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How to assemble a Collins filter + Board for FT-857 and save $$$!!!

 
Edited

You can buy a "bare" Collins 500hz CW filter for about?$100?and?solder it yourself to an?FT-857 board?made by Artur, SP6AB. I got mine for $16. Contact?Artur?to confirm availability. ?

Collins CW filters are showing up overseas. But you must?search and carefully check out the vendor. Collins SSB filters are also available. I hope this helps someone save some money. I did this and I'm happy.??
--73, Howard, W6ZZ

Here is the search term for a Collins 500hz CW "bare" filter:
AOR MF-500 500Hz MF Series Collins Mechanical Filter 526-8693-010


73,
Howard, W6ZZ
 

Did just that, and I'm very happy.

Artur makes perfect boards!!!?

Thanks Artur!

73,

Dick
 

Where did you find the filter? I cannot find anything except on scam web sites.

73,
K1CPR
Juan


On Fri, Jun 21, 2024 at 1:51?AM Dick Frijdal <dick.frijdal@...> wrote:
Did just that, and I'm very happy.

Artur makes perfect boards!!!?

Thanks Artur!

73,

Dick

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

You have to luck into one on the auction site or QRZ. They're very rare anymore, even the non-native ones.

I completely lucked into mine when a friend was watching a discussion thread on Discord and called me excitedly telling me to get on the thread and contact the seller.

On 6/21/24 9:31 AM, Juan Jim¨¦nez via groups.io wrote:
Where did you find the filter? I cannot find anything except on scam web sites.

73,
K1CPR
Juan


On Fri, Jun 21, 2024 at 1:51?AM Dick Frijdal <dick.frijdal@...> wrote:
Did just that, and I'm very happy.

Artur makes perfect boards!!!?

Thanks Artur!

73,

Dick 


-- 
Paul Braun WD9GCO
Amateur Radio Newsline Anchor
ARNewsline.org
Certified Music Junkie

"
 

Dang. I work for Raytheon. Collins is one of our companies. I should probably ask them if they have NOS stock I can purchase.

73,
K1CPR
Juan


On Fri, Jun 21, 2024 at 10:41?AM Paul Braun <pbraun42@...> wrote:
You have to luck into one on the auction site or QRZ. They're very rare anymore, even the non-native ones.

I completely lucked into mine when a friend was watching a discussion thread on Discord and called me excitedly telling me to get on the thread and contact the seller.

On 6/21/24 9:31 AM, Juan Jim¨¦nez via wrote:
Where did you find the filter? I cannot find anything except on scam web sites.

73,
K1CPR
Juan


On Fri, Jun 21, 2024 at 1:51?AM Dick Frijdal <dick.frijdal@...> wrote:
Did just that, and I'm very happy.

Artur makes perfect boards!!!?

Thanks Artur!

73,

Dick 


-- 
Paul Braun WD9GCO
Amateur Radio Newsline Anchor
ARNewsline.org
Certified Music Junkie

"
 

I found mine on a local auction site...

Very happy with it.

73,
Dick
Jack T. - AA?IZ
 

Sorry, but don't bother asking. They do not have any New Old Stock of Collins mechanical filters. I tried to find them years ago. I also work for Raytheon. I'm in the Collins Aerospace division. Our sister site in California closed that product line down years ago. I remember when it happened, and I was very dismayed.

Like the other guys on this post, I have created my own layout and I purchased PCB's through JLCPCB. The layout was simple enough. I purchased a group of 5 boards (unpopulated) and I paid about $4 total (with shipping). No kidding! I already had some raw CW mechanical filters that I purchased along the way over the years, and now they all have homes in my FT-817, FT-818, and FT-857. Good fun.

I would suggest that laying out your own PCB is a great learning opportunity for Hams. The software tools are all online for free. Board houses like JLCPCB do instant quoting when you upload your Gerber files. They take these small jobs to fill in around the margins of a panel which is running a commercial job. They make a little money on what would otherwise be scrap FR4 board, and they pass the savings along to small consumers like us. This works great for Makers, and the kids (ages 9 - 90) learning with Arduinos and etc.

