[ARC5] R-23 "Volume Control"

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

On 6 Nov 2006 at 9:59, Falls, Jim wrote:

> I got the R-23 up and running this weekend and listened in during the
> weekend CW contest. I used it in conjunction w/my TCS-8 receiver and
> "wotta" difference. The acid test if there was ever one. I'd hear
> maybe 2 stations at a time (one dead-on, the other faint) where the
> TCS, unaided, had 4 to 6 at a time.

Typical. The TCS receivers are quite "wide".

> You are definitely correct that
> it's too tight for SSB 'phone. EXTREMELY touchy, given the TCS' lack
> of a vernier.

Yes, although you CAN use the tuning on the R-23 as a sort of 
vernier...sort of a cheap version of IFpassband tuning.

> Plugged the phones into the TCS instead and the 'phone
> was easily dialed in. Also tried tightening the coupling in the IFT's
> as recommended to get better copy of SSB 'phone w/marginal results as
> indicated. I have left the adjustment rods at the loosest coupling
> position

That should be all DOWN.

> and this will be my CW monitor from now on.
> 
> I'd still like to put an appropriate value pot in the "mod-box",

I ***still*** think there is something ELSE wrong, other than the value of 
the pot. Practically any value of pot above 10K ohms will work, and it 
doesn't have to be "audio taper" either.

> but I
> have left things as-is because I can't get the plug-in mod-box to come
> out of the housing. Undid the 4 screws at the corners, but it won't
> come out and I'm afraid of breaking something inside if I "insist". Is
> there another screw inside that holds this unit in place?

There should not be. Removing the 4 screws is all it SHOULD take. The 
original boxes had one of those proprietary ARC connectors in it that 
mated with a female socket mounted in the back of the inner box.

> 
> As an alternate this weekend, I ran the R-23 RF gain full-on and
> adjusted the RF gain/"volume" using the TCS control to vary the audio.
> This also seems to have helped the incoming signal work better w/the
> R-23's BFO. 

It IS possible to overload the R-23, by feeding it too much signal. Thus, 
since the amount of BFO injection in the R-23 is fixed, the output can 
sound distorted.

Ken Gordon W7EKB