[TenTec] The Argonaut 509 From HELL!

[M. P. Haynes]

Rich,

Look at it in a positive light........it keeps you out of the bars at
night!  On the other hand, it might just drive you to drink!

Pat-K4BEH
On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 22:25:48 -0500 "Richard Arland"
<richard.arland at verizon.net> writes:
> The latest installment: 12-6-04
> 
> Several of you have replied off-list to check out the crystal for 
> 10M. 
> Unfortunately, I can't find any crystals (the IF aside) at all. The 
> 
> oscillator board is all LC free running oscillators.
> 
> Now for the really bad news: The doubler/tripler transformer, T1, is 
> so 
> badly out of alignment that it is erratic. Sometimes it will triple 
> on 40 
> meters (like it is supposed to) but then it will also triple on 15 
> meters 
> instead of double, which it is NOT supposed to do! By tweaking the 
> coils, I 
> can get it to double on 15 M but then it will only double on 40M, 
> which puts 
> me at 10.7 MHz This is not a good thing! I was actualy tempted to 
> remove the 
> oscillator/VFO board from the T-T Model 315 receiver and tryi it in 
> the 509, 
> however, the 315 board uses a regulated 7VDC and the 509 uses a 
> regulated 
> 9VDC. OOPS! The basic and injetion frequencies are the same, 
> however. I may 
> try this as a desperate "last action".
> 
> I spent about 3 hours today trying to align the oscillator stages on 
> the 
> oscillator sub-assembly. It took that long to get the hang of how 
> the two 
> coils per band interact with each other. Now I have four of the five 
> bands 
> tracking pretty good, but 15 M is unusable due to the Injection 
> Frequency 
> tripling to 18 MHz instead of only doubling to 12 MHz. So, I got a 
> partial 
> "win" in that I have a useable radio on 80, 40 & 20M (At this point 
> I'll 
> take what I can get!)
> 
> Oh, yeah, I broke one of the leads on Q1 on the audio board due to 
> all the 
> handling of the chassis with the front panel removed. It is an 
> MPSU10 which, 
> of course, I can't cross to anything I have in the shop (that's a 
> big 
> surprise). Anyone got a suitable sub? (I know...."make one outta 
> wood".)
> 
> Well, that's it for today's installment. I copied the previous e-mail 
> 
> posting to the T-T lab, but they have not replied, since I asked 
> them some 
> specific questions. In the "old days" they kept a supply of boards 
> and 
> sub-assemblies at the T-T lab and all you had to do was send them 
> your 
> misbehaving board and they would send you a new one (and bill you, 
> of 
> course).
> 
> At any rate, I am now looking for another 509 in good electrical 
> shape. I 
> can always use the case and end panels/top of mine on the nw 509 to 
> make it 
> look pretty.
> 
> More later.
> 
> 73 es Happy Holidays
> 
> Rich K7SZ
> 
> 
> 
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