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AL-811/572B


 

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I’m working on a used AL-811 for a friend. The 811 tubes were bad, so I replaced them with some Penta Labs 572b tubes (A whole another adventure). I also replaced the tube sockets, and installed GDTs on the tube sockets and added some bias diodes on the center tap of the transformer. I made sure there were not MOVs in the input board. The issue I’m having is high SWR (over 2:1) on 80 meters and I can’t get full drive from what appears as the exciter is folding back. All the other bands are fine.

?

I’ve attempted to adjust the 80-meter input coil with no effect on SWR/PWR in. I’ve checked the input switch for continuity and from the input through the 80-meter input coil with no problems. Switch alignment looks good. I remove and tested C4 (for 80 Meters) a 500pF cap and it tested good. ?I’ve removed the 200-ohm padding resistor just to see what effect it had on SWR and nothing. Obviously, I get more output for the same amount of drive. If I’m at the high end of 75 meter with the tuning slug all the way at the end of the coil form, the SWR just starts to drop, and I see an improvement in drive level. With the padding resistor in circuit, I’m showing about 50 watts for drive and 60mA of grid current. With the amp in bypass the radio will do 120W no SWR.

?

I’m wondering about values of C4 and if anyone else has experienced this behavior after swapping to 572b tubes? Don’t know how the amp performed prior as the tube replacement.

?

Thanks for any productive comments in advance.

?

Jim – AA7CL

?


 

The position of the slug tell you a big story. ?Ultimately you would?want the slug to Bering inside of the coil windings when the SWR dips the lowest. ?That would indicate there’s enough of leeway in the inductance. ?So the positioning of the slug gives you a clue as to what is needed. ?Say for instance the slug is inside the winding area and you can’t null the swr at any position of the slug that tells you probably there’s not enough total inductance to the coil and you would add a turn or two. ?If the slug is totally nowhere near the windings and almost out of the tube then that tells you that you have too much and you would take one or two off. ?You got do a simpler test by adding about 10pf to the existing caps to see what happens if it gets worse go lower . ?At some point trying to change the cap values and the swr doesn’t null then going to the coil may be necessary. ?Since ?you are using different tubes and since the quality control on them is all over it’s not surprising you have this issue. ?As I recal from working on hundreds of these amps, the 80 meter slug is always quite far out. ?Good luck
Lou




On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 10:50 PM, AA7CL via groups.io <aa7cl@...> wrote:

I’m working on a used AL-811 for a friend. The 811 tubes were bad, so I replaced them with some Penta Labs 572b tubes (A whole another adventure). I also replaced the tube sockets, and installed GDTs on the tube sockets and added some bias diodes on the center tap of the transformer. I made sure there were not MOVs in the input board. The issue I’m having is high SWR (over 2:1) on 80 meters and I can’t get full drive from what appears as the exciter is folding back. All the other bands are fine.

?

I’ve attempted to adjust the 80-meter input coil with no effect on SWR/PWR in. I’ve checked the input switch for continuity and from the input through the 80-meter input coil with no problems. Switch alignment looks good. I remove and tested C4 (for 80 Meters) a 500pF cap and it tested good. ?I’ve removed the 200-ohm padding resistor just to see what effect it had on SWR and nothing. Obviously, I get more output for the same amount of drive. If I’m at the high end of 75 meter with the tuning slug all the way at the end of the coil form, the SWR just starts to drop, and I see an improvement in drive level. With the padding resistor in circuit, I’m showing about 50 watts for drive and 60mA of grid current. With the amp in bypass the radio will do 120W no SWR.

?

I’m wondering about values of C4 and if anyone else has experienced this behavior after swapping to 572b tubes? Don’t know how the amp performed prior as the tube replacement.

?

Thanks for any productive comments in advance.

?

Jim – AA7CL

?


 

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Jim,

?

You might need to add about 10pF off of

the cathode pin(s).

?

Do you have a VNA? They are swell gear

to expose tuning glitches.

?

Hal

W4HBM


 

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Hal,

Yes, have a nanoVNA and spectrum analyzer with tracking gen.?

Can you please explain the methodology you propose? I'm curious to know how you use your VNA to test the input circuit of tube amp. I have read about using small non-inductive resistors between the cathode and grid to approximate load impedances and making adjustments to the input coils but I have not done so.?

How and why would 10pF (bypass?) be necessary off the cathode pins in this case? And how would that not affect the other bands?

