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Hello to all here. I'm Butch - KA?WWT and have recently purchased an FT-101B (SN: SC119507) along with the YC-601B Digital Display.?
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The rig has been 'on the shelf' for a great deal of time but was well taken care of before that and during that time. It has the original tubes in it and still has the glue/paint/whatever on all of the screws in the boards. I don't believe anything was ever done to this rig after the initial purchase from the looks of it.?
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Fast forward to now, I attempted to do an initial tune up on her and I am not able to get the idle current reading down to the 60 milliamps according to the initial tune. And that is with the Bias adjust VR2 turned all the way to minimum. Best I can get is around 150ma. So, that is where I have stopped and am now pouring over any and all documentation I can find. Thing is, I am not finding what is probably right in front of me.
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And now I am here reaching out for some guidance. Is this a driver tube problem? An adjustment on a trimmer cap that I am not seeing?
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My intention is to get this rig back on the air and will certainly make it a project to do just that. I have not cleaned or reseated anything as of yet, I have some contact cleaner coming and it should be here this week.
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From my list of things to do at this point:
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0. Inspect as much of the rig I can see, upper and lower for any cracked caps or any other potential damage. (I have not seen any of that topside at all.)?
1. Remove and inspect all boards, clean contacts and connectors.
2. Clean all switches with cleaner.
3. Clean wafer switches with either erasers or contact cleaner (incrementally and not a mad wash of everything).
4. Change all the electrolytic caps.
5. Change out C13 and C131 with newer better caps.
6. Put it all back together and smoke test it.?
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All this will take me a bit of time but I intend to put in the work. I have the service manual as well as the instruction manual and I am not afraid to use them. Yep, I am well versed (albeit very rusty working on electronics), in this sort of stuff but it will be a relearning experience for me. I am happy to see a schematic that I can easily recognize parts again. Right now, all I have are a couple of volt meters. I will have to borrow an O'scope but I know where one is.?
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My ask of the community here is, can you recommend some additional steps I can do now or during that I may have not considered initially??
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The receive on the rig is good on some bands and could be better. on others. The preselector is scratchy when I move it through its ranges. Is that something I can fix, if so, how??
All the knobs need some cleaner of some sort or another. They are all scratchy to some degree. I expect the contact cleaner and exercising them to work those bugs out.?
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Here are a couple of pictures of the rig. I posted on the FoxTango site as well a few days back.?
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I greatly appreciate any help or guidance from anyone here and thank you in advance.?
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Regards,?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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Are you saying that when in USB or LSB, the minimum idle current is 160ma when you set the bias pot for minimum idle current and you have no mic connected? Etc.?
Yes, that sounds like massive under bias condition which can happen from numerous problems, such as:
one or both the power tubes are bad, the bias supply circuit is bad, the coupling capacitor from the output of the driver tube to the grids of the power tubes is bad or a component at the grids of the power tubes is shorted to ground or burned open, etc.?
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I’m assuming you know the high voltage rules and know what you are doing.
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So the first thing I would do is pull out the chassis from the case and remove the power tubes. ?Flip it over and from the bottom, visually inspect the power and driver tube circuitry for damaged parts.
Then when able to safely test the chassis, measure the actual negative bias voltage delivered to the power tube sockets when in SSB receive and then SSB transmit. The difference in negative bias voltage should be obvious between Rcv and Trx.
Receive bias voltage will be very deeply negative. ?
If it is there, replace the original coupling capacitor from the 12BY7 to the power tubes before going much further. It is the source of many of these power tubes issues. So is the small 1/2 watt, grid stopper resistor, which is connected to the coupling capacitor …. It is connected to the grids of the power tube sockets. ?
Also, consider joining the “Keeping The FT-101 Alive!” Facebook page for more help.
This group is only for these radios, none other. ?
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Bruce,?
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Thank you for your reply. My answers below:
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USB/LSB/Tune: all three positions, no microphone, PTT to MOX only. Bias pot to minimum and that is the lowest reading I can get to.
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I have been bitten too many time in the past to know that power rules and a am just a pawn to it. ; - ) (Ground radio repairman in the Air Force and satellite controller and network engineer/SME as a contractor.). I have been around RF for a long time. Nothing raises the hair on the back of your neck more when you are standing next to a 10KW TWT (glycol cooled) and 30,000VDC right behind a piece of glass. I shudder to this day. ;-)?
