I've been doing a little retro hamming this evening here in the shack. Right now I'm listening to the guys on 3955 kHz on my Knight R-100A receiver. It took a while for the thing to warm up. You really get accustomed to instant-on and no drift to speak of. I've had the R-100A on “standby” for more than an hour, and its pretty good right now.
I've got to get the thing on the bench sometime. It has at least one wiring error, though I suspect more than one. For starters, the S-Meter doesn't work as it should. The most annoying issue is the Antenna trimmer control. Due to a wiring error, the trimmer control — used to peak the match between the antenna and the first RF stage — actually varies the received frequency when you adjust it. Apparently, the trimmer — a small variable cap — is wired so its capacitance is added or subtracted to the main VFO variable cap.
The problem is that the antenna trimmer is a very touchy control, and simply touching it sends you 3 or 4 kcs off your intended frequency.
As with most receivers of this type that weren't designed with a product detector, you max out the AF gain and vary the RF gain. Otherwise, the received signals overpower the ability of the BFO to insert enough carrier and the signal is distorted.
The R-100A is the later version of the R-100 receiver. The earlier version is nearly identical electrically, but it was restyled to match the Knight T-150 transmitter. I have the pair, and it makes a very attractive station (if you're into early 1960s boat anchor stations). I have the smaller Knight T-60 transmitter, which is styled to match the R-100A too. The T-60 is still boxed in the attic, one of the days I'll bust it out and put the thing on the air.
I've toyed with the idea of getting rid of both the entire Knight station. The T-150A works fine as far as I've tried it (CW). The output is down somewhat, given its 150 watts inputt rating. The thing is about 40-50 watts out on 80 and 40, and less on higher bands. I've never checked the tubes on the thing, so it could be something simple. The transmitter uses two 6146 tubes in the output, so it really should be closer to 100 watts output. I suspect the T-150A probably needs to be double-checked for wiring errors, just like the receiver.
The R-100A isn't too shabby as a general purpose receiver. It has an effective Q multiplier, which is pretty effective when there's some QRM.
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Now on to my Benton Harbor wing of the shack … I fired up the Heathkit HW-16 and matching HG-10B VFO about 9 p.m. in anticipation of checking in with it on the KSN at 10 p.m. By net time we were having a thunderstorm in the area, and QRN made copy tough. Willis, AD4DX was NCS, and the bad band condx and static made copy iffy at best. I even tried copying on my Icom IC-746PRO and the copy was no better. I went back to the HW-16 and with the Datong filter I could get about 60 percent copy with the cans on.
Speaking of CW, I bought a keying relay kit for use with the Knight T-150A. There's a pretty hefty voltage on the keying line, and as much as I like to fiddle with whichever bug I'm using, I decided its a good idea to put something between me and the cathode voltage.
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I've not purchased anything else on eBay lately, though I've been watching a number of items. I finally recieved my Les Logan Speed-X Model 510.
As I wrote in an earlier post, this is the first key of this particular variety I've acquired for my collection. This key, unlike the vast majority of Les Logan (and later EF Johsnon) Speed-X keys, this one has a serial number of the nameplate. This key's serial number is “N1”, whatever that might mean.
As the bad photo shows, the finish on the key is flakey. Other than the missing paint flakes, the key operates fine. It's a pretty fast little key. I don't know what it is, but I get a lot of satisfaction from getting this keys that have been essentially abandoned for years and cleaning them up enough to get them back in service.
The only thing that this key needs beyong paint are better feet. The rubber feet have hardened over the past six decades, and it won't sit still on the desktop without one of those rubber stay-put pads. But that works fine because finding replacement feet for this key would be virtually impossible to find.
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In other eBay news, I've yet to setup the Gonset G-66 receiver in the shack. It arrived safely, but I've got to wire the power cord for it, and I've got a few other projects I would like to get done first.
One of those projects is to clean out the shack enough to get a small folding work table in here so I can tackle little projects — like fixing the R-100A's wiring error — and not have to tear a rig apart on the kitchen table. I could take the rig to the basement, but that's a royal pain for a rig as big as the R-100A. I've got plenty of room in the shack for a small work table, just no room for the table.
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After seeing repeated demonstrations by one of our club members who used a bow-and-arrow to shoot antenna supports over trees, I broke down and bought a used bow on eBay. I need a few arrows to get started. I need to restring the support for my inverted vee to get the thing higher, and the bow seemed like the fastest way to get a line high and true. Well seee how that works out.
With my sling shot and a variety of weighty projectiles (bolts, sinkers, nuts, etc.) I've had mixed results. The line fouls about 1/3 of the time; other times the weight misses the mark; other times the fishing line breaks and the weight continues on its trajectory. Luckily for me, the worst damage has been to panic my neighbors herd of young Angus bulls when the projecticles have clattered down the tin roof of his barn. The bow-and-arrow promises to get over the tree with less weight. Perhaps instead of scaring a few cows I'll wind up perforating a few.
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I've got a load of stuff I need to sell, if I could come to part with it. The Knight station is one, the Tempo 2020 station (rig w/matching speaker and VFO) is another. I'm still Jonesing for the Yaesu FT-2000 and the DMU … The D model would be nice, but not necessary.
G'nite and 73. Happy TNXGIVING.