--
Dennis NS8H

Dennis . . .

On Mon, 23 May 2022 13:01:20 -0400, "Dennis Shubitowski" <Shubitowski@...>
wrote:

Is there not a Files section here? This would be a good place to have the manuals available.

This is a basic group created after a certain date (I don't remember the
cutoff), so it has no file storage. It would cost $220 per year to make it a
premium group and have file storage. I don't see that happening.

The basic groups created before then have file storage. Basic groups created NOW
will be charged a per-member fee after it reaches 100 members. I created several
vintage equipment amateur radio groups in haste just before that happened. This
is one of those groups.

Donald KX8K



----------------------------------------------------
Some ham radio groups you may be interested in:
/g/ICOM /g/Ham-Antennas
/g/HamRadioHelp /g/Baofeng
/g/CHIRP

Dennis . . .

On Mon, 23 May 2022 13:01:20 -0400, "Dennis Shubitowski" <Shubitowski@...>
wrote:

I picked up a Viking II with the VFO at Hamvention this weekend.

I believe I saw that early Saturday. If you don't mind my asking, what did you
have to pay for it, and does it work or does it need restoration?

I have a Johnson Ranger (1) and am eventually going to restore it. I paid $40
for it since I had no way of knowing if it worked or not. This past weekend I
picked up a Hickock tube tester since I will be restoring old radios and some of
those will have tubes that will need tested.

Donald KX8K



----------------------------------------------------
Some ham radio groups you may be interested in:
/g/ICOM /g/Ham-Antennas
/g/HamRadioHelp /g/Baofeng
/g/CHIRP

I paid $150 for the Viking II with the VFO. It was the only Viking II I saw. There was a nice Johnson 500 with no power supply, a GORGEOUS Invader (and a spare one under the table!) with the PS. I saw a Viking I and Ranger I and II.

I have not powered the Viking II on yet although the fine gentleman I bought it from said he powered it up last week after sitting for a year from last use by the SK. He only used it on 160M.?

It is a bit dirty inside but otherwise cleans easily. I have not peeked underneath yet.
--
Dennis NS8H

Dennis,

I saw that one, too. I didn't know it needed an outboard supply. I guess if the
supply wasn't separate, you'd need two people to lift it.

Donald KX8K



On Mon, 23 May 2022 18:40:34 -0700, "Dennis Shubitowski" <Shubitowski@...>
wrote:

There was a nice Johnson 500 with no power supply,

----------------------------------------------------
Some ham radio groups you may be interested in:
/g/ICOM /g/Ham-Antennas
/g/HamRadioHelp /g/Baofeng
/g/CHIRP

If you saw the PS for the Invader at Dayton, the 500 has one equally as big. The PS for the 500 is HUGE. The Johnson Five Hundred puts out 500-600W as a transmitter. That needs some power behind it. Did you ask what price they had on that rig? I thought about it, but I did not want to hunt down or build a PS.
--
Dennis NS8H

As with a lot of our BA gear, the manuals don't seem to stay with the gear.
So more than normal we (me) go to BAMA? Boatanchor Manuals site and download.
That is where my Viking II manual came from, as well as much other gear I have from EFJ and elsewhere. A great resource and the manual is fine to use.

On the other hand, my other Viking II (awaiting restoration) is a V II? CDC Civil Defence version with full coverage of HF .. and it did come with the military manual that the CDC was intended to complement ... it is a major manual with huge schematic... but sadly it is all re-named components and naming using mil spec numbers... so comparison for use with normal manual is required if one wants to use the big schematic... possible and useful but a bit more work!

Dennis . . .

On Tue, 24 May 2022 06:44:31 -0700, "Dennis Shubitowski" <Shubitowski@...>
wrote:

. Did you ask what price they had on that [Viking 500] rig? I thought about it, but I did not want to hunt down or build a PS.

Did it seem like there was a lot less people selling in the flea market this
year at the Hamvention compared to a few years ago? I wonder if hamfests will
continue to get smaller and smaller over time?

No, I wasn't looking for anything heavy like the 500 to take home, even if it
was free. I was having trouble just making it through the whole flea market
area. I run out of breath easily and took lots of rests. Fortunately, I had paid
for my friend's ticket to get in and he did most of the pulling of my cart that
I put the few things I bought. The Hickock 800 tube tester wouldn't fit in the
cart so I got that last, on the way to the car.

So anything bigger than the Rangers have an outboard power supply, then?

I was looking for some cheap Heathkit SB radios to fix up, but none were
reasonably priced. I go to our local hamfest Saturday and we'll see what's
there.