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I don't have a tube checker, visual inspection (original tubes) show no bad indication (does not tell the whole story though). The getter on all three tubes look great.?
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Yesterday I took out almost all the removable cards on the top side, inspected them, took many, many pictures of all components. and replaced them. (I'll remove the frame and get to the ones I had no room to remove.?
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Today I opened the bottom, initial picture of what I saw upon removal of bottom cover. The freaking thing looks like it just came off the shelf. All the inspection paint marks are still in their factory spots. It looks like I opened a time capsule of an extremely well preserved FT-101B.. So now I am even more wary of it. I don't want to screw anything up!!! ?
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Slow, maybe even too slow will be my mantra here. I ordered the cap replacement kits and after I feel good about that will start down that road. But, I don't even want to do that before I have had a chance to inspect it more and talk with as many experts here and anywhere else I can first.?
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I shall take your suggestions to heart and do just that.?
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Please don't take this the wrong way. Joining Facebook is and always will be a step too far for me.?
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Regards,?
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Butch - KA?WWT?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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OK. Lots of stuff to look over.
most of these in good condition look like new from the bottom!
Old Electrolytic capacitors can be troublesome though.
Sometimes the bias supply filter caps can be going bad. That will cause the negative supply voltage to drift closer to zero and create an under biased condition. If so, you’ll never be able to dial in enough negative voltage to bring the idle current down.?
Re-capping the regulator power supply board is pretty easy to do. Just remember that the bias supply is all negative voltage and the positive legs of the capacitors are at ground potential.?
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Thanks Bruce.
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The cap replacements should be here by the weekend. I’ll start with the replaceable cards first then tackle the two large caps after I take some more up close and personal pictures of the bottom side of those caps.?
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I’m also reading, and rereading the service manual and am attempting to do a signal path trace rx/tx on a copy of the schematic. I did this a lot during my training days in the AF and it helped me quite a bit.?
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The service manual is written well from what I have read so far….which makes it nice.?
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I’ll keep you posted as I go along here.
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Regards.
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Butch - KA?WWT
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Well, I finally have all the initial parts to begin the process of the resurrection of my FT-101B. The Heathkit VTVM will be here today and I will get that inspected, cleaned up, and working....hopefully today.
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My layout of all the parts separated into bags with the card identifiers I am replacing is shown here. This resurrection process starts this weekend.?
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Cheers,?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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Good luck.
On Saturday 11 January 2025 at 07:00:08 am AEDT, Butchie_T - KA?WWT via groups.io <ka0wwt@...> wrote:
Well, I finally have all the initial parts to begin the process of the resurrection of my FT-101B. The Heathkit VTVM will be here today and I will get that inspected, cleaned up, and working....hopefully today.
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My layout of all the parts separated into bags with the card identifiers I am replacing is shown here. This resurrection process starts this weekend.?
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Cheers,?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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I just finished (sorta, 3 to go) the cap replacement on all the removable boards. The worst of all was the cap in the 1180 module. But, I got it.?
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I decided I was gonna find out sooner or later, so sooner it was. I hooked up the rig to my antenna (removed the accessory plug first), it hears and no smoke. While that is certainly not an end-all be-all result. It was certainly a confidence test for the rig and me!
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I still have the power cap's to replace and now onto that and the caps in the main chassis. ?
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Other than that.....I'm having fun.
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Cheers,?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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Congratulations OM.? Been there, done that on the caps.? So I can
also say your confidence is well earned.? This is quite a rig to
do cap swaps on.? There must be a millon of those damned green
poly types..? Or two millon...
73/jeff/ac0c
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie
On 1/14/2025 3:08 PM, Butchie_T -
KA?WWT via groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I just finished (sorta, 3 to go) the cap replacement on all
the removable boards. The worst of all was the cap in the 1180
module. But, I got it.?
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I decided I was gonna find out sooner or later, so sooner it
was. I hooked up the rig to my antenna (removed the accessory
plug first), it hears and no smoke. While that is certainly not
an end-all be-all result. It was certainly a confidence test for
the rig and me!
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I still have the power cap's to replace and now onto that and
the caps in the main chassis. ?
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Other than that.....I'm having fun.
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Cheers,?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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I got through the toughest part, for me anyway, of the electrolytic cap change today. The power cap’s, are finally done. It was a challenge to come up with how to get the wires soldered to the new tangs on the caps. They are very much smaller than their counterparts. I ended up using a couple of connector posts that I modified to fit over the smaller tines of the caps. I was able to crimp the connector posts to the cap tines and then solder the wires onto the extended connector posts.
