[1000mp] Re: FT1000 MkV Field Meter Pinning

[Dean Fewkes]

Hello Andy,

I have operated 2 fields and they both did the same thing on CW. Yes, 
this is the meter pinning that you described. I think that it is caused 
by a transmitted key click at the end of the dit that bleeds over and is 
still present when the radio goes to receive. Theoretically, either the 
key click mod or the roofing filter that I did at the same time could 
have cured the problem, but it is cured. For me, the problem was worse 
when the radio was cold. In fact, it was bad enough to de-sense the 
radio momentarily after transmission, which made QSK operate rather poorly.

Another mod I did a while back that you might be interested in, is to 
adjust the Field power meter so that 120 watts reads as 240 watts. Then 
you always read the meter at exactly half of what it shows. This makes 
fuller use of your meter and gives you a more exact reading which is 
helpful when you need to limit your power output for driving an 
amplifier or working AM. I have measured this against an external watt 
meter and the readings are pretty linear and accurate. I believe that 
the adjustment is made at VR 3014 on the AF unit.

Do you have the clicks and thumps in the headphones too? If so, I can 
help you eliminate those also.

Good Luck!

Dean Fewkes
KG7MZ
Kalama, WA
________________________________________________________________________




Andy Hamon wrote:
> Dean
>  
> Just read your posting about the upgrades you made and was particularly 
> interested in one of your comments.....
>  
> "The clicks that are normally heard in the headphones of the Field model 
> while working QSK are gone, and the S meter pinning that is often 
> associated with QSK is gone. I am not sure if these improvements are due 
> to the roofing filter or the key click mod."
>  
> Can you elaborate on the S-meter behaviour?
>  
> I bought my Field from new back in September last year from the main UK 
> supplier.
>  
> When using QSK CW, the S-meter / power meter momentarily fires across to 
> 60-80 over S9 / 400 watts! when the transmitter de-keys. In 
> semi-breakin, the effect is there but only fires to S9.The S meter falls 
> to the "correct" level over a second or so depending on the AGC setting.
>  
> After sending the rig back to Yaesu UK, they said there was nothing 
> wrong with it, but still gave me a new Field as it was only a month old 
> at that time. The replacement did exactly the same thing!
> I have several buddies with "full" MkV who said that I was bluffing as 
> their radios did not behave in such a way. It was only when I took it to 
> the local club that they believed me.
> Not believing the guy at Yaesu UK, I called Vertex Standard USA and 
> spoke to a guy called Chip, who said, "Yes it is a design issue with the 
> Field not seen in the MkV"
>  
> Is this the behaviour you were seeing??
>  
> Thanks in advanced.
>  
> Andy
> GU4WTN
___________________________________________________________________

Well I did some major upgrades to my Mark V field this last weekend. 
These upgrades
included:

The Inrad roofing filter.
2.8 HTZ Inrad filters for the 2nd and 3rd IF.
Inrad key click mod.
Changed out the old K9AN bonus mod for a .022 capacitor instead of .047.

Here are some initial observations that really stood out:

The roofing filter greatly improved my AM reception and short wave 
listening. This is
because the puny ceramic AM filter used in the 3rd IF let way too much 
stuff blow by
including hi-pitched whines etc. The roofing filter STOPPED this with 
only a slight
reduction in observed fidelity. It is now what I would call the perfect 
filter width for AM.
If you want hi-fi, you can use the synchronous receive feature because 
it needs only one
sideband and the carrier of the AM signal and is not restricted at all 
by the roofing filter.

The noise blanker causes much less distortion and works just as well, 
thanks to the
roofing filter.

The clicks that are normally heard in the headphones of the Field model 
while working
QSK are gone, and the S meter pinning that is often associated with QSK 
is gone. I am
not sure if these improvements are due to the roofing filter or the key 
click mod.

As advertised, the roofing filter does reduce or eliminate interference 
from strong signals
that are near your operating frequency.  For those of us that must use 
the noise blanker at
times, this improvement is very significant. Without the noise blanker 
the improvement is
more subtle but still definitely makes a difference.

The change in the old K9AN bonus mod made the CW audio quality a little less
restrictive and smoother when using the wide filters. I thought the .047 
blocked too much
hi-pitched reception when wanting to listen to a wide pass-band. This is 
really a personal
preference.

I hope this information is helpful and I will probably add more after 
further use.

Dean Fewkes
KG7MZ
Kalama, WA