[AMRadio] My BA Station: HQ-170 and Globe Champ 350

[wb3fau at att.net]

cool  station  there Kim!  you  might want to  find  a good crystal D104
mic.  probably  work  best  with that rig-  73  Russ.

--- On Sun, 12/11/11, Kim Elmore <cw_de_n5op at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> From: Kim Elmore <cw_de_n5op at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: [AMRadio] My BA Station: HQ-170 and Globe Champ 350
> To: amradio at mailman.qth.net
> Date: Sunday, December 11, 2011, 2:44 PM
> I'm happy to say that refurbishing is
> now complete for both units! 
> These had been my Dad's (W5JHJ SK) since 1959 and I
> obtained them 
> from the estate about a year and a half ago.
> 
> Both units worked when I got them, but i wasn't certain of
> their 
> overall condition. The Champ needed a bit more attention
> than did the 
> Hammarlund: there had been some hot resistors in it and
> there were 
> some "olde" electrolytics that needed replacement. I also
> replaced 
> some questionable silver micas in the Champ. As my dad had
> kept 
> everything in working order, the job wasn't too bad. I also
> added SS 
> rectifiers to all the rigs, then bypassed the DC path
> through the 
> filament supply for the B+. This helps a bit with
> regulation and 
> removes a tiny bit of load from the PS transformer, though
> probably 
> not enough to worry about. Removing the hollow state
> rectifiers does, 
> however, reduce the overall heat load incurred on both
> units.
> 
> The Hammarlund HQ-170 was an easier project: I replaced all
> 
> electrolytics in it, but everything else seemed in good
> order. I 
> finished a complete alignment on it this morning using a
> Ramsey 3010 
> service monitor loaned to me my K5KUK. The RF alignment
> proved most 
> tedious as it sets the band spread, so there's interaction
> between 
> the high and low ends of the bands. Of all the bands, 20 m
> proved the 
> worst in this regard and I had to go back and forth several
> times. 
> This includes trying to compensate by "cheating" either
> high or low 
> (as needed) on the band edges to try to converge a bit
> faster on the 
> proper alignment. But, I finally got it all as it should
> be.
> 
> I found that the 455 kHz IF was out of alignment by a fair
> bit, 
> almost as if it had been aligned about 1 or as much as 2
> kHz low in 
> frequency. The 60 kHz IF was in good shape and the 3056 IF
> was only 
> out a little bit. The RF alignment was off a fair bit and
> the antenna 
> coils were out by quite a bit. It may be that when he last
> aligned 
> it, my dad forgot to center the antenna trim capacitor. The
> 
> Hammarlund is as sensitive as I remember: with just the
> probe from 
> the service monitor on the antenna input I could hear the
> 10 m CW 
> contest banging away.
> 
> I left the multi-section can capacitors in place on both
> units for 
> cosmetic reasons. All new electrolytics went under the
> chassis.
> 
> I need to get some pads for the bottom of the Hammarlund
> chassis, so 
> that I don't  scratch up my desk top -- they are
> already on the 
> Champ. I'll install my new antenna switch so that I can
> choose either 
> my Tentec Orion II, my venerable old TS-930S or my boat
> anchor gear 
> and then squeeze it all into place. It will all be easily
> ready by Christmas.
> 
> I must thank W5JO profusely for all of his suggestions,
> help and 
> encouragement over the time it's taken me to finish this.
> After a 
> self-imposed problem with the Champ (I failed to solder a
> capacitor 
> lead on the driver matching network) all else went
> swimmingly. At 
> Jim's urging, once I had the Champ up and going I tested
> the audio 
> bandwidth of the transmitter and found the -3 dB points are
> at 280 Hz 
> and 5.4 kHz -- not too shabby.
> 
> The only mic I have wired for it is an older Shure 404C
> hand mic. I 
> have a Heil double-element desk mic that has a flatter
> response, but 
> need to make an adapter so that I can go from the 9 pin mic
> plug to 
> the 4 pin plug my dad put on the Champ. Yes, the Champ
> originally had 
> a two-pin mic plug, but as an ex-BC engineer he was very
> particular 
> about his low-level audio paths. I'm hoping that it sounds
> pretty 
> good when I finally get it all going!
> 
> Merry Christmas,
> 
> Kim N5OP
> 
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