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I received the mylar caps I was missing today and will get them installed tomorrow. I have 4 electrolytic caps to replace and that will be all of them.?
Then it will be onto the mica caps that are the badies. I’m about ~12 total caps and power resistors away from having that all done.?
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I will begin cleaning the mode switch wafer switches this week after the caps are done. Slow and steady has been the mantra and over documenting and picture taking along the way has been very helpful for me to be getting through this.?
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A desoldering station has been a saving grace for this entire adventure. No doubt about that.
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My true hope is that once all is done here in a week or two’s time. And the eventual power up and tune up go much better than the first time. ?If/when it does, then the work really begins and that is the aligning and tuning. That part scares me more than what I am doing now TBH.
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Cheers,?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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Hello Butch You are in the process that I need to start.
It’s not easy at all for those of us who do it for the first time.
Here in Peru is not too easy to found parts for old stuff.
I ordered all the caps when my daughter was in the US and she bring it to Peru.
Am looking for this parts:
R40 metalic film resistor 1.5k ohms 5w C13 Moulded mica 80pF 1kwv X3 20M band cristal HC-25 /U 20.02 Mhz TC18 Trimmer capacitor 50pF (all Trimmer capacitors)
I believe you already ordered this parts, it’s possible, please you can share where you ordered it?
I really don’t like to order parts from somewhere and damage my radio.
Other issue is Deoxit D5 and F5, I was able to buy when my daughter was there but due customs restrictions here in Peru is not possible to bring it.
Any suggestions about contact cleaner for wafers and contact cleaner for potentiometers?
73 OA4BMG
El El mié, 22 ene. 2025 a la(s) 1:26?a.?m., Butchie_T - KA?WWT via <ka0wwt= [email protected]> escribió:
I got through the toughest part, for me anyway, of the electrolytic cap change today. The power cap’s, are finally done. It was a challenge to come up with how to get the wires soldered to the new tangs on the caps. They are very much smaller than their counterparts. I ended up using a couple of connector posts that I modified to fit over the smaller tines of the caps. I was able to crimp the connector posts to the cap tines and then solder the wires onto the extended connector posts.
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I received the mylar caps I was missing today and will get them installed tomorrow. I have 4 electrolytic caps to replace and that will be all of them.?
Then it will be onto the mica caps that are the badies. I’m about ~12 total caps and power resistors away from having that all done.?
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I will begin cleaning the mode switch wafer switches this week after the caps are done. Slow and steady has been the mantra and over documenting and picture taking along the way has been very helpful for me to be getting through this.?
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A desoldering station has been a saving grace for this entire adventure. No doubt about that.
?
My true hope is that once all is done here in a week or two’s time. And the eventual power up and tune up go much better than the first time.? If/when it does, then the work really begins and that is the aligning and tuning. That part scares me more than what I am doing now TBH.
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Cheers,?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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The electrolytic caps I bought from a dealer on eBay that specialized in the kits for the FT series radios.
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The particular resistor you mentioned, I purchased from Mouser Electronics, along with the mica capacitors.
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The crystals I bought mine from this eBay dealer. They are Yaesu crystals so I took a leap of faith that they were ok to get.
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No trimmer capacitors yet, so I’ll have to wait until I get to a point to where I need them first.
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As for contact cleaner. Ok, that just stinks, BUT. I also get that the US is a bit more lax when it comes to these things too.
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Can you buy a product called TARN-X in Peru??? ?This works great on wafer switch contacts that you can see and get to. As for potentiometers and cleaners….it may be cheaper for you to just buy a replacement pot and even that may seem problematic.?
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Regards,?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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I really appreciate your feedback.
Good luck with your 101, hope soon we can see some picture when is complete.
El El mié, 22 ene. 2025 a la(s) 11:50?a.?m., Butchie_T - KA?WWT via <ka0wwt= [email protected]> escribió:
[Edited Message Follows]
The electrolytic caps I bought from a dealer on eBay that specialized in the kits for the FT series radios.
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The particular resistor you mentioned, I purchased from Mouser Electronics, along with the mica capacitors.
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The crystals I bought mine from this eBay dealer. They are Yaesu crystals so I took a leap of faith that they were ok to get.
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No trimmer capacitors yet, so I’ll have to wait until I get to a point to where I need them first.
