnish that the "self-cleaning" contacts can't penetrate. Only one of all those switch sections has to go "dead" to disable the radio partly or completely.
Yaesu skipped using gold plate on the contact edge "fingers" on all those plug-in circuit boards. The tin plating on them has to have the oxide scrubbed off with solvent from time to time. Yaesu stresses this in their service manual, listing it as the cure for a dozen common troubles. To make things worse, the contacts inside those sockets will get cruddy, even though the sockets contacts are usually gold-plated. A 1-inch putty knife with about 4 layers of typing paper folded over it will work as a cleaning sponge. Soak the paper in alcohol or contact cleaner before inserting it into the circuit board socket. When the paper comes out clean, that socket is done and move on to the next.
Sometimes cleaning board sockets and rotary switches alone will bring one back from the "dead". The age is a big factor. If it was made after 1980 or so, all the electrolytic capacitors may still be good. If it's getting past the 25-year mark, some of them are no doubt going bad. Mileage is a big influence here. Heat from operating the thing speeds up the aging process for electrolytics.
If you are lucky enough to have two good relays in the radio, count your blessings. The big one just is NOT made any more. The one you can buy fits in the socket and looks legit, but is NOT wired exactly the same. The original made-in-Japan version has the center row of pins wired in the opposite order from the "American" style relay. The "American"-wired version is the only one that has been available for many years. Rewiring those six pins under the socket is necessary to use a Potter and Brumfield, Magnecraft, Gould, or other brand that is still sold.
The small relay in the back just is not made at all, any more. There is a quick and cheap fix for that, if it's cutting out. It's a two-section relay used to switch the antenna from the receiver to the transmitter. The factory only wired one section. The socket pins for the other side of the relay get a wire jumper, one on each. This puts both sections of the relay to work. The one that wasn't originally hooked up probably won't be worn out yet. Much cheaper than the $25 we get for that one.
The older the FT-101 radios get, the longer a "laundry list" of stuff inside it just gets too old to trust. Kinda like a 25 or 30 year-old car. The longer it sits, the more things will have to get replaced.
73 |
Ironmask
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 8:28 am: |
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2600 WELCOME HOME!!
I know where there is a list you might send him.
73's |
Xlaxx
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 2:42 pm: |
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2600-
This rig has been on and it received pretty well on 27.1850 AM. The tubes were really bad/weak when this was done. The AM filter is in and the Mode switch was converted. I have the mod for the switch to American tubes for this rig as well. Just need to know the settings to cook the tubes. I have a parts Yaesu 101 E that was dropped and damaged as a back up but would like to get this one running again.
Thank you for your friendly advice,... please keep it coming.
XLAXX |
Crafter
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 7:37 pm: |
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Xlaxx do you need me to scan my manual and e-mail it to you about the neutralization process ? Just e-mail me or I can talk you throught it on messenger I think I still got you loaded. Just let me know.
kc5djb@yahoo.com
Crafter. |
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