[TenTec] Long Live the 301

[David H. Hammond]

Hi Everyone,

Its amazing that almost every year at this time the reflector gets a
flurry of interest and articles about the Model 301 Remote Tuner
long-ago discontinued by TT.  What a shame as the demand for this
accessory is still great or so its seems.  Too bad TT doesn't make up a
few as a T-Kit. But that's a business decision they have to make and in
today's market its understandable.

But all is not lost.  As many have noted its a very easy project to
homebrew.  The most critical components are the Oak Grigsby optical
encoder and a Tuning Knob.  Both can be obtained from TT Service IF
you ask very very nicely!!

I found a very close match in a Hammond Enclosure(no relation-I wish)
that is about the same size of the TT box perhaps a little larger.Sloped
front and all. Scout out the catalogs and fleas, etc and you will find
one in time that works. Other parts needed include 4 or 6 conductor flat
telephone cable and a Rs232 25 pin plug both available from local Radio
Shacks.

The beauty of the homebrew 301 is that you can ADD THINGS to make your
operating more fun. In my case I like to work DX but found that when
working split with the 301 I had to lean up to the radio to use the REV
switch SO...I added a REV function on the 301. Boy am I LAZY.

This was done by dropping  the front panel of the radio down and
locating connectors 91 and 92 on the back of the keypad board.
I then spliced two lines carefully in parallel with position 0 on
connector 92 and position B on connector.  As you look at the connectors
with the number label facing you, on connector 91 this is the wire third
from the left and on connector 92 it is the wire on the far left.
When shorted together the two new spliced wires will activate the REV
function in split just like on the front panel(which still works too).
Check out the schematic.

The new wires then must be routed to the RS232 port in the far left top
of the rig on the TX audio/BFO board.  I will let you engineer how to
connect these to the 301.  As I do not use computer control here I
un-plugged connector 72 on this board (and the Logic board) and used the
72 postiion on the TX/BFO board  for the new wires to the RS232. These
are then brought out to the 301 case using 6 conductor telephone cable
(with four wires for the encoder and two for REV function) and connected
to a momentary pushbutton switch on the case.  Voila! A 301 Remote Tuner
with REV function. Mind your connections on the 25 pin plug!! Works like
a champ. Remember that if you splice into the wrong connections on the
keypad board connectors your Remote REV will give you a surprise by
doing something else!!!!!

Study your Omni VI schematic and wire/cable harness diagrams and work
it out for yourself. Nothing fancy but it makes the 301 a more effective
and enjoyable unit. Give it a look-see and good luck.

73 fer nw de N1LQ-DAve

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/tentecfaq.htm
Submissions:              tentec@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  tentec-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-tentec@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm