[TenTec] please help! my corsair II is sick...

[CP2235@aol.com]

hello everybody,

just in time for the cqwwcw contest my 10 year old corsair II is developing 
the following problem :-( ...

i first noticed it 2 days ago on 28mc. after a few cqs (for about 10 minutes) 
i suddenly realized i had no output power anymore. i had learned from 
previous contest and rtty operations that it is wise to put a fan behind the 
amp heatsink, but after 10 minutes cqing...? i put up the fan anyway, left 
the rig alone for 5 minutes and went to 21mc. it worked fine again. thought i 
had cured the problem. today when on 28mc again i realized that the 
(external) wattmeter did not really flicker according to the cw rhythm. 
sometimes dits get cut off, sometimes full letters. a minute later the output 
died again. i left the rig alone for 5 minutes, power comes back. a key-down 
test on cw gives the following results: 

- output power is not a full 100w (80-90w)
- after about 2 minutes key-down the wattmeter starts flickering. while still 
holding the key down, the wattmeter keeps flickering, while the output goes 
down slowly. after another 2 minutes it reaches about 40 watts, then suddenly 
drops to zero.
- fan does not help (the heatsink is really not very warm)
- i tried it on 21mc and 14mc also, same problem
- the built in ic (collector current) meter starts flickering/going down as 
well.

any hints where/how to start looking, how to do find the problem part, how to 
repair it, etc would be very appreciated!!!

also, is there a ten-tec faq/service page (icom has one for most radios) or 
support from ten-tec by email?

i really would love to get the rig going for the cqww contest next weekend!
i thought i did it right this time and arrived here (at my parents 
place/contest qth) early enough for the contest!! most antennas are up 
already, now murphy chooses the transceiver??? please help me fight back... 
:-)

i have to try the repair myself, because sending in the rig is too late for 
the contest...


73! Con DF4SA 

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