[Boatanchors] B&W 5100 Update

[Mark Bell]

I posted a while back about a 5100 I had just received.  The OC3 went
completely dark under load, and the exciter cap was shorting.

First, I tuned up as best I could with the cap fully unmeshed but the OC3
still went dark.  So, I proceeded to poke and prod etc.  Couldn't find much
wrong, voltages and resistances were as per the manual.   Tonight, I
resoldered the wires, and tried it again, and the OC3 didn't go completely
dark!

I then got out ye olde screwdriver and attempted to bend the plates of the
exciter capacitor.  It was a tight sequeeze, but I was able to do it.

Output now on 80M is about 80W AM and 100W on CW.  I listened to the AM on
my SX-101A and it sounded pretty good.  10M output isn't that great, but
that's to be expected, and I haven't tested all the tubes yet.

Looks like there may have been a bad solder joint in the bias circuit and
getting knocked around by UPS didn't help.  The seller said the cap wasn't
shorted upon shipment, so I have to chalk that up to shipment also.

73 Mark K3ZX