[Boatanchors] Atlas RX-110/TX-110

[N4ch at aol.com]

Hello Mark (and others)..........the Atlas TX/RX-110 setup was  probably 
Atlas Radio's last gasp before they went out of business in 1979, give  or 
take a year.   It's a very simple design, with as little cost  as possible.   I 
suspect their intended market was the beginner in  HF.   I think they 
started with the basic design of the 210/215X  radios, and took as much cost out 
as they could, and still have a functioning  receiver, with the plug-in TX 
module to make a transceiver.   By the  way.......to those unfamiliar with 
this gear.......the TX-110 will NOT operate  as a stand-alone transmitter; 
there are a lot of circuits in the RX-110  (including BFO, crystal filter, RF 
filters for the 5 bands covered, and of  course the VFO) which must be 
"cabled in" for it to work.   Also, if  you have just the receiver, it WILL work 
as a stand-alone unit, but a couple  sets of pins on the back panel Molex 
jack must be jumpered first; this is  explained in the manual, and it's also 
silk-screened on the back panel at the  connector.   The manuals are VERY 
minimal.......there's little there  besides some schematics and some basic 
operating instructions.    Fortunately, there's not much circuitry to figure out. 
  It's been a  while since I've dug into my RX-110, but the alignment is 
pretty  simple.   Altho not well marked, there are some small markings  along 
the 5 rows (3 coils per band) of RF coils (80 meters is the top row, and  
you progress in order down to 10 meters on the bottom row).   They  tune the 
receiver's front end, as well as the exciter, when the TX-110 is  plugged in. 
 There are a couple IF transformers and the typical carrier  null 
adjustments for the transmitter, and that's about it.   There are  just a couple 
adjustments in the TX-110.   The VFO is basically a  re-boxed version of what 
was used in the 210/215X radios...........but they cut  every corner they 
could here as well.........even regarding dial  illumination.   The 210/215X 
scale was lit with 2 bulbs; the RX-110  has a bracket to accomodate two, but 
they installed only one.
 
Good luck getting your friend's setup working.
 
73, Herman, N4CH.
 
 
 
In a message dated 1/21/2013 8:41:48 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
mvjohn at sympatico.ca writes:

Hello Team
I'm just picking up on this thread....

A  friend recently asked me to take a look at his RX-110/TX-110 and trying 
to  service them with the standard manual set was a real challenge. There 
are  minimal  locations diagrams so trying to find components on the circuit  
boards was tough and I found the alignment procedure was almost  unworkable. 
 There are no voltage measurement charts as per Heath or  Collins.