Donald KX8K






----------------------------------------------------
Some ham radio groups you may be interested in:
/g/ICOM /g/Ham-Antennas
/g/HamRadioHelp /g/Baofeng
/g/CHIRP

I had an Invader (not Invader 2000). Its power supply was 'separate' within the chassis and could be removed (slid out) for servicing or whatever.. but it WAS contained in the cabinet.
The higher power 2000 version I think DID have a separate outboard PS, as with the 500. I suspect the venerable EFJ Johnson Desk Kilowatt was the same (given its weight from videos and info I have read it would HAVE to break down somewhat I suspect).

Brian VE3HI

Though in theory they are usually OK (from what I have been told)? I would advise to look underneath and ensure that the 'bathtub' oil-filled capacitor is not leaking at the seams. Usually do not, but the oil is likely corrosive to the chassis and anything it could leak into.. I suspect.
My original V II? I got for restoration (in progress) bathtub cap showed some gunk around the seam edge, but once I wiped it off nothing re-appeared afterwards.

Given my sample of 2 Viking II units, 100% show some really nasty weird stuff added underneath - lazy and weird cap replacements.. odd layout.. bad workmanship (if you follow the D Labs and Mr. Carlson' Lab view of HOW NOT to do things!!!). So while I don't think the job is big (overall) there often can be found some stuff that just should GO away and be replaced. Seems? a lot of people take the fast, easy and lazy way... from what I have seen on the two that came here (and one of them came from a ham with over 50 years ham experience who had built LOT of stuff homebrew etc. that is fine from what I have seen, but he really don't take much critical notice of the bottom of his Viking II, IMHO).

Brian VE3HI

开云体育

Brian is correct, the Invader 2000 DID have a separate power supply. ?Also, it was engineered so that the 200 watt Invader could be converted to an Invader 2000. ?

Here is the bottom of my Viking II. There was prior work done in there by a VERY good tech that I am happy with. The cap replacements are excellent with quality components. I plan to do the following:

1. The C9 oil cap looks dark around the terminals but is not leaking. Should this be replaced or are they normally OK if not leaking?
2. Replace the paper filter caps.
3.. Check/replace the 68K/1 W resistor in the buffer section.
4. Check/replace all resistors in the mic audio area and under the 6AU6.
5. Check/replace the 100 ohm resistors on the 807 tube and the 22 ohm plate resistors.
6. Clean the band switch as best able.


--
Dennis NS8H

Donald - This was the first Hamvention in two years post-COVID shutdowns. I talked with the bus drivers (we parked remote), and they were very happy with the turn out. They said the number of vendors were down, and it seemed like the commercial section was a bit less also, but they were very happy all things considered. They shut the town down for 4 days for Hamvention! All the schools are closed, and the whole town helps out. It is a huge and important event for their town.

Also, awesome hamfest pictures courtesy of Nick England. You will see all the Johnsons in the pics.


--
Dennis NS8H

Dennis . . .

On Wed, 25 May 2022 06:43:29 -0700, "Dennis Shubitowski" <Shubitowski@...>
wrote:

Also, awesome hamfest pictures courtesy of Nick England. You will see all the Johnsons in the pics.

Nice pics.

I didn't see the Geiger counters from the civil defense era for sale this year,
nor the fellow who sells Astron linear power supplies pulled from a commercial
environment, inspected, repaired if needed, then sold as used.

I got an Astron RS-70 (non-metered version) for $125 the last Hamvention back.
It's VERY heavy!!! I also have an RM-35 that I have as a spare.

My friend, who I paid for his admission, was very helpful to me. I run out of
breath easily, and on a hot day I have trouble staying hydrated, but he was
helpful with pulling my cage cart (looks like what some homeless people use to
carry their stuff in) around the flea market. I picked up a Hickock tube tester
on the way back to the car and he helped with that the last couple of hundred
yards, too.

I was surprised at the number of empty spaces in the flea market, despite the
fact we didn't have one for two years. Maybe next year it will have more people
selling. Now I go to the smaller 'fests and see what deals I can make. I was so
worn out walking in the heat last Friday that I mainly focused on looking for
tube testers. The one I got seems to work fine. I'd like to get information on
how to calibrate these. I was told it was calibrated before the event, and I
have no reason to believe otherwise, but I'd like to be able to keep it in
calibration.

Donald KX8K





----------------------------------------------------
Some ham radio groups you may be interested in:
/g/ICOM /g/Ham-Antennas
/g/HamRadioHelp /g/Baofeng
/g/CHIRP

"Most" of those whom I asked about the oil filled cap said leave it alone if not leaking. I cannot recall what Nick England said when I asked on the Boatanchors list.?
I asked my ham friend who is about 45 years into his ham career, who is a big Collins guy and other radios and knows his way around and is a retired industrial electrician (steel works) and he said leave it..he is not aware of any issues usually arising.
So.... one CAN replace the thing with good new standard electrolytics and balancing resistors (if I could figure THAT out... but I can plead stupid do my ham friend and ask....).
Generally for now I intend to leave both of my rigs as is and keep and eye out (yeah, big heavy thing with a big cover on the bottom with 120 screws or something like that holding it on..).

