[ARC5] CX Report

[Mark K3MSB]

Hi Guys

This CX seemed to be pretty sparse compared to those of the past few
years;  not a lot of stations heard, but the bands were not in the greatest
of shape either.

I powered up the SCR-274N after church on Sunday with the hopes of getting
some 40M QSOs in the log.  Surprisingly, I got no power output at all (and
of course, the 40M command transmitter was working fine a few weeks ago…..
of course……).    I changed over to 80M via the pilot’s control box and was
pleased to see a nice 40W output on 80.  So, the problem was localized to
the 40m transmitter.

I switched back to 40M and, after doing some checks, keyed down and was
rewarded with the smell of warm / crispy (or worse) components.  Not good.

I have a HB meter box in line from the modulator to the transmitter rack to
monitor Ip and (via a switch) Screen, Plate, and Osc voltages.   That was
well worth the day spent building it by the way.     Ip was maxed out, Ep
OK, Screen low, and Osc voltage absurdly high.   Well, OK.   I now have
something to keep me off the sidewalks this week; I suspect following my
nose will help in this case.

So, I ran my B&W 5100B / SX-111 MK 1 (my novice station) on 40M and the
SCR-274N on 80M and had fun doing it!

I only worked two ARC-5 stations, and both were on 40M    WA4BNO said his
rig was an ARC-5;  I assume that was both TX and RX.    My last QSO on
Sunday night was with Dennis AE6C who was running an ARC-5 TX and a Drake
receiver.

73 Mark K3MSB

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