What is strange to me is that on 80 meters, the SWR does not change at all, even with varying drive/output levels. It also makes me wonder if I'm seeing harmonics in the input.?

Sorry for the silly questions. I'm just trying to get a better understanding of what is going on here. I'm not making sense of it.?

Thank you for your suggestion!

Jim -? AA7CL?


From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of HaL Mandel via groups.io <hmandel@...>
Sent: Thursday, May 1, 2025 4:45 AM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [ham-amplifiers] AL-811/572B
?

Jim,

?

You might need to add about 10pF off of

the cathode pin(s).

?

Do you have a VNA? They are swell gear

to expose tuning glitches.

?

Hal

W4HBM


 

开云体育

Lou,

Thank you for your suggestion. I was thinking of doing the same. I have several capacitor values lying on the bench to do just that.?

I've read that some have suggested using a VNA to sweep the input by substituting a resistor for the tubes. Have you found this to be effective? I believe the post I read indicated 200 ohms for 572b tubes but I don't know how accurate that is.? Not sure if you pull the tubes, sub in a single resistor between the cathode and ground and then sweep to see where the SWR is at. Would of course need to operate the relay.?

Jim - AA7CL





From:[email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Louis Parascondola via groups.io <Gudguyham@...>
Sent:?Thursday, May 1, 2025 3:50 AM
To:[email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject:?Re: [ham-amplifiers] AL-811/572B
?
The position of the slug tell you a big story. ?Ultimately you would?want the slug to Bering inside of the coil windings when the SWR dips the lowest. ?That would indicate there’s enough of leeway in the inductance. ?So the positioning of the slug gives you a clue as to what is needed. ?Say for instance the slug is inside the winding area and you can’t null the swr at any position of the slug that tells you probably there’s not enough total inductance to the coil and you would add a turn or two. ?If the slug is totally nowhere near the windings and almost out of the tube then that tells you that you have too much and you would take one or two off. ?You got do a simpler test by adding about 10pf to the existing caps to see what happens if it gets worse go lower . ?At some point trying to change the cap values and the swr doesn’t null then going to the coil may be necessary. ?Since ?you are using different tubes and since the quality control on them is all over it’s not surprising you have this issue. ?As I recal from working on hundreds of these amps, the 80 meter slug is always quite far out. ?Good luck
Lou



On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 10:50 PM, AA7CL via groups.io <aa7cl@...> wrote:

I’m working on a used AL-811 for a friend. The 811 tubes were bad, so I replaced them with some Penta Labs 572b tubes (A whole another adventure). I also replaced the tube sockets, and installed GDTs on the tube sockets and added some bias diodes on the center tap of the transformer. I made sure there were not MOVs in the input board. The issue I’m having is high SWR (over 2:1) on 80 meters and I can’t get full drive from what appears as the exciter is folding back. All the other bands are fine.

?

I’ve attempted to adjust the 80-meter input coil with no effect on SWR/PWR in. I’ve checked the input switch for continuity and from the input through the 80-meter input coil with no problems. Switch alignment looks good. I remove and tested C4 (for 80 Meters) a 500pF cap and it tested good. ?I’ve removed the 200-ohm padding resistor just to see what effect it had on SWR and nothing. Obviously, I get more output for the same amount of drive. If I’m at the high end of 75 meter with the tuning slug all the way at the end of the coil form, the SWR just starts to drop, and I see an improvement in drive level. With the padding resistor in circuit, I’m showing about 50 watts for drive and 60mA of grid current. With the amp in bypass the radio will do 120W no SWR.

?

I’m wondering about values of C4 and if anyone else has experienced this behavior after swapping to 572b tubes? Don’t know how the amp performed prior as the tube replacement.

?

Thanks for any productive comments in advance.

?

Jim – AA7CL

?


 

开云体育

Jim,

?

In my a-building Grid-Driven 2-holer Tetrode the Breuhne

bridge used for Neutralizing the tubes has a small roller

inductor and both a fixed and variable bread-slicer.

?

Since the Input network is using a 9:1 balun transformer

it will be necessary for me to connect a 450 ohm

Non-Inductive (Dale 50Watter, Green metal case)

resistor between one of the tube socketses G1 pin

and chassis ground.

?

The VNA connects to the RF Input port and the

T/R Input relay will be picked special:

?????????????“Tune for the Least Smoke”

?????????????????????????????? Right?

?

Hal W4HBM


 

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Jim,

?

