[CW] Break In Operation on CW

[Frank N. Haas]

QSL David.

I liked my first DEO QSK 1500 so much I wanted to be sure that I would be
able to use it for many years. I invested in a spare set of PIN Diodes and
some of the other ICs used in the unit. I bought 100 of the #12 lamps. (They
were cheap back then.) I had nearly every spare part I would likely ever
need. DEO was kind enough to supply plenty of tech data with each unit sold.
The design is simple, efficient and easy to service.

Over the years I've never had to replace the PIN Diodes. I live in one of
the Lightning Capitals of the US so I've had to replace a number of the #12
lamps and a few of the ICs. I've had to repair the power supply once. At
some point I changed amps and modified the amp keying line circuit but have
since put it back to the original design. I have not had any major problems.


The #12 lamps are still available though they can be hard to find. All of
the other solid state devices are still available. Now that I have 2 of the
DEO units I figure I'll always have at least one working unit. 

After reading the manual for the Ameritron unit with its various cautions
and reading about the basic operating design of the new Array Solutions
unit, I wish someone would start making the QSK 1500 again. Discussions on
other lists seem to indicate that most folks don't like or don't understand
full break-in. Thus it's likely there's little profit in making boxes that
allow one to run full break-in with an older amp. 

For those that do discover the joys of running full break-in and want to do
it with an older amp, having resources like BAMA with documentation about
products that work well will help those resourceful enough to roll their own
perhaps. 

73,

Frank KB4T
Florida


-----Original Message-----
From: cw-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:cw-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On
Behalf Of David Ring
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 12:37 AM
To: CW Reflector
Subject: Re: [CW] Break In Operation on CW

Hello Frank,

I found a replacement for the Chicago Miniature fuse bulb - it is
available from www.1000bulbs.com/Miniature-Indicator-Bulbs/ for a very
reasonable cost.

The item is 12 - Miniature Indicator Lamp - 12 Volt - G3-1/2
Sub-Miniature 2-Pin (G4) - EIKO 12

I also scanned the manual and designers notes and put them on the BAMA
archive.

73

DR