[TenTec] Repair of Hercules II

[Ken Brown]

Hi Michael,

     I have a Hercules II and have serviced it myself. So I have perused
the schematics enough to be pretty familiar with it. Maybe I can help you
figure out what is going on.
     I changed out all of the PA transistors in mine because a few of them
were weak. From my previous experience servicing VHF and UHF LMRS repeater
and remote base transmitter PAs I know that it is best to change all PA
transistors with new ones, from the same production batch if possible,
rather than just changing the ones that you think are bad. Having said
that, maybe the PA transistors are not even the problem in your case. The
RF PA part of the whole system may be completely solid and a keying, T/R
switching or other control system fault could be the problem. What are the
symptoms? What does the amplifier do, and what does it not do? How are you
powering it? Maybe there is a fault in your power source.
      I have only powered mine with the Ten-Tec 9420 power supply. I know
some people use batteries and/or other power supplies. The 9420 is
essentially four power supplies. Each powering one of the four PA sections
inside the Hercules II, using separate wires and connector pins for each
power supply and PA section. A failure in one part of that could make the
amplifier not perform up to normal, without complete outage.

Ken N6KB

On Fri, Sep 23, 2022 at 8:43 AM Michael Tortorella via TenTec <
tentec at contesting.com> wrote:

> My Hercules II has been acting up and I am asking the list if anyone can
> recommend a good repair facility/service for this.
> Thanks in advance, 73, Mike W2IY
>
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