For Joy!

?

Connecting the SpecAn/TG to the amp’s

output spigot, once the Input network

is run through a VNA plot set on the

input (with the N.I. resistor going...)

you will then be able to detect the

spectral purity details.

?

BUT!!!!!

?

You MUST remember to first gauge the

oomph behind the signal you wish to

analyze so that you don’t blow-out the

analyzer completely.

?

Make sure you actually recollect the

SpecAn’s maximum hold-off, and

make sure you are confident the

attenuator Pile is working like it

should. Do you have a trusty ol’

DMM that can tell you amplitude in

dBm that’s terminated with 50 ohms?

?

Boy-o-boy-o-boy.? Nerves of steel for

the man.

?

Hal

W4HBM ?


 

Hal,
?
I'm relatively new to tube amplifiers and I certainly don't know all the jargon. I assume you are meaning a " Bruene Bridge" as in Warren Bruene's capacity-bridge from the 50's? Bread-slicer as in air-variables?
?
Not sure how this applies to my questions. I believe we are talking about two different amplifier/designs.? I'm not clear if you are providing me with advice and I'm not tracking you.?
?
I think I get the concept of placing a non-inductive resistor across the cathode/grid in the amplifier that I'm working on, then enabling the TR relay and sweeping the input. My understanding is that the 572b - would require roughly a 220-ohm resistor across each tube socket. I may attempt this later today.?
?
Am I close or am I missing something? Thanks again..
?
Respectfully,
?
Jim - AA7CL


 

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Dear Jim,

?

While I was describing the method for employing a

non-inductive resistor in place of the tube circuit

in a grid-driven tetrode scheme, the methodology

carries into basically the same steps in tuning

in the input circuit of a triode.

?

Does your amplifier have a way to fine-tune

the RF Input?

?

Then, yanking the tubes and soldering in

an N.I. is the least destructive method of

starting to pinpoint the sweet spot.

?

For now, leave off the SpecAn completely.

?

The VNA looking into the amplifier input

port will provide a “notch” in the VNA

linear display such as determining the

Return Loss. The reason I mentioned

adding something like a 10pF silver mica

is for you to see the result of this both

in the linear return loss graph and on

the Smith Chart display.

?

Adding tiny amounts of capacitance or

inductance will cause these displays to

change shape sharply, and may give you

a clue as to what may be needed to

move on to the 50 ohm, J-zero location

on the VNA Smith Chart.

?

A method I find useful is to actually wire

up a Pi filter on the input circuit and use

some sort of reflectometer, like a Fwd/Refl

SWR meter, and to tweak the amp input in real time,

like a “double tune-up,” but all this takes

so much time while the ionosphere is boiling

away at the speed of light.

?

Hal

W4HBM


 

Hi Jim doing the sweep thing gets you in the ball park but you need to be under full power to tune the input. ?You just need a little tweaking for the 572b tubes. ?Ameritron never adjusted those coils for 80 meters, the slugs were always way out of the area of the coil windings. To zero in on the best match always takes ending trial and error. ?I’d say removing ?one turn and trying it is a good start. ?You definitely want the slug in the area of the coil winding for maximum ?adjustment. BTW, a flat swr isn’t necessarily going to be what forwards you maximum output. ?You may very well obtain maximum power at 1.2 to 1. ?It all depends on the radio’s filter network and how close it really is to 50 ohms. ?I always shoot for maximum forward power while adjusting the inputs. If the slug is in the coil winding and the swr isn’t all the way down now you’ll need a cap value change. I usually try around 20pf on the lower frequency bands readjust the coil to see if I’m going the right way, as a last resort try a little less. ?Just be glad you don’t need to do all of them. Lou





On Thursday, May 1, 2025, 11:50 AM, AA7CL via groups.io <aa7cl@...> wrote:

Lou,

Thank you for your suggestion. I was thinking of doing the same. I have several capacitor values lying on the bench to do just that.?

I've read that some have suggested using a VNA to sweep the input by substituting a resistor for the tubes. Have you found this to be effective? I believe the post I read indicated 200 ohms for 572b tubes but I don't know how accurate that is.? Not sure if you pull the tubes, sub in a single resistor between the cathode and ground and then sweep to see where the SWR is at. Would of course need to operate the relay.?

