My collection of older tube type equipment has almost happened on accident, I never went in planning to start collecting older boat anchor type tube equipment, over time though it seems to have just happened! This past summer while at… Continue Reading →
From a sale of a recent silent key I purchased a gently used Yeasu FT-857D radio. For me this was my first “shack in the box” style radio that covers HF, VHF and UHF. In the future I plan to… Continue Reading →
I have been interested in doing a rebuild of a Heathkit HP-23 power supply for a little while. For those looking for older gear I have noticed that the HP-23 series power supplies seem to be more rare than the… Continue Reading →
WARNING – The power supply operates at lethal voltages that can kill you. Even after power has been turned off many of the capacitors may maintain a dangerously high voltage over a period of time. Use extreme caution when using the… Continue Reading →
The replacement circuit breaker requires for the chassis mounting hole to be drilled and opened up to a 3/8in hole. When doing this step be sure to protect the wires inside the chassis. To drill a new hole for the… Continue Reading →
For my original HP-23A refurbishment project I decided to develop my own custom circuit board. It is common for prototype circuit board orders to have small minimum order, however for most fabrication houses in China, even though they force you… Continue Reading →
The easiest step for something catastrophic to go wrong during the rebuild phase is during wiring. During this phase is it important to verify every step made to ensure 100% accuracy. Depending on the method and workmanship that the original… Continue Reading →
After wiring is complete I always suggest taking a break and prior to testing doing a through check of all of the wiring to the schematic before powering everything up. I like to go through things wire by wire and… Continue Reading →
The Bird Thruline 43 Wattmeter is a quintessential piece of test equipment for the RF professional and tinker and is considered to be the timeless standard for measuring forward and reflected RF power. The device have a few downsides. One… Continue Reading →
As you go west in the Upper Peninsula, just before reaching Wisconsin you will see one of Michigan’s largest state park, Porcupine Mountains State Park. The park also known as “The Porkies” and is nearly 60,000 acres. Given the size… Continue Reading →
After finishing up in Copper Harbor we headed down to the visit the Adventure Mining Company for a mine tour. This mine is located in Greenland Township and was operated between 1850 and closed down in 1920. The mine is… Continue Reading →
Copper Harbor is a small community and is the last town when heading north east up the Keweenaw Peninsula, the town has a population of just over 125 residents and during the summer months likely has more tourists than residents…. Continue Reading →
Sometimes when doing a Parks on the Air or POTA activation you are looking for a quick and easy park to activate and Baraga State Park, US-1486 was just that. As myself and the XYL continued on our annual trip… Continue Reading →
The XYL and I enjoy taking trips over to Michigan’s upper peninsula especially during the late summer months, in fact it is our favorite time to enjoy Michigan’s U.P. during the year. Late summer is a great time to visit… Continue Reading →
When working to reassemble the radio I noticed that the shaft coupling for the final control was slipping and further discovered that this plastic coupling threads were stripped. Threaded plastic can be rather delicate so a repair was in order…. Continue Reading →
What is the Alignment Process? The alignment process is a series of adjustments that help maximize the performance of the radio. This multistep process will include steps such as peaking the heterodyne oscillators and nulling out the carrier from the… Continue Reading →
Pulleys As good measure I replace the O-rings used for the driver pre-selector. These are available either in an O-ring kit or from your local hardware store, with a size of ID: 2in OD: 2-1/8in. Using incorrect sized o-rings can… Continue Reading →
Why Replace? It is well known that over time, Electrolytic capacitor dry out and are no longer usable. Some spend time to use a Variac to reform the capacitors, with the HW-101 it is fairly easy to replace these capacitors… Continue Reading →
The next step in this refurbishment is to clean the contacts on the rig and lubricate the bears. The primary contact cleaner of choice is DeoxIT D5. Cleaning the Tube Sockets I start by cleaning out the tube sockets, I… Continue Reading →
The next step in the refurbishment process is to check all of the resistors to make sure that they are within tolerance. The Heathkit HW-100 series radios use carbon composition resistors that as they age can come out of tolerance…. Continue Reading →