[Johnson] Will be restoring a Johnson Ranger

[William Cromwell]

Hi,

I will support Scott's comments about the manuals from Pete. I bought 
some from him and they are *good*.

Pete also gave more information about the differences between the model 
some people call 1 and the later 2. He also directly stated what I 
hinted at. My Ranger is not labeled 1 and is not a 2. Apparently there 
is no 1. Eleven meters is not very useful in amateur radio and the 
Ranger would be illegal for use on the citizens band. Maybe I can modify 
mine for six meters ala the model 2. Maybe not worth the trouble since I 
have easier ways to get there. Maybe some day we will get 11 meters 
back. Probably noy in my lifetime.

73,

Bill  KU8H

bark less - wag more

On 2/13/22 6:56 PM, whitebear1122 at comcast.net wrote:
> Looks like others have answered your questions but I will add my 2 cents as
> well.
>
> 1.  Ranger has a maroon cabinet with a dark grey front panel upper half
> color and maroon lower half color. Ranger II has a medium to light grey
> cabinet and front panel.  Ranger knobs have white pegs on the front of the
> knob for pointers while Ranger II actually has a pointer if I recall.
>
> 2.  As a lister mentioned here, it would be a good to at least get an idea
> of what's wrong prior to recapping.
>
> 3.  You might consider test the power supply first. Are you power supply
> voltages there?
>
> 4.  Yeah you need that plug in the connector on the rear.  One time I
> grabbed a Ranger II off the shelf after it sat for a while, plugged it in,
> didn't work, and it took a few minutes before I remembered to check for the
> plug.  It was gone..
>
> 5.  A common failure of the Ranger and Ranger II is R13 which is a 18K 2
> watt (I think) resistor in the VFO voltage regulator tube that often burns
> up because it is power underrated.
>
> 6.  You already know about the old electrolytic caps.  My personal opinion
> is that they are either bad or going bad....
>
> 7.  You need a good manual.  I see ManualMan has commented on here.  His
> manuals are top notch.  I bought a Ranger II manual back then, and more
> recently a Heathkit HW-12 Assembly Manual and they are really well made.
>
> 8.  The variac power up is good.  If no fuses blew, I'd go back in and check
> the power supply voltages.  Then check the VFO to see if it's working.  Does
> the "ZERO" function work?   Hopefully you have a tube test and have checked
> all the tubes, especially the VFO 6UA8 (I think) and two voltage regulator
> tubes.
>
> 9.  I may not be remembering correctly but I don't think there are chassis
> cans in the Ranger.  I recapped my Ranger last year with the KE9PQ set on
> eBay and they are all under chassis caps, again if I recall correctly.
>
> 10. I think there are very few differences between the two, it's mainly the
> cabinet colors, knobs, and meter.  The Ranger II uses 7027 modulator tubes
> vs the Ranger 6L6.  My Ranger now uses 7027's, required some rewiring,
> because the 6L6's were dead and only had a set of 7027's in the junk box.
> About 6 months later I found a set of 6L6's in the junk box..... too late,
> it's got 7027's now.
>
> Good luck.  73 Scott WA9WFA
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: johnson-bounces at mailman.qth.net <johnson-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On
> Behalf Of donhellen at roadrunner.com
> Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2022 11:56 AM
> To: johnson at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [Johnson] Will be restoring a Johnson Ranger
>
> First, I don't know how to tell if this is a Ranger 2 or earlier version.
> That might make some difference in where the common failure modes can be
> found, but the caps questions should apply to all older radios, I think.
>
> What I would like to know is where to begin troubleshooting if after I
> re-cap the electrolytics and wax dipped caps, it still doesn't work?
>
> I have the plug for the back (somewhere) but if I can't find it, I can make
> a new one out of a tube plug, I believe.
>
> I guess I'm just asking where the common failure modes are in these
> transmitters so I can have a place to start.
>
> I did power it up with a variac even though I wouldn't do that now with what
> I know, but nothing arced or burned or exploded (that's good).
>
> If I want to "refill" the metal cap cans with new caps instead of going the
> Hayseed Hamfest replacement kit route, where is the best place to buy the
> replacement caps (both electrolytic and comparable caps to replace the waxed
> ones) from? What type are the best replacements for the paper/waxed caps?
>
> Thanks!!!
>
>
>
> Donald KX8K
>
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