Jim - AA7CL





From:[email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Louis Parascondola via groups.io <Gudguyham@...>
Sent:?Thursday, May 1, 2025 3:50 AM
To:[email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject:?Re: [ham-amplifiers] AL-811/572B
?
The position of the slug tell you a big story. ?Ultimately you would?want the slug to Bering inside of the coil windings when the SWR dips the lowest. ?That would indicate there’s enough of leeway in the inductance. ?So the positioning of the slug gives you a clue as to what is needed. ?Say for instance the slug is inside the winding area and you can’t null the swr at any position of the slug that tells you probably there’s not enough total inductance to the coil and you would add a turn or two. ?If the slug is totally nowhere near the windings and almost out of the tube then that tells you that you have too much and you would take one or two off. ?You got do a simpler test by adding about 10pf to the existing caps to see what happens if it gets worse go lower . ?At some point trying to change the cap values and the swr doesn’t null then going to the coil may be necessary. ?Since ?you are using different tubes and since the quality control on them is all over it’s not surprising you have this issue. ?As I recal from working on hundreds of these amps, the 80 meter slug is always quite far out. ?Good luck
Lou



On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 10:50 PM, AA7CL via groups.io <aa7cl@...> wrote:

I’m working on a used AL-811 for a friend. The 811 tubes were bad, so I replaced them with some Penta Labs 572b tubes (A whole another adventure). I also replaced the tube sockets, and installed GDTs on the tube sockets and added some bias diodes on the center tap of the transformer. I made sure there were not MOVs in the input board. The issue I’m having is high SWR (over 2:1) on 80 meters and I can’t get full drive from what appears as the exciter is folding back. All the other bands are fine.

?

I’ve attempted to adjust the 80-meter input coil with no effect on SWR/PWR in. I’ve checked the input switch for continuity and from the input through the 80-meter input coil with no problems. Switch alignment looks good. I remove and tested C4 (for 80 Meters) a 500pF cap and it tested good. ?I’ve removed the 200-ohm padding resistor just to see what effect it had on SWR and nothing. Obviously, I get more output for the same amount of drive. If I’m at the high end of 75 meter with the tuning slug all the way at the end of the coil form, the SWR just starts to drop, and I see an improvement in drive level. With the padding resistor in circuit, I’m showing about 50 watts for drive and 60mA of grid current. With the amp in bypass the radio will do 120W no SWR.

?

I’m wondering about values of C4 and if anyone else has experienced this behavior after swapping to 572b tubes? Don’t know how the amp performed prior as the tube replacement.

?

Thanks for any productive comments in advance.

?

Jim – AA7CL

?


 

开云体育

The trouble with ALL the coils in the 80B is that the paper type tube formers shrink and it becomes all but impossible to move the slugs without destroying them. You can get lucky by puffing locksmith's graphite powder down each end of the tubes and if you can move the slugs back and forth a little bit each time, to pick up the graphite, you might be able to save them.?

I bought extra slugs and so I was able to destroy a couple to get them out. I then loaded the tubes with graphite and inserted new slugs, which moved in and out nicely. For 80 and 160, I didn't have any of the longer slugs, so I got by with two standard sized ones in each tube.

Another thing is that the values of the silver mica capacitors given in the manual do not match what is installed on the tuned input board.

Yes, Lou is right. As per the manual, you have to adjust the slugs while you are driving with a decent amount of RF. Give it heaps.

The final thing is that you can adjust the 20/30 slug for either band but not both, which had me scratching my head for ages until I wrote to Ameritron and they told me about it. 20m is the natural choice.

I wish you luck with the tuning. It's not a pleasant job.

73, Alek VK6APK.

On 2/05/2025 5:29 am, Louis Parascondola via groups.io wrote:

Hi Jim doing the sweep thing gets you in the ball park but you need to be under full power to tune the input. ?You just need a little tweaking for the 572b tubes. ?Ameritron never adjusted those coils for 80 meters, the slugs were always way out of the area of the coil windings. To zero in on the best match always takes ending trial and error. ?I’d say removing ?one turn and trying it is a good start. ?You definitely want the slug in the area of the coil winding for maximum ?adjustment. BTW, a flat swr isn’t necessarily going to be what forwards you maximum output. ?You may very well obtain maximum power at 1.2 to 1. ?It all depends on the radio’s filter network and how close it really is to 50 ohms. ?I always shoot for maximum forward power while adjusting the inputs. If the slug is in the coil winding and the swr isn’t all the way down now you’ll need a cap value change. I usually try around 20pf on the lower frequency bands readjust the coil to see if I’m going the right way, as a last resort try a little less. ?Just be glad you don’t need to do all of them. Lou





On Thursday, May 1, 2025, 11:50 AM, AA7CL via groups.io <aa7cl@...> wrote:

Lou,

Thank you for your suggestion. I was thinking of doing the same. I have several capacitor values lying on the bench to do just that.?

