Richard,
My first TenTec rig was a Paragon. After about 3 years it suffered the
dreaded "PLL OUT of Lock" At the time Larry Worth was the service manager
and one of the techs there at TT was a fellow named John Cloyge. I know I
have not spelled his last name correctly but he was the tech I talked to on
several occasions.
The problem can be on one of two different circuit boards. Either the MAJOR
LOOP circuit board or the MINOR LOOP circuit board. The problem is to
determine which circuit board it causing the problem. AND IT CAN BE EITHER
ONE.
At the time John sent me BOTH circuit boards. I replaced them one at a time
to determine which circuit board was the culprit. I do not remember which
one was causing the problem but one of circuit boards was permanently
replaced. I return the faulty circuit board along with the other NEW
circuit board that I did not use.
At the time of the telephone conversation with John, he suggested 2
different methods of repairing the "PLL OUT OF LOCK" problem. One, of
course, was to replace the faulty circuit board as described above.
The other is to remove each circuit board from the Paragon and "RESOLDER" or
FLOAT new solder on EACH connection of the MAJOR LOOP and the MINOR LOOP
circuit boards. VERY CAREFULLY! Of course, resolder one circuit board,
then re-install it to see if the problem goes away. If it does, then you
have fixed your problem. If it doesn't, then resolder the remaining circuit
board. Then re-install that circuit board. IF YOU have done a sufficiently
good re-solder job, the problem will be GONE.
At the time John worked on the Paragons, I don't know if he worked on others
as well. He said the choice was mine but others that he had talked to about
the PLL problem had just re-soldered the connections on their rigs and it
took care of the problem.
Of course, it depends very much on just how comfortable you are with a
soldering iron. If you aren't a hands on guy then you will probably have to
send the Paragon back to the Smoky Mountains to have it repaired. If I had
known then what I "think" I know now, I would have just re-soldered the
connections myself.
Also, just one last thing. SOMETIMES, you can take a magnifying glass and
look at the solder connections on the circuit board and actually SEE a small
ring, or what appears to be a crack all the way around the soldered lead of
a component. IF YOU SEE such a ring, definitely solder these, they ARE part
of the overall problem. But if you elect to try the re-solder yourself, do
the complete circuit board. Sometimes you just can't SEE the problem.
I know the PLL problem can be very frustrating but this is what was
suggested to me at the time. Hope this helps you out.
Mike - KC8WR
PS. The LOOP circuit boards are a little hard to get to. They are under
the top cover of the Paragon and under a second cover on the left side of
the rig as you face the front of the rig. I am sure the second enclosure is
for sheilding the PLL. I don't exactly remember, but I think there may be a
circuit board mounted on top of the PLL cover. Too many rigs and too many
years since I have looked at the inside of a Paragon.
----- Original Message -----
From: Irena and Richard Jenkins <rjenkins@alphalink.com.au>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 03, 2002 1:29 AM
Subject: [TenTec] Paragon Mark 1 Issues
> Could owners of this fine Tentec rig please email me off-line with
solutions
> for the 'coming out of lock' receiver problem. This rig has been back to
the
> agents once for this problem but it has re-occurred. Thank you.
>
> Richard
> --
> ===================================================
> Irena & Richard Jenkins VK1NDV & VK1RJ
> Canberra, AUSTRALIA
> ===================================================
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>
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