222MHz

 

23 October 2023 - Worked Bob K8TQK this morning on 222.100 SSB - he was 5x2 on the 303 mile path.

8 July 2023 - The 220 preamp has been in place a while.  Noticing a difference with it in place.

28 March 2023 - Ordered a 220MHz SHF Electronix MVV 220-VOX preamplifier from The DX Shop.  Also ordered a BIAS-T from Amazon.

16 February 2023 - Worked Bob K8TQK in Ohio at 303 miles - he gave me a 4x2 and I gave him a 5x3 with Q5 copy.

3 October 2022 - Added a Mirage C1012 AMP for 222.

7 September 2022 - FIXED - the part arrived along with two extras I ordered - see replacement installed below.

5 September 2022 - I accidentally transmitted 100w into my transverter so after looking at the schematic and believing it was the 50 ohm 30w resistor, I consulted with Q5 support (Corey) and he said that's most likely it.  The 50-ohm 30w TO-220 style load resistor would be the top  left blank area (device already removed) near the TX-IF adjustment (picture below).  Second picture below is the device itself after it was removed.  I have three on order from Mouser which should arrive Thursday.

Mouser Part No: 684-MP930-50

MFG Part No: MP930-50.0-1%

Caddock 50 ohm 30W 1% TO-220

2 August 2022 - The 222 new antenna is up (bottom antenna) - 432 antenna on top.  I see a nice improvement on reception of the beacon - will try it out with the 222 SSB crowd tomorrow morning.

1 August 2022 - Put the 222-10EZ antenna together yesterday and thought the RG-6 balun was missing - a call to HRO Atlanta and they checked another one they had in stock - it was in the boom.  Removed a few elements to retrieve it and now it's ready to go up on the mast once I receive the 15' LMR-400UF jumper I ordered to extend the existing coax out to the end of the new antenna.  Should be a nice improvement over my 4-element yagi.

28 July 2022 - The new 10 element 222MHz M2 antenna arrived - I should be able to get it up on the mast this weekend and the 4-element will become my rover 222 antenna.

25 July 2022 - Ws able to work Jay KC4JD and Vic WB4SLM on 222.1MHz this morning.  Below is my 222 antenna below part of the 432 antenna.

19 July 2022 - I have ordered a 25W Q5 222MHz transverter - looking forward to getting on the air on 222.

3400 / 3456 Transverter

21 October 2023 - A few weeks back I shortened the 3400 looper to 8' and repositioned the mount - next I need to tune it.

21 March 2023 - Picked up the SG LABS 3400 transverter yesterday and hooked it up to test.

19 March 2023 - The SG LABS 3400 transverter arrived while I was away for work last week - I will pick it up Monday at the post office.

1 March 2023 - The SG Labs 3400 3W transverter has been shipped.

10 February 2024 - Picked up a 3400 10w amp at the Orlando Hamcation.

4 February 2023 - Ordered a SG Labs 3400 transverter - should be here in 4-6 weeks.

23 January 2023 - Picked up the 3400 antenna - it's a 12' Directive Systems looper.

8 January 2023 - Finished wiring up the 3400 transverter and tested it - getting about 9mW on TX - will need to open it up and check the TX drive level.

7 January 2023 - Began testing and setup of the 3400 transverter.

6 January 2023 - The updated 3400 transverter arrived today - I'll start setting it up soon.  I purchased a used Directive Systems 3400 looper from a ham in SC - will pick it up on 23 January.

5 January 2023 - The 3400 transverter should arrive Saturday 7 January.

3 January 2023 - My updated 3400 transverter is ready to ship back to me.  The updated unit has been retuned to 3400 and had a DigiLO installed.

 3 December 2022 - 3400 panel antenna.

29 November 2022 - Sent the 3456 transverter to DEMI for conversion to 3400.

25 November 2022 - Received the 3456 transverter I purchased - I will be sending it to DEMI to convert to 3400.

Collins F16-2 Power Supply

 

10 October 2023 - Been very busy but was able to get the 516F-2 power supply HV section recapped and the 2W 270K resistors replaced - power measured right at 800v with my Simpson 303 VTVM. 

I installed the 516F-2 power supply in the speaker cabinet.

I also replaced the line cord and I ordered the KWM-2 recap kit.

17 August 2023 - The HV & LV capacitors arrived this week and I replaced the LV dual capacitor and getting about 404v DC on my DVM.  Will replace the HV capacitors and resistors next.

13 August 2023 - Ordered the capacitors for the HV & LV lines - these should arrive this week.  Also got a great deal on a KWM-2 - see the KWM-2 section - it should arrive this week also.

My Collins speaker and PS cabinet arrived a few weeks back.

11 August 2023 - This week I replaced the three bleeder resistors and still getting wrong voltages on the LV & HV sides - next step is to replace the capacitors and other resistors on those lines.  Here's a as-is look before replacement of those components.

5 August 2023 - working on replacing the three bleeder resistors - waiting on some 6-32 threaded rod to mount one of them.  

Here's the 516F-2 schematic.

26 July 2023 - The .05 capacitor was put in last week and that fixed the fuse blowing issue.  The voltage is high on the LV side and measuring the LV out to ground measured 0 ohms which means the 24K bleeder resistor is bad - I ordered a 25K 25W resistor to replace it.  Also ordered two additional ones to replace the HV bleeder resistors.  Here's the connector drawing I made of the plug:

9 July 2023 - Received the other tube and testing the power supply - it is blowing the fuse but seems to be only on the HV side - ordered a .05uf capacitor to see if that fixes it.

7 July 2023 - This arrived - will get it on the bench soon.  One tube arrived and the other should arrive soon.

3 July 2023 - A future project...

Maybe some day I'll have a KWM-2 to go with it.