[ARC5] My First Experience Using a Dynamotor

[Dennis DuValll]

Lee, et-al

Ah yes, the PE-101, a popular and much cheaper alternative to the PE-103 way back when.  I also used one in a mobile setup around 1956/57.  About 300 volts out with 6 volts in and 600 volts out if one had a 12 volt vehicle.  There is an article in
one of the older Mobile Manuals showing how to rewire the armature for 6 volts in and 600 vdc out.  Don’t imagine your little Rambler would have put up with that lash-up for very long, HI!  PE-101s still show up regularly on eBay BTW.  

Dennis D.W7QHO
Glendale, CA

*****************


> On Dec 31, 2015, at 10:17 PM, Lee <L at w0vt.us> wrote:
> 
> 
> I'm on the list and have a few ARC-5s acquired many years ago.  That said,  I am not a big time follower or worshiper of ARC-5s and have pretty much been a lurker here as I don't have much to add.  You guys know more then I know about them.  Anyway to add something,  I had a Viking Mobile rig back in 1956 powered by a PE-101C dynamotor.  I was a teen age kid with the call W9DRC with little money.  (A PE-103 dynamotor was much preferred as it gave more current and a more appropriate voltage for an 807 rig.)  Anyway, this PE-101C was all I could afford and was my first experience using a dynamotor with a transmitter.  This was much larger then the small ones used on ARC-5 receivers.  I first mounted the transmitter and receiver converter in my stick shift Nash Rambler, then I mounted my 8 foot loaded whip with a spring mount and then it came time to install the alternator in the trunk.  This particular PE-101C  dynamotor had no substantial base to it.  All it had was a light metal flat plate mounted on the bottom.  All I did was hook it up and let it just sit on my trunk floor.  Now it was time to fire the rig up and see how well I did.  So I turned on the filaments and warmed everything up and now it was time to "Push the carbon mic button!"  I pushed it and  immediately experienced a great mechanical noise or THUMP within the trunk.  I opened the trunk to see what happened and found the dynamotor had flipped over 180 degrees.  This was my first experience with the phenomena called TORQUE!  That's when I learned these things need to be bolted down.
> 
> Then after using the rig this way I found the 6 volt generator in my Nash Rambler could not keep up with the power demand of the dynamotor.  I found out when the battery finally got drained, the ignition in my car would stop and the car would stall.  But not to worry, this was a stick shift car.  If I would let up on the mic push to talk switch the motion of the car through the standard transmission would start my car engine as the ignition would again work as the generator had begun to re-charge the battery. The bottom line was, the QSO had to end when my engine quit!  As I recall a dynamotor is around 33% efficient.  These were my first experiences using a dynamotor.
> 
> Happy New Year everyone.
> 
> Lee, w0vt
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