29 March 2024 - Got some of the capacitor replacements in place.
17 February 2024 - Received this today and opened it up - found a dirt dobber home on the transformer - It was as hard as cement so no telling how long it had been there. Removed it and cleaned off the areas that I could. This is a future project.
Went to Alabama on November 13, 2021 to do some 10GHz communications and caught the 1296 MHz bug and bought a SGLABS 1296MHz transverter, SGLABS 25W amp and antenna (all below) - arrived December 30, 2021. Update: I also have a Icom 9700 I use as a base on 1296.
10 March 2024 - New 1.2G M2 base antenna and tested at home on tripod - below video is the 1.2G beacon from Joanna Bald.
29 July 2023 - Worked Vic WB4SLM on 1296.1 in EM85DA (Hayesville, NC) this morning - he was 5x2 and Q5.
28 July 2023 - The Gemini 1296 amp is hooked up to my Icom 9700 and I am only able to drive it to 50W before I see a SWR issue - did some investigation and the Comet window jumpers I am using can only accept 10W at that frequency - they also have a 1.8dB loss at that frequency. Need to get my entrance box installed to fix this.
8 July 2023 - The Gemini 1296 250W amplifier from The DX Shop was shipped early this week and should arrive sometime next week.
23 March 2023 - Worked Vic WB4SLM in EM82dm on 1296.1 SSB via my home station in EM84au - this is a 154 mile path. Just 2 miles short of my 156 mile record with Bob in Alabama.
14 February 2023 - I ordered a Gemini 1296 250W amplifier from The DX Shop for base station operation - radio is a Icom 9700 and antenna is a Comet yagi. The amp estimated delivery is August 2023.
March 5, 2022 - Setup one of my Ukraine sources as a 1296.35MHz beacon at -1dBm and connected it to a tri-band vertical (2m, 70cm, 1.2GHz) at my home. Traveled to Brasstown Bald which is 7.5 miles East of me to check out my 1.2GHz system.
January 15, 2022 - update
Have the transverter, amp and PTT buffer in the Ammo Box.
January 8 - update
Built the PTT buffer that works with the Icom IC-705 - same DEMI product I use with my 10GHz transverter.
January 4, 2021 - update
Working on power connections and the PTT buffer. Here's a look at the TX signal on USB.
December 31, 2021 - update
Transverter and PA arrived yesterday. Testing RX from my signal source. Next to build the PTT buffer and PTT cables and the power cables.
December 2, 2021 - Update
The antenna is here and the transverter and amp shipped 12/1. The transverter is v2.3 and the PA is a new v2 with improved LNA, with 16dB gain and NF 0.7dB typical.
November 20, 2021
Here's a hookup diagram I found from QZ1BXM.
Looks like there is a new version 2.3 which has a 10MHz external reference port - lower left SMA.
November 18, 2021
26 February 2024 - Picked this up at the Dalton hamfest this past weekend for $100. This will match my 75A-3 receiver.
26 February 2024 - Got this assembled - now to test it.
14 February 2024 - Been pretty busy with work lately, but did manage to get some more done on this project over the past few days.
5 February - There is a 220v transformer that was available in the IT-12 and that's what I have in the IT-12 I acquired - the part number is below.
3 February 2024 Update - Cleaned up the tube sockets and some other solder points more and checked the switches orientation - as suspected they were backwards and I removed and reinstalled them in the correct position. Also started working on cleanup of the transformer wiring and discovered the transformer has an additional set of wires on the primary - was this for 220v hookup?
3 February 2024 - More desoldering work to get ready for the rebuild. Installed the capacitor from the rebuild kit yesterday.
1 February 2024 - Started work on rebuilding this - it's in rough shape inside - someone must have restored it but they did a terrible job - transformer lines cut and spliced and they used electrical tape to insulate the splices. Also found one resistor not connected. Removed most components and used my desoldering iron to clean up the tube and terminal strip contacts. These are pictures before I started the work.
31 January 2024 - Additional testing and it's only working on audio - I did some checks and it looks like the rebuild kit should fix it. Hopefully the transformer is OK.
29 January 2024 - Got this back on the bench yesterday - I added the ground wire and that resolved the hum issue and it's picking up the signal now from myAWG. The eye tube might need replacing but I will explore this more as time permits.
28 January 2024 - Picked this up earlier in the week and got it on the bench for an initial checkout. All tubes tested good - I ordered a capacitor rebuild kit which also includes all diodes, resistors and capacitors used in this kit. There is a bad hum on this and it's not picking up a signal as expected, so I believe it has something out of tolerance.
27 January 2024 - Had the HW-12 on the bench this week - replaced the electrolytic capacitors and did a tune up on the receive - receive is good but no TX.
25 August 2022 - Over the past week I worked on fixing the HP-23 power supply - the switch was bad and I had to wire it to put 250v on the LV output, as well as wire up the cable (8-11 pin) to connect it to the HW-12. Yesterday I powered up all of this and was able to receive a test signal on 3.818 MHz from my AWG setup for AM modulation. Below left HP23 power supply, bottom right HW-12 and top right SB600 speaker.
1 August 2022 - Received a Heathkit HW-12 I ordered - this is another future project. I ordered a HP-23 power supply and a 8-pin to 11-pin cable to power this.
January 18, 2024 - One last picture - Real ham equipment glows!
January 15, 2024 - More testing today. (Updated)
80M - 500W
40M - 500W
20M - 600W
15M - 500W
10M - 400W
January 14, 2024 - Checking the 30L-1 this morning on 80M and got 500W - very happy about that and consider this project a success.