I've read that some have suggested using a VNA to sweep the input by substituting a resistor for the tubes. Have you found this to be effective? I believe the post I read indicated 200 ohms for 572b tubes but I don't know how accurate that is.? Not sure if you pull the tubes, sub in a single resistor between the cathode and ground and then sweep to see where the SWR is at. Would of course need to operate the relay.?

Jim - AA7CL





From:?[email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Louis Parascondola via groups.io <Gudguyham@...>
Sent:?Thursday, May 1, 2025 3:50 AM
To:?[email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject:?Re: [ham-amplifiers] AL-811/572B
?
The position of the slug tell you a big story. ?Ultimately you would?want the slug to Bering inside of the coil windings when the SWR dips the lowest. ?That would indicate there’s enough of leeway in the inductance. ?So the positioning of the slug gives you a clue as to what is needed. ?Say for instance the slug is inside the winding area and you can’t null the swr at any position of the slug that tells you probably there’s not enough total inductance to the coil and you would add a turn or two. ?If the slug is totally nowhere near the windings and almost out of the tube then that tells you that you have too much and you would take one or two off. ?You got do a simpler test by adding about 10pf to the existing caps to see what happens if it gets worse go lower . ?At some point trying to change the cap values and the swr doesn’t null then going to the coil may be necessary. ?Since ?you are using different tubes and since the quality control on them is all over it’s not surprising you have this issue. ?As I recal from working on hundreds of these amps, the 80 meter slug is always quite far out. ?Good luck
Lou



On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 10:50 PM, AA7CL via groups.io <aa7cl@...> wrote:

I’m working on a used AL-811 for a friend. The 811 tubes were bad, so I replaced them with some Penta Labs 572b tubes (A whole another adventure). I also replaced the tube sockets, and installed GDTs on the tube sockets and added some bias diodes on the center tap of the transformer. I made sure there were not MOVs in the input board. The issue I’m having is high SWR (over 2:1) on 80 meters and I can’t get full drive from what appears as the exciter is folding back. All the other bands are fine.

?

I’ve attempted to adjust the 80-meter input coil with no effect on SWR/PWR in. I’ve checked the input switch for continuity and from the input through the 80-meter input coil with no problems. Switch alignment looks good. I remove and tested C4 (for 80 Meters) a 500pF cap and it tested good. ?I’ve removed the 200-ohm padding resistor just to see what effect it had on SWR and nothing. Obviously, I get more output for the same amount of drive. If I’m at the high end of 75 meter with the tuning slug all the way at the end of the coil form, the SWR just starts to drop, and I see an improvement in drive level. With the padding resistor in circuit, I’m showing about 50 watts for drive and 60mA of grid current. With the amp in bypass the radio will do 120W no SWR.

?

I’m wondering about values of C4 and if anyone else has experienced this behavior after swapping to 572b tubes? Don’t know how the amp performed prior as the tube replacement.

?

Thanks for any productive comments in advance.

?

Jim – AA7CL

?


 

开云体育

Oops. I was talking about the AL-80B amp. I didn't read the header.?

If the 811 has the same tuning tubes, you'll have the same problems.

Alek.

On 2/05/2025 7:33 am, Alek Petkovic via groups.io wrote:

The trouble with ALL the coils in the 80B is that the paper type tube formers shrink and it becomes all but impossible to move the slugs without destroying them. You can get lucky by puffing locksmith's graphite powder down each end of the tubes and if you can move the slugs back and forth a little bit each time, to pick up the graphite, you might be able to save them.?

I bought extra slugs and so I was able to destroy a couple to get them out. I then loaded the tubes with graphite and inserted new slugs, which moved in and out nicely. For 80 and 160, I didn't have any of the longer slugs, so I got by with two standard sized ones in each tube.

Another thing is that the values of the silver mica capacitors given in the manual do not match what is installed on the tuned input board.

Yes, Lou is right. As per the manual, you have to adjust the slugs while you are driving with a decent amount of RF. Give it heaps.