Terry at D Labs (see his You Tube) developed a board with caps etc. as a replacement but my two queries to him on cost/availability went unanswered. Minus the handy board I can buy caps to do the same thing as he did ... I just have to (I say again) play dumb and ask my friend about balancing. I have no shame!! He has helped me many times very cheerfully.

Brian VE3HI

I almost hate to say it for fear of stating the obvious and known etc. but be sure to replace that bad "Chernobyl" resistor in the VFO 122. Lots of info on the web on that... Wireless Girl etc.. and easy to do... and accessible (unlike the one buried inside the VFO inside the Ranger of course).
The resistor is prone to failure and then bad stuff happens.

Brian VE3HI

> I almost hate to say it for fear of stating the obvious and known etc. but be sure to replace that bad "Chernobyl" resistor in the VFO 122. Lots of info on the web on that.

I haven't even looked at the 122 VFO yet or the NC-300 receiver. I am leaving the bottom off to remind me to grab my voltmeter and start testing. It might have to wait until next week. I will have a list of passives to order for all, I am sure.

Thank you for that? reminder, though. I would hate to lose the VFO due to that.
--
Dennis NS8H

> Terry at D Labs (see his You Tube) developed a board with caps etc. as a replacement but my two queries to him on cost/availability went unanswered. Minus the handy board I can buy caps to do the same thing as he did ... I just have to (I say > again) play dumb and ask my friend about balancing

I have been in contact with Terry - he is a friend of a friend. I would guess he is out of the C9 cap replacement boards as the number was limited. I am not going to worry about it for now and see if I could eventually make my own board. If you lack confidence on these repairs. join Mr. Carlson's Lab Patreon page. He has several released pieces of test gear that you can build like making circuit boards, cap leakage tester and forecaster, cap foil side detector, RF/Audio detector probe, curve tracer, cap discharge device, etc. You can start at the beginning of his Patreon videos and keep watching (144 of them at recent count).
--
Dennis NS8H

What does it cost to join that? I know some charge for their material, some
don't, and some charge for some of their material but not for other material
they host there.

Donald KX8K



On Thu, 26 May 2022 09:52:34 -0700, "Dennis Shubitowski" <Shubitowski@...>
wrote:

join Mr. Carlson's Lab Patreon page. He has several released pieces of test gear that you can build like making circuit boards, cap leakage tester and forecaster, cap foil side detector, RF/Audio detector probe, curve tracer, cap discharge device, etc. You can start at the beginning of his Patreon videos and keep watching (144 of them at recent count).

----------------------------------------------------
Some ham radio groups you may be interested in:
/g/ICOM /g/Ham-Antennas
/g/HamRadioHelp /g/Baofeng
/g/CHIRP

Dennis . . .

On Thu, 26 May 2022 09:52:34 -0700, "Dennis Shubitowski" <Shubitowski@...>
wrote:

He has several released pieces of test gear that you can build like making circuit boards, cap leakage tester and forecaster, cap foil side detector

There are some ways of testing which terminal of a cap has the outer foil
attached to it. Mr Carlson's approach might be different but several ways use
noise as a way to detect the outer foil terminal. One uses a cap connected to an
AC signal (not mentioned but must be a low voltage) with one side connected to
ground. Wrap a wire around the cap and connect it to an oscilloscope, with the
other scope terminal to ground. Switch terminals and see which shows the lowest
amount of AC hum imposed on the cap. The one where the foil is on the ground
terminal of the scope and circuit will be the one where there is the least
amount of AC hum.



Simple enough, but it requires an oscilloscope. There are other considerations
in the forum thread above.

If anyone here has access to the Mr Carlson gizmo that determines the outer foil
of the cap, please share the gist of it here on how it works. I would not be
opposed to receiving a PDF print of his article there. I won't share it here or
with anyone else (just send it without mention of it here if you do). My inbox
is limited in the size of attachments but you can send it to t2000kw at gee male
dot com and I'll get it.

There were some other articles on how to determine this, too. The above is just
one of them. Another uses a guitar amp and cord and is interesting, too:





Donald KX8K



----------------------------------------------------
Some ham radio groups you may be interested in:
/g/ICOM /g/Ham-Antennas
/g/HamRadioHelp /g/Baofeng
/g/CHIRP