[Central-Electronics] new 20A owner follow-up

[Stan McIntosh]

Thank you for the welcoming to the list, and I am relieved to know that the
list is still active.  Until last year, I thought that I knew something
about ‘vintage gear’ after time with an HW-101, Swan 500 CX (still kicking
myself for selling that one), and homebrew MOPA.  What did I know?  Not
much.  Things were apparently a bit different in the early days.  Harmonics
apparently weren’t always something to fight at all costs, especially when
they saved the cost of having to buy new crystals.  Last year, I revived a
DX-20, and it taught me that I didn’t necessarily have to have a 20 meter
crystal to work on 20. Rockbound operators in the 1950s apparently learned
how to make the most of their rocks.


As I mentioned yesterday, the 20A was a windfall.  To be a bit more honest,
I wasn’t sure what to make of it or whether it would be anything that I
would make use of.  Hi!


Cal:


>> if you have any questions that I can help with don’t hesitate to ask.


I hope that you don’t regret that remark, but I do have some questions,
particularly with respect to CW.  I fear that I might be reading the manual
a bit too optimistically, which wouldn’t be the first time.  The two
three-sentence paragraphs on pages 2 and 14 are a bit sparse, so I want to
double-check my understanding.  If I have this correct, the CW signal can
come from the 9 MHz carrier sum/difference from either VFO or crystal, as
well as from tuning on the mixer output from the crystal itself.  So, to
get 14.125 MHz, either a VFO or crystal at 5.125 or 23.125 MHz will work,
or a 14.125 MHz crystal can go into the front panel.

If my understanding is correct, I would rather use the 20A than my MOPA.
The MOPA still has the oscillator whistling when not keyed.  As for keying
the power amplifier, I'd rather not deal with chirp.

For another question, how is the output filtering on the 20A?  I've been
thinking of throwing together another Z-match.  Now might be the time.

Paul:

>>Now I'm trying to perfect the 458 CE mods and have basically started
fresh on that one.

I have to hang my head in shame as I admit to pondering the use of an
AD9850 DDS.  I have one that I lashed up quickly for use as a
smartphone-driven generator.  Operation is clunky, though, since I've been
controlling from a command terminal instead of an app.  Over the course of
unpacking, I hope to find my LCD's and encoders.

73
Stan
KD4BTH