[TenTec] Hercules II
John Crux
patents@dx0man.prestel.co.uk
Wed, 14 Jul 1999 10:34:12 +0100
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Great amplifier - quiet (= silent) and it churns out 500w with minimal
drive from my Omni-V.. No warm-up time either.
Problems: I had a transistor failure, but TT fixed it for a very
reasonable price (after I hand carried the darn thing 4000 miles to
Sevierville). I also had the vacuum relay die, which cost more than the
transistor failure.
The dial lights are too bright and if they burn out, they must be
replaced with exactly the right lamps or the 9420 power supply may
refuse to turn on. Solution: a small wire wound resistor in series with
the lamps, to reduce the current drain and the brightness as well.
The Herc II needs a hairy power supply ! A truck battery with a smart
charger is one answer. I have the TT 9420 supply - which will run on
117v, if you re-wire your home supply to deliver the current needed.
Its much better on 230v, though mine occasionally trips a 60A (!!!)
circuit breaker when I switch on. I installed a separate filtered AC
line direct to our domestic fuse box; only the 9420 is on this line. The
computer and other equipment is on a completely separate (filtered) AC
supply because I got tired of the 9420 tripping the breaker and
stopping the computer dead (and trashing any running software). I
strongly recommend doing this.
I also use a heavy industrial (120A) flexible bus wire to link the
equipment grounds together and to the 9420.
The 9420 itself has been the source of several long-term problems. Most
of these were due to a dry joint under the plug/socket connector that
supplies the turn-on voltage from a small transfomer. Its probably my
fault it took so long to find this one; the joint looked perfect.
Since I re-soldered the thing, its been fine (but it still knocks out
the 60A breaker from time to time, causing a quick dash round to the
fuse box to reset it).
73 John G3JAG
"Donald F. Smith" wrote:
> Looking for comments Good or Bad about the 420 Hercules II.
> what yah think?
> AND!!!! anybody got one sitting around.
> (Got Ten-Tec)
> N4JZH
> Donnie
>
>
> --
> 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
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Message-ID: <378C5914.798615D6@dx0man.prestel.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1999 10:32:04 +0100
From: John Crux <patents@dx0man.prestel.co.uk>
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To: "Donald F. Smith" <n4jzh@mindspring.com>
CC: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Hercules II
References: <1.5.4.32.19990714004515.006736ac@pop.mindspring.com>
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<html>
Great amplifier - quiet (= silent) and it churns out 500w with minimal
drive from my Omni-V.. No warm-up time either.
<br>Problems: I had a transistor failure, but TT fixed it for a very reasonable
price (after I hand carried the darn thing 4000 miles to Sevierville).
I also had the vacuum relay die, which cost more than the transistor failure.
<br>The dial lights are too bright and if they burn out, they must be replaced
with exactly the right lamps or the 9420 power supply may refuse to turn
on. Solution: a small wire wound resistor in series with the lamps, to
reduce the current drain and the brightness as well.
<br>The Herc II needs a hairy power supply ! A truck battery with a smart
charger is one answer. I have the TT 9420 supply - which will run on 117v,
if you re-wire your home supply to deliver the current needed. Its much
better on 230v, though mine occasionally trips a 60A (!!!) circuit
breaker when I switch on. I installed a separate filtered AC line direct
to our domestic fuse box; only the 9420 is on this line. The computer and
other equipment is on a completely separate (filtered) AC supply because
I got tired of the 9420 tripping the breaker and stopping the computer
dead (and trashing any running software). I strongly recommend doing this.
<br>I also use a heavy industrial (120A) flexible bus wire to link the
equipment grounds together and to the 9420.
<p>The 9420 itself has been the source of several long-term problems. Most
of these were due to a dry joint under the plug/socket connector that supplies
the turn-on voltage from a small transfomer. Its probably my fault it took
so long to find this one; the joint looked perfect.
<br>Since I re-soldered the thing, its been fine (but it still knocks
out the 60A breaker from time to time, causing a quick dash round to the
fuse box to reset it).
<p>73 John G3JAG
<br>"Donald F. Smith" wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE> Looking for comments Good or Bad about the
420 Hercules II.
<br> what yah think?
<br> AND!!!! anybody got one
sitting around.
<br>
(Got Ten-Tec)
<br>
N4JZH
<br>
Donnie
<br>
<p>--
<br>FAQ on WWW:
<a href="http://www.contesting.com/tentecfaq.htm">http://www.contesting.com/tentecfaq.htm</a>
<br>Submissions:
tentec@contesting.com
<br>Administrative requests: tentec-REQUEST@contesting.com
<br>Problems:
owner-tentec@contesting.com
<br>Search:
<a href="http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm">http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm</a></blockquote>
</html>
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--
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