I'm a newcomer to this group, and to the use of amps in general. (Active
for 40 years but always using a home-brew rig at less than 75-100 watts,
or more recently a solid-state Kenwood rig. Originally EVERYTHING was
homebrew and was a lot of fun; but as you get older the eyes start to
fail badly!) Last spring I purchased a new appearing LZ500ZC and drove
it on RTTY and SSB with a TS440S. Antenna tuner was a KW tuner by MFJ.
All went fine for about 5 months with good reports and results. Then
arcing occurred in the tuner so I stopped using the amp. Investigation
shows some pitting on the variable capacitor, which I know that I can
smooth out.
I suspect parasitics were the cause and I have purchased a kit from Rick
Measures which I have yet to install. My questions are these:
1) Why did all go well for a while and then go to he#$ in a
hand-basket?
2) Are parasitics the probable cause, and will the Measures kit
solve it permanently?
3) What else should I be doing? I am NOT using a scope during
tune-up; some comments indicate that is strongly recommended.
4) Could the TS440S be overdriving the LZ500ZC?
Thanks in advance for your help.
73,
Bob - W1VXV
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