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Re: TR7 next problem


 

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Yes Gary I did the ground on RFC505? when looking at the frequency on the counter and it does drop a lot. So I guess you are saying the High VCO is oscillating at 1.3 MHz . If that is the case there must be something wrong on that board unless the info it gets is wrong. Hope this helps.

73, Jim VE1RB

On 2024-12-31 18:06, Gary Follett via groups.io wrote:

I don¡¯t know how it can read 1.3 MHz if not oscillating¡­

Yes, the lo band VCO should change frequency if you pill RFC502 to ground, pulling the varactor drive from ~21 volts to zero volts.

Gary

W0DVN

On Dec 31, 2024, at 3:12?PM, Jim Harris via groups.io <radiove1rb@...> wrote:

Do you mean on the low VCO will drop as I don¡¯t think the high VCO is oscillating as it reads 1.3 mhz and dies not change when I put a ground on RFC 505. Also those voltages on the test pint do not change when the I change from the low VCO to the high one. I will test again.?

Jim VE1RB

On Tue, Dec 31, 2024 at 3:33?PM Gary Follett via??<xntrick1948=[email protected]> wrote:
Those voltages will inly read correctly if the PLL loop is closed. Do you have enough extenders to put the radio into operating condition?

The way you have it operating, the output at the test point is simply ramping up to the maximum that can be produced by U504 in an open loop condition.

However, the high band VCO should also go high in frequency with ~21 volts on RFC505.

I assume that, if you short RFC502 (lo band VCO) to ground, the frequency you read drops from the 65 MHz quite a lot.

Gary

W0DVN?


On Dec 31, 2024, at 11:54?AM, Jim Harris via??<radiove1rb=[email protected]> wrote:

Hi Gary, I did the ground on RFC505 and no change except that the voltage goes very low of course going through a 100K resistor. The frequency counter shows 1.3 MHz on the output of the VCO when it is on 10 or 15 meters. When I switch to 14 MHz it pops up to 65 MHz but it is not connect to the translator board just plugged into my extenders.? I did a voltage check at the test point off of CR515, CR516, CR517, and CR518 and here is what I got, Way off.

1.5 MHZ 21.24 VDC Looks like it should be 3 volts. the photocopy is heard to read.

14.0 MHz 21.20 VDC Looks like it should be maybe 15 volts

21.0 MHZ 21.17 VDC and looks like it should be 6 Volts

29.5 MHZ 21.15 VDC and looks like it should be 14.5 volts

Maybe I am way off Gary but hope that maybe that helps. Almost looks like something it shorted? I don't know where to go next so any help appreciated. Thanks.

73, Jim VE1RB


On 2024-12-30 13:42, Gary Follett via??wrote:
That is WAY too high!!

The maximum that should be seen at this point is ~15 volts, the high end of 10 meters. 20 volts here would push the VCO to its maximum frequency, if it is running at all.?

Is there any RF signal coming out of the VCO? You may have answered this previously but I seem to have forgotten the answer. If there IS RF, here, what is its frequency?

Something is telling the PLL phase detector to put out a voltage thinking that the frequency is too low, which is why the voltage on RFC505 is so high.

Can you short RFC505 cold end to ground? This SHOULD make the VCO, if it is operating, go to the low end of its range in frequency. This point is fed via a 100K resistor from U504B so this will not hurt anything.

Gary

W0DVN

PS: Not taking into account C516 and C517, I had previously stated that voltage across the tuning diodes depended one the voltage at Q504 Drain. This was an error on my part. Those two capacitors isolate the DC on the tuning diodes from the Drain of the oscillator FET.

Cn you short?
On Dec 30, 2024, at 5:39?AM, Jim Harris via??<radiove1rb@...>?wrote:

Gary I just checked that voltage again with the band switch on 10 meters and the DC voltage at that RFC505 is 20.52 DC. Hope that helps.

Jim VE1RB

On Sun, Dec 29, 2024 at 8:37?PM Gary Follett via??<xntrick1948=[email protected]> wrote:
What is the voltage on RFC 505?

Gary

W0DVN

On Dec 29, 2024, at 6:24?PM, Jim Harris via??<radiove1rb=[email protected]> wrote:

Worked on the VCO board today and founds that the 5 volt regulator is working just fine 5.02 VDC. So am thinking about it trying to decide what I check next. Might make a chart of voltages on the transistors from the working one and compare to the non working section.

73, Jim Ve1RB

On Sat, Dec 28, 2024 at 11:08?PM Gary Follett via??<xntrick1948=[email protected]> wrote:
The power supply that is the subject of this issue is the 7805 regulator on the VCO board. That is the one that denies power to just the one VCO (high bands, in this case) when it fails.

Regards,

Gary

W0DVN

On Dec 28, 2024, at 8:28?PM, Tony N5DIM <tony@...> wrote:

The WB4HFN website has a section with great information related to that power supply board. I just used it to resurrect a TR7 that was DOA. Good luck. 73 Tony N5DIM?

On Dec 28, 2024, at 5:52?PM, Gary Follett via??<xntrick1948=[email protected]> wrote:

?Sounds like you are on the right track. Don¡¯t ocelot the electrolytic capacitors on that supply as well.