January 12, 2024 - This past week I looked over the full 30L-1. I verified all the capacitors and resistors looked good, fixed the meter glass putting it back in its proper place (was pushed in), forgot to change the meter lamp, and also added the MOV on the back for grid flashover protection. Then I buttoned the unit back up and pending receipt of a few cables it's ready for testing with the KWM-2.
January 7, 2024 - Put the 30L-1 amp on the bench to check it out. Took the bottom cover off and the diode board looked good. Also verified the small "fuse" and that the 2W resistor was changed to a 5W resistor. Will check the back and add the MOV if necessary and check the capacitor board. The meter will need to be removed and the glass ring fixed so the glass is in the right place.
December 9, 2023 - The amp arrived and it looks good - the tubes lit up and appear to be in good shape visually - I saw 2000v so that part is good - I didn't pull the case off but it appears to have the original diode and HV board.
December 4, 2023 - Purchased a Collins 30L-1 amp to go with my KWM-2.
14 January 2024 - Tested with the 30L-1 amp - getting 500W on 80M - see my 30L-1 blog section.
6 January 2024 - Got the KWM-2 and 516F-2 back in their cases.
2 January 2024 - After replacing the driver tube I am getting the expected output:
80M 100W+40M 100W20M 100W15M 100W10M 80W
1 January 2024 - Yesterday I started looking at the power output - at first I was seeing nothing on my Bird watt meter, so I decided to test with another watt meter - on this one I was seeing power output from the KWM-2. I started tuning and got to a good stopping point today. I am getting the following output:
80M 70W40M 70W20M 50W15M 50W10M 30W
26 December 2023 - Over the past week I removed the meter and while it was out, I thoroughly cleaned the PLATE/GRID/ALC switch and also sprayed the MIC Gain pot with ample amounts of contact cleaner - I am now seeing Grid current.
I had also ordered a new MIC Gain pot just in case of other issues with that part - it should arrive today.
Next, I'll hookup my Bird watt meter to see what I am getting there - I've just been using a dummy load so far.
And finally, I ordered a new full set of tubes (except finals) to have on hand - all the current tubes test good.
Below is the cleaned meter face with the glass now held in place by the ring inside. Still needs a little glue cleaned off the front glass.
28 November 2023 - Started on the PA cage relay replacement yesterday and finished it up today - the relay is working and I am getting a little grid current now - next step is to do an alignment, but first I'll get the PA cage and relay covers back on.
27 November 2023 - More work on the KWM - no grid current seen so I opened up the cover on the bottom to check the two relays there - they both look good and function when keyed. I then checked continuity across the relay in the PA cage and it was open - but is getting power. Another test I did was to put an ohmmeter across the "ANT RELAY" jack to ground and the meter should have read open - it did - I then keyed the radio and the meter should have read zero ohms - it read open either way so it is bad. I took the PA case off in preparation for the relay swap - the replacement relay will be here today.
20 November 2023
19 November 2023 - I was able to do the initial checks to set the power supply bias to produce 40ma of plate current on the KWM-2. The only deviation I had to do was set the RF-gain fully counter-clockwise.
Set MIC GAIN control (4) full counterclockwise until the switch clicks. Set OFF-ON-NB-CAL switch (1) to ON. Set meter switch (8) to PLATE, and EMISSION switch (2) to LOCK. The transceiver is in receive condition during warmup, so the meter will read full scale until filaments have come to temperature. This is normal S-meter action. When the S-meter falls back to zero, the circuits will have switched to transmit condition, and the meter will indicate PA plate current. Read the no-signal PA plate current. It should be approximately 40 ma. If plate current is other than 40 ma, adjust BIAS ADJUST potentiometer on top rear of power supply chassis to set plate current to 40 ma. If the transceiver is to be used with a linear amplifier, set bias to produce 50-ma idling plate current.
17 November 2023 - The 6146 arrived yesterday and I installed it - the 6CL6 arrived and I installed it but I will wait for the other tubes to arrive and install them before doing more tests.
13 November 2023 - Finished checking the other tubes - the following need replacement and have been ordered:
V1A First microphone amplifier 6AZ8
V1B First receiver i-f amplifier 6AZ8
V16A Receiver first a-f amplifier 6EB8
V16B Receiver a-f output amplifier 6EB8
11 November 2023 - Checked the driver and final tubes - one of the finals (6146) and the driver (6CL6) were bad so I ordered replacements. Will check the other tubes next.
9 November 2023 - Did some receive testing on 80M and 40M using the wire antenna outside and was able to receive signals on both bands. I tried some transmitter tests but didn't see any power output. My next step is to start testing the tubes and make note of the ones needing replacement.
7 November 2023 - Finished recaping the electrolytic capacitors in my KWM-2 last night and hooked it up to the 516F-2 power supply and my speaker and sent a 3876 khz signal from my AWG with AM modulation and was able to receive it in CW on the KWM-2 - see video below. I am extremely happy!
29 October 2023 - Finished replacing the can capacitor and one of the 4MD capacitors.
28 October 2023 - Working on replacing the can capacitor. Below is the original - The 4MF ground was cut and the cap was lifted out of the way to see this view of the can leads.
11 October 2023 - Pulled the KWM-2 out of the case to prepare for the capacitor replacements - found one capacitor that had leaked an had burnt marks. It's pretty tight in there so replacing the capacitors will be fun. The rest of the unit looks pretty clean.
10 October 2023 - Ordered the KWM-2 recap kit Saturday.
13 August 2023 - Purchased a KWM-2 to go with my 516F-2 power supply project. The capacitors for the 516F-2 and the KWM-2 itself should arrive this week. The KWM-2 is in great cosmetic shape with just a ding on a back bottom corner and the meter face is glued in place.
