[Collins] 32S-1 grid problem

[Glen Zook]

I only met Art Collins three times during the two
years that I was employed by Collins Radio (right out
of Georgia Tech in the 1967 to 1969 time frame).  I
did get to know him better after I was long gone from
Collins Radio and he had sold out to Rockwell
International.

The first time that I me him was about the third day I
had been employed.  Art came over to Building 401 (the
original Richardson "engineering building") to Eric
Tedley's industrial design department to see the "mock
ups" for the proposed KWM-3 transceiver cabinets (this
was to be a modified 718T that would go down to 1.8
MHz and had 10 Hz steps in tuning instead of the
original 100 Hz steps).  Tedley's group was assigned
to Harry Passman's Process Division as a matter of
accounting convenience since the department didn't
really "fit" anywhere in the Collins Dallas Region
scheme.  Of course the KWM-3 never came about, at
least in production runs.  The KWM-2 series was
eventually replaced by the KWM-380.

As for the serial numbers:  All of the lower serial
numbered 32S-1 transmitters that I have seen have all
had the 2-diode balanced modulator and all of the
higher serial numbered units have had the 4-diode
balanced modulators.  Also, from what I have seen with
the serial numbers in the S-Line / KWM-2 series is
that when they started to become "scrambled" that
there were 5 or 6 digits in the serial number and not
3 or 4.

Anyway, the first thing that can be seen in the grid
circuit is that the fixed capacitor for the "converter
output" (basically for the 62S-1) comes directly from
the grids of the 6146 tubes to the miniature coaxial
cable that goes directly to the RCA phono jack on the
back of the transmitter.  There are no resistor/choke
assemblies like on the schematic and in the 32S-3
series.

Tracing the circuitry is a "real pain in the
posterior" because the wiring immediately goes into
large bundles.  I can trace it out, but being that I
am a sincere believer in the priciples of the
conservation of my finances and labor (you can read
"cheap and lazy") I was hoping that someone had the
schematic of what is actually in the transmitter.

As for the 6146W tubes from the Electronic Tube
Company all that the vast majority of those were good
for was audio.  They definitely did not work well (if
at all) in r.f. circuits.

Glen, K9STH


--- Gerald <geraldj at ispwest.com> wrote:

I'm not so sure about that. I have two 32S-1 manuals.
One has SN 2968 penciled on the front cover. Its 7th
edition. The schematic says "current as of 8-24-59".
The other has SN 1874 on the front cover. 4th edition,
schematic says, "current as of 2-19-59". I haven't
detected any differences between the schematics.

Comparing 32S-3 (7th edition) to 32S-1 (7th edition)
in the PA grid circuit. I see no wiring differences.
Of course by demanding new models, especially of the
receivers and then new company logos and color styles,
Art negated a lot of the randomness. He seems to have
neglected to keep track of his prior edicts when
issuing new ones. But no one would argue that kind of
detail with him and have a job that afternoon.

I've used 6146 for most of my ham life when using
tubes, but not always. I've tried to use 6146 from the
Electronic Tube Company and they didn't have
characteristics close enough to RCA tubes to even set
the idle current in the rig I put them in.

Glen, K9STH

Web sites

http://home.comcast.net/~k9sth
http://home.comcast.net/~zcomco


		
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