[ARC5] crystal control
Bob Macklin
macklinbob at msn.com
Sat Jan 26 21:52:18 EST 2013
Because at the time these articles were written Novice's were limited to
crystal control operation.
Bob Macklin
K5MYJ
Seattle, Wa.
"Real Radios Glow In The Dark"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Everette" <radiocompass at yahoo.com>
To: <dennis.monticelli at gmail.com>; "Bruce Long" <coolbrucelong at yahoo.com>
Cc: <ARC5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2013 6:46 PM
Subject: Re: [ARC5] crystal control
>I must ask... why do you think you need to crystal-control a Command
>transmitter?
>
> As I related in an earlier post, these things are absolutely phenomenally
> stable after they warm up. They were built with components which would be
> prohibitively expensive to duplicate today; and the tolerances are way
> beyond anything currently being built.
>
> Why make something more complicated than it needs to be? "Because we can!"
> is the sort of answer I usually get from I-T (Idiot Technology?)
> Professionals.... In the case of a Command Set: Note well. It probably
> won't work a bit different, unless it's "probably not as well."
>
> Back in the 50s and 60s, crystal control was a requirement under FCC rules
> for Novices. That's why those articles were originally written. No need
> for that now.
>
> Just my opinion. I like the KISS method.
>
> 73
>
> Mike
> W4DSE
>
>
> --- On Sat, 1/26/13, Bruce Long <coolbrucelong at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> From: Bruce Long <coolbrucelong at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] crystal control
> To: dennis.monticelli at gmail.com, radiocompass at yahoo.com
> Cc: ARC5 at mailman.qth.net
> Date: Saturday, January 26, 2013, 7:41 PM
>
> I think injection locking is a good idea. I've used injection locking on
> several occasions in commercial and industrial equipment I've designed and
> it worked well
>
> I suggest listening to the osc while transmitting (cw?) instead of a side
> tone as an almost injection locked osc can be very ratty
>
> Bruce. Kj3z
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From:
>
> Dennis Monticelli
> <dennis.monticelli at gmail.com>;
>
>
> To:
>
> Mike Everette <radiocompass at yahoo.com>;
>
>
> Cc:
>
> <ARC5 at mailman.qth.net>;
>
>
> Subject:
>
> Re: [ARC5] crystal control
>
>
> Sent:
>
> Sat, Jan 26, 2013 10:32:34 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> While I have not tried it,I think
> going to an injection locking scheme
> would work out better than replacing the VFO with another circuit and
> trying to pass signal awkwardly through it. With this scheme the 1626
> osc circuit would remain as-is and free-run as usual. An external
> crystal osc would inject sufficient energy into the free running
> oscillator (probably via cap coupling) so as to cause it to lock to
> the external frequency reference. Post-lock the drive level should be
> able the same as before, and best of all the originality is preserved.
> For this scheme to work the free running frequency of the VFO should
> be reasonably close to that of the crystal meaning only "ham band"
> command sets would be suitable and the VFO dial would need to be set
> in the vicinity of the rock.
>
> Dennis AE6C
>
>
> On 1/26/13, Mike
> Everette <radiocompass at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> The ARRL Handbooks from about 1960 through 1967 or 68 had an article that
>> had originally appeared in QST in 1959 perhaps, by Lew McCoy I think,
>> which
>> also showed a method of crystal-controlling a Command Set. I built one of
>> these, and it worked, sort of; but unless one unlocked the main padder
>> condenser on the VFO tank circuit to peak things up as the article said
>> to
>> do, it didn't give a lot of drive to the final. I was warned by someone
>> with experience against disturbing that VFO padder. Doing so would
>> utterly
>> destroy the VFO calibration and tracking.
>>
>> So, I suffered along for a couple or three weeks calling many CQs but
>> making
>> few contacts; probably had all of four or five watts going to the antenna
>> at
>> best. The
> Novice band on 80 in those days was wall-to-wall signals at night
>> and pulling anything out of the mess was tough. Then I had the chance to
>> borrow a DX-40, and used it until I upgraded five months later. Making
>> contacts was much, much easier.
>>
>> When I gave back the DX-40, with an upgraded license I resurrected the
>> Command Set and this time used the VFO as ARC, God and Nature intended.
>> Everything worked much better that way.
>>
>> I wonder if anyone ever got that Handbook conversion to work right...?
>>
>> As for stability of the stock Command Set in mil service, the tuning caps
>> are made from some kind of super-alloy with an absolutely zero
>> temperature
>> coefficient. I have read of people testing the oscillators on the bench
>> and
>> finding that they will hold frequency to amazing standards... like maybe
>> a
>> couple of cycles a week?
> Even in an airplane, under vibration and extreme
>> temperature change, they would hold very close. The problem with the
>> Command Set system was actually the receivers... and not the receivers
>> themselves, but rather that the "aviators" could not keep their hands off
>> the coffee grinder control boxes. If they didn't hear anything, they'd
>> start cranking and get the receivers off frequency.
>>
>> One historian, I forget whom (Gordon White?), asserted that this was what
>> may have caused the lack of coordination among the fighter, dive bomber
>> and
>> torpedo squadrons at Midway.
>>
>> 73
>>
>> Mike
>> W4DSE
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On Sat, 1/26/13, radio_man at wbsnet.org <radio_man at wbsnet.org>
> wrote:
>>
>>> From: radio_man at wbsnet.org <radio_man at wbsnet.org>
>>> Subject: Re: [ARC5] crystal control
>>> To: "john rose" <brokenthumb at live.com>
>>> Cc: ARC5 at mailman.qth.net
>>> Date: Saturday, January 26, 2013, 4:08 PM
>>> Jon,
>>>
>>> Little 1 page article, p.62, in CQ "Command Sets"(1957)by
>>> Henry, WØFVD (at
>>> that time) for making a crystal control adaptor for the
>>> transmitters for
>>> Novice operation. Was a little plug in module that you
>>> could unplug and
>>> put 1626 back in for VFO operation. Looks pretty
>>>
> simple, dunno if worked
>>> very good or not.
>>>
>>> 73
>>> Rod
>>> KØEQH
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > I have been searching the archives to answer this
>>> question, it seems that
>>> > no one asked. CQ magazine October 1965 was a
>>> ‘special’ devoted to surplus.
>>> > Gordon Eliot White wrote two articles the second of
>>> which is “Crystal
>>> > Controlled Command Sets”. During WW2 the Naval
>>> Research Laboratory
>>> > modified some Rx and Tx for crystal control. Receiver
>>> schematics are laid
>>> > out for the modified 12K8 circuit and delayed
>>> AVC. What was not discussed
>>> > was any circuitry to convert the TX “to make the
>>> calibration crystal
>>> > control the frequency”. Does anyone know
> if this was
>>> ever published? Is it
>>> > still available? Mr. White?
>>> >
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>>>
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