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As for contact cleaner. Ok, that just stinks, BUT. I also get that the US is a bit more lax when it comes to these things too.
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Can you buy a product called TARN-X in Peru???? This works great on wafer switch contacts that you can see and get to. As for potentiometers and cleaners….it may be cheaper for you to just buy a replacement pot and even that may seem problematic.?
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Regards,?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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This is gonna sound cryptic......but it also makes perfect sense too.
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TARN-X!!!!!!!!!!!! OH-FREAKN' MY!!!!!!
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Big Grin.?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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I finished up all the parts replacements (caps, resistors) on my FT-101B today.Throughout the past week or so, I powered up the rig twice for a smoke test and both time it passed with no burn marks noted!!
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I just ordered NOS driver and finals tubes. This rig came with the original tubes but I just do not want to use them up. So, I have Sylvania matched finals and Sylvania driver tube on their way. I made the cap swap in anticipation of this change.
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I have an RF and AF sig generator on their way and I already have an oscilloscope for the neutralization steps for the tubes and whatever else I will need it for.?
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I am reading over all the alignment steps in chapter 7 while I wait for the next shipment of stuff to get here.
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This is where I am sure I will have boatloads of questions. ?My hope is that what I have done so far has remedied the bias adjustment problem I first discovered back when I started looking into this rig.?
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It would not adjust down to 60ma. I’ll find out very soon if that is still a problem.?
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And then the q’s will start.
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Note: If there is something I should do special or different as I go through the aligning and such, please weigh in here. I am thankful for the help so far and will greatly appreciate any assistance from all here as I go through the next phase of getting this rig back on the air.?
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Cheers,?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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I have everything back together and all is working....almost all working.?
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Band 10D is deaf. It does not hear the internal 100 or 25KHz generated tone. I have not begun to perform an alignment as I am still waiting on my RF Signal Generator. But all other bands can hear the internal tone with a signal strength of anywhere from S7 to 10 over S9. I believe that bodes well for me.
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I have been cooking three tubes that I am not worried if they die on me, just to see if all is well with that circuitry. And it is. Both amp tubes and the driver are glowing very sweetly orange.
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The RF gen should be here Tuesday and then I will start down the road of the alignments per chapter 7. ?
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However, I am happy to entertain suggestions as to where to focus for the 10D issue, if it truly is an issue. My hunch is within the band switch and the tuner section associated with 10D. I have not dug into this yes as I just discovered this today.
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Regards,
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Butch - KA?WWT
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Take a look at this link. The author is a highly respected 101 service guy for Yaesu in Great Britain and is a wealth of wisdom. I resuscitated my post CB, golden screwdrivered ft101b using this instrument- free process. ?Roger provides some critical warnings that are worth reading. ?His alignment process worked like a charm!!
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E-PIFFIANY
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Installed currently in 10D: crystal is 32.5200
Installed currently in 11: crystal is 32.020
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10D should be 35.5200
11 should be 33.020?
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33.020 and 32.520. Translates to 26.000 and 26.500 MHZ
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So I will be buying ?35.520 and 33.020 crystals..........
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OK, that was fun...... : - )?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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Sorry for the obvious question: Is there a crystal actually installed for 10d ?
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On 2 Feb 2025, at 19:20, Butchie_T - KA?WWT via groups.io <ka0wwt@...> wrote:
? I have everything back together and all is working....almost all working.?
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Band 10D is deaf. It does not hear the internal 100 or 25KHz generated tone. I have not begun to perform an alignment as I am still waiting on my RF Signal Generator. But all other bands can hear the internal tone with a signal strength of anywhere from S7 to 10 over S9. I believe that bodes well for me.
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I have been cooking three tubes that I am not worried if they die on me, just to see if all is well with that circuitry. And it is. Both amp tubes and the driver are glowing very sweetly orange.
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The RF gen should be here Tuesday and then I will start down the road of the alignments per chapter 7. ?
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However, I am happy to entertain suggestions as to where to focus for the 10D issue, if it truly is an issue. My hunch is within the band switch and the tuner section associated with 10D. I have not dug into this yes as I just discovered this today.
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Regards,
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Butch - KA?WWT
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There was, but it was for a different freq range. 32.520 was in that slot.?
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It needed to be 35.520
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I edited my boo-boo above.?
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Butch - KA?WWT
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Bruce Collins
Tom ai4th
STEPHEN WIDDETT