I hope that you find some Collins mechanical filters out there.

Best 73, Jack
 

Thanks. One way or another I will find one. Which filter did you use on your FT-857? I don' t do CW but I might find it useful if I decide to learn. I did build a bluetooth keyer with an Arduino board, wrote my own code, works great.

73,
K1CPR
Juan


On Fri, Jun 21, 2024 at 3:41?PM Jack T. - AA?IZ <jacktreloar@...> wrote:
Sorry, but don't bother asking. They do not have any New Old Stock of Collins mechanical filters. I tried to find them years ago. I also work for Raytheon. I'm in the Collins Aerospace division. Our sister site in California closed that product line down years ago. I remember when it happened, and I was very dismayed.

Like the other guys on this post, I have created my own layout and I purchased PCB's through JLCPCB. The layout was simple enough. I purchased a group of 5 boards (unpopulated) and I paid about $4 total (with shipping). No kidding! I already had some raw CW mechanical filters that I purchased along the way over the years, and now they all have homes in my FT-817, FT-818, and FT-857. Good fun.

I would suggest that laying out your own PCB is a great learning opportunity for Hams. The software tools are all online for free. Board houses like JLCPCB do instant quoting when you upload your Gerber files. They take these small jobs to fill in around the margins of a panel which is running a commercial job. They make a little money on what would otherwise be scrap FR4 board, and they pass the savings along to small consumers like us. This works great for Makers, and the kids (ages 9 - 90) learning with Arduinos and etc.

I hope that you find some Collins mechanical filters out there.

Best 73, Jack

Jack T. - AA?IZ
 

I have the 300Hz filter and the 2.3KHz SSB filter in the FT-857. I use this rig for POTA activity. I have a 500Hz filter in the FT-818 and FT-817.?

I'm a big fan of CW. This is my primary mode. Filters are great when the band is crowded. I like to ragchew. I'm on SSB maybe 5% of the time.

I hope that you find some filters and have fun!

Best 73, Jack?
 

The Collins catalog has two filters with the same specs as the 250 hz filter,? except the bandwidth is 200 hz. They may be easier to find.? But is that too tight a bandwidth?


On Mon, Jun 24, 2024, 09:43 Jack T. - AA?IZ <jacktreloar@...> wrote:
I have the 300Hz filter and the 2.3KHz SSB filter in the FT-857. I use this rig for POTA activity. I have a 500Hz filter in the FT-818 and FT-817.?

I'm a big fan of CW. This is my primary mode. Filters are great when the band is crowded. I like to ragchew. I'm on SSB maybe 5% of the time.

I hope that you find some filters and have fun!

Best 73, Jack?
Jack T. - AA?IZ
 

You could operate with a 200Hz width, just like a 300Hz filter. These are handy when you are trying to isolate one station right next to another.

Filters do present some insertion loss, so you would be attenuating the signal you are trying to line up within the 200Hz notch. If the station is strong this would not be noticeable. Who knows. It would be fun to experiment with it. Go for it!
 

Ok. I will see if I can find one of those two. So far I have only found the YF-122CN's in Japan at pretty high prices, and nine of the individual filters. I tried Collins, they said no stock. But that was obviously a long shot hail mary.

Thanks!?

73,
Juan
K1CPR

On Tue, Jun 25, 2024, 09:18 Jack T. - AA?IZ <jacktreloar@...> wrote:
You could operate with a 200Hz width, just like a 300Hz filter. These are handy when you are trying to isolate one station right next to another.

Filters do present some insertion loss, so you would be attenuating the signal you are trying to line up within the 200Hz notch. If the station is strong this would not be noticeable. Who knows. It would be fun to experiment with it. Go for it!

 

I found a filter I think I can use. Specs are 455 khz USB, 250 hz BW @ 2dB down, 3.2 khz BW @ 50 dB down, 9dB insertion loss. I bought the last one the seller had. Do these specs make sense for a CW filter for the 857D? I can always sell it if it's not, but didn't want to miss it if it's correct.

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