Gary

W0DVN

On Dec 28, 2024, at 6:12?PM, Jim Harris via??<radiove1rb=[email protected]> wrote:

Gary, I found a few minutes to work on the TR7 and discovered that the high VCO is not working at all. It does have the 10 vdc supply switch?on it but I don't know if that reulagor?is working or not. I will check it out but have to work on getting the metal shield off. I Hope that is the problem but I will work on it maybe tomorrow. Thanks for all your help.

73, Jim VE1RB

On Fri, Dec 27, 2024 at 9:06?PM Gary Follett via??<xntrick1948=[email protected]> wrote:
It is worth asking, did the failure of your VCO board (displaying 51.950) occur on its own? That is to ask, did the radio work properly and then just fail or has it, as long as you have had it, always operated with this fault??

If it once worked for you and then failed, then it would make sense to see what gets disconnected if those pins are not in line ?and look for a way that same thing could happen without the pin alignment problem.

The pin alignment fix is pretty easy though, if the board alignment is the cause. It just SOUNDS difficult.

That whole DR7 was always a source of issues due to its complexity and difficulty of installation. I don¡¯t know how a DR7 could even endure the stresses of removal and reinsertion more than once!

Gary?

W0DVN

On Dec 27, 2024, at 6:25?PM, Jim Harris via??<radiove1rb=[email protected]> wrote:

Thanks Tom. I printed that off but hope that is not the problem.

73, Jim VE1RB

On Fri, Dec 27, 2024 at 8:05?PM Tom Evans via??<Tom.AG9X=[email protected]> wrote:
In 2010 there was a thread regarding the Drake TR-7 display showing 51950.0 on the old retired Drakelist.

The thread is archived at?

Please click the link so the owner knows that we find the archive useful.

Hope this helps.
Tom, AG9X


================?
Below are the posts from Brian Koontz WA3ITE, Jim Shorney NU0C and Garey Barrell K4OAH (SK)?
(just in case Drake TR-7 DR-7 problems outlive the??site)


Re: [Drakelist] Almost there: TR-7 display issues -- FIXED!

Brian Koontz Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:36:54 -0700

Well, the TR-7 from hell is now a fully operational TR-7 from hell!

In preparation for some signal tracing, I decided to extend the DR-7
board using the extenders I have.? To do this, you have to unmount the
two voltage regulators mounted to the chassis, and jumper the
connector farthest to the right. ?(I didn't bother connecting the
up/down band buttons.) ?Lo and behold, the display worked!?

Some further investigation revealed that the chassis has warped over
the years, so the two 3-prong connectors on the VCO board were no
longer in a horizontal line.? So I was determined to make sure the
board was fully seated on all the connectors.

To do this, I had to drop the front panel.? Not a major chore, just
one knob to remove (the band knob) and 6 side screws. With that now
out of the way, it was an easy job to determine if all the pins were
where they belonged.? The only snag was that the front panel, when
canted downwards, angles the PTO can upwards.? So you have to hold the
front panel perpendicular and steady with slight downward pressure to
fully seat the board.? Once all the pins were visually confirmed to be
seated, I remounted the front panel, reattached the regulators and all
the connectors, and fired the rig up.? Everything now seems to work!

It turns out the original DR-7 board was indeed defective as well
(possibly because it had been seated incorrectly).? And a visual
confirmation from topside indicates the chassis is, indeed, warped:
The screw hole is misaligned with the mounting hole in the board.?

So, for archival purposes in case anyone else decides to search for
this problem: ?If the display if fixed on "51950", one possible cause
is that one or more DR-7 pins, possibly the VCO pins, are not
correctly seated.? The best solution is to drop the front panel and
confirm visually that the pins are fully seated.

Now it's time to get on the air!

??--Brian/WA3ITE


=================?

Jim Shorney Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:17:58 -0700

On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:40:52 -0500, Brian Koontz wrote:

>Well, the TR-7 from hell is now a fully operational TR-7 from hell!
>
>Now it's time to get on the air!

Congratulations, Brian! You have been assimilated into the collective.
Resistance is futile.

73

-Jim



=================
?
Garey Barrell?k4oah@...?via?
Sat, Jul 31, 2010, 8:34?AM
to drakelist


Brian Koontz wrote:
> Some further investigation revealed that the chassis has warped over
> the years, so the two 3-prong connectors on the VCO board were no
> longer in a horizontal line.? So I was determined to make sure the
> board was fully seated on all the connectors.
>
>
>
> So, for archival purposes in case anyone else decides to search for
> this problem: ?If the display is fixed on "51950", one possible cause
> is that one or more DR-7 pins, possibly the VCO pins, are not
> correctly seated.? The best solution is to drop the front panel and
> confirm visually that the pins are fully seated.
>

Brian -

Congratulations!! ? It's always nice when one 'comes together'.

Just as an aside, someone suggested earlier (and correctly) that the
"51950" problem may indicate a loss of the 500 kHz reference signal.?
You might find it interesting that the left-most three pin connector on
the VCO board is the 500 kHz reference signal!

Those pins on the bottom of the DR-7 are ALWAYS a problem, ya' just
can't see 'em!!

Your 'trials' have been an interesting 'trip' for others, thanks for
documenting it for us all.


73, Garey - K4OAH
Glen Allen, VA

Drake 2-B, 4-B, C-Line& ?TR-4/C Service Supplement CDs
<>

=================
?
Search terms to make this post easier to find:? Drake TR-7 TR7 DR-7 DR7 display frozen locked stuck ? 51950?? 51,950?? 51 950?? 5195? 51950.0 ? 51,950.0 ? 51 950 0



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