The final thing is that you can adjust the 20/30 slug for either band but not both, which had me scratching my head for ages until I wrote to Ameritron and they told me about it. 20m is the natural choice.

I wish you luck with the tuning. It's not a pleasant job.

73, Alek VK6APK.

On 2/05/2025 5:29 am, Louis Parascondola via groups.io wrote:
Hi Jim doing the sweep thing gets you in the ball park but you need to be under full power to tune the input. ?You just need a little tweaking for the 572b tubes. ?Ameritron never adjusted those coils for 80 meters, the slugs were always way out of the area of the coil windings. To zero in on the best match always takes ending trial and error. ?I’d say removing ?one turn and trying it is a good start. ?You definitely want the slug in the area of the coil winding for maximum ?adjustment. BTW, a flat swr isn’t necessarily going to be what forwards you maximum output. ?You may very well obtain maximum power at 1.2 to 1. ?It all depends on the radio’s filter network and how close it really is to 50 ohms. ?I always shoot for maximum forward power while adjusting the inputs. If the slug is in the coil winding and the swr isn’t all the way down now you’ll need a cap value change. I usually try around 20pf on the lower frequency bands readjust the coil to see if I’m going the right way, as a last resort try a little less. ?Just be glad you don’t need to do all of them. Lou





On Thursday, May 1, 2025, 11:50 AM, AA7CL via groups.io <aa7cl@...> wrote:

Lou,

Thank you for your suggestion. I was thinking of doing the same. I have several capacitor values lying on the bench to do just that.?

I've read that some have suggested using a VNA to sweep the input by substituting a resistor for the tubes. Have you found this to be effective? I believe the post I read indicated 200 ohms for 572b tubes but I don't know how accurate that is.? Not sure if you pull the tubes, sub in a single resistor between the cathode and ground and then sweep to see where the SWR is at. Would of course need to operate the relay.?

Jim - AA7CL





From:?[email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Louis Parascondola via groups.io <Gudguyham@...>
Sent:?Thursday, May 1, 2025 3:50 AM
To:?[email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject:?Re: [ham-amplifiers] AL-811/572B
?
The position of the slug tell you a big story. ?Ultimately you would?want the slug to Bering inside of the coil windings when the SWR dips the lowest. ?That would indicate there’s enough of leeway in the inductance. ?So the positioning of the slug gives you a clue as to what is needed. ?Say for instance the slug is inside the winding area and you can’t null the swr at any position of the slug that tells you probably there’s not enough total inductance to the coil and you would add a turn or two. ?If the slug is totally nowhere near the windings and almost out of the tube then that tells you that you have too much and you would take one or two off. ?You got do a simpler test by adding about 10pf to the existing caps to see what happens if it gets worse go lower . ?At some point trying to change the cap values and the swr doesn’t null then going to the coil may be necessary. ?Since ?you are using different tubes and since the quality control on them is all over it’s not surprising you have this issue. ?As I recal from working on hundreds of these amps, the 80 meter slug is always quite far out. ?Good luck
Lou



On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 10:50 PM, AA7CL via groups.io <aa7cl@...> wrote:

I’m working on a used AL-811 for a friend. The 811 tubes were bad, so I replaced them with some Penta Labs 572b tubes (A whole another adventure). I also replaced the tube sockets, and installed GDTs on the tube sockets and added some bias diodes on the center tap of the transformer. I made sure there were not MOVs in the input board. The issue I’m having is high SWR (over 2:1) on 80 meters and I can’t get full drive from what appears as the exciter is folding back. All the other bands are fine.

?

I’ve attempted to adjust the 80-meter input coil with no effect on SWR/PWR in. I’ve checked the input switch for continuity and from the input through the 80-meter input coil with no problems. Switch alignment looks good. I remove and tested C4 (for 80 Meters) a 500pF cap and it tested good. ?I’ve removed the 200-ohm padding resistor just to see what effect it had on SWR and nothing. Obviously, I get more output for the same amount of drive. If I’m at the high end of 75 meter with the tuning slug all the way at the end of the coil form, the SWR just starts to drop, and I see an improvement in drive level. With the padding resistor in circuit, I’m showing about 50 watts for drive and 60mA of grid current. With the amp in bypass the radio will do 120W no SWR.

?

I’m wondering about values of C4 and if anyone else has experienced this behavior after swapping to 572b tubes? Don’t know how the amp performed prior as the tube replacement.

?

Thanks for any productive comments in advance.

?

Jim – AA7CL

?