Yaesu Ft-101 E and F restore

Another project on the burner.
A friend of mine went to a hamfest Sunday and I asked him to look for a few parts for me. Could not make it myself so I trusted him to find me a couple of items.

He called me at 9:30 and said none of the items I need were there. Then told me he picked up something I been looking for quite a while. And would not tell me. Boy that kept my mind wondering.

At 11:30 he rolled in and started to show me all the stuff he found. After that he pulled out two Yaesu Ft-101's. An E and F. He said these are for you. They do not work but maybe you can make a good one. :yes: All he said then was Merry Christmas and he had some equipment he wanted me to service. No Problem.

After looking the units over the F was took apart. Some internal boards and all the knobs and VFO. The E had the RF compartment disassembled. Looks like they were going to use the F for parts. I spent the evening putting both back together. The F is missing three knobs. I put it on the bench first and in a matter of a few minutes had it receiving great. Power output is about 1 watt.

The E comes on put no RX or TX. So I will have to go through it completely.
Rigs came with two power cords and a set of spare tubes. Also the user and service manual.

I think it was a great find and worth the effort to restore. Now got to find that paint code.
Already downloaded all the stuff from the Fox Tango site.

Hopefuly I will have two working 101's
http://www.gokarters.com/vbforum/att...1&d=1255297964

There was a Fox-Tango Forums thread which listed the -101 codes. I really need to find same for my 901s... :doh:

Wish I would have known you would be acquiring these rigs - sold a whole bunch of that kind of stuff to a gent in Indiana not too long ago.

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Originally Posted by N8YX

There was a Fox-Tango Forums thread which listed the -101 codes. I really need to find same for my 901s... :doh:

Wish I would have known you would be acquiring these rigs - sold a whole bunch of that kind of stuff to a gent in Indiana not too long ago.

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The 901's are a darker color right? I wonder if an automotive paint store can match it? I had a Kenwood done like that and turned out well.

I had a 101 years ago and sold it. Then got a 200. Never did like it that much. I just may try to build a whole Yaesu 101 station. Seems to be more stuff available for them than my 520.

My Yaesu inventory is Growing.
1 FT-736
2 FT-726
2 FT-221R
2 FT-101

I may have to start a local Yaesu owners club.

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

My Yaesu inventory is Growing.
1 FT-736
2 FT-726
2 FT-221R
2 FT-101

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2 - FT-901DM
2 - FV-901DM
2 - YR-901
2 - SP-901P
1 - SP-901
2 - FC-901
1 - YO-901
2 - FTV-901R (each w/ all modules)
4 - FT-726R

This is WAAYYYY down from last year. Sold all of my -101/-201 collection.

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I may have to start a local Yaesu owners club.

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Ditto. I have the northern chapter covered. :lol:

Cool project.

Keep us posted :)

/Sue goes back to tuning her 745, and looking for little things that need fixing.............

Quote:

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Originally Posted by N8YX

2 - FT-901DM
2 - FV-901DM
2 - YR-901
2 - SP-901P
1 - SP-901
2 - FC-901
1 - YO-901
2 - FTV-901R (each w/ all modules)
4 - FT-726R

This is WAAYYYY down from last year. Sold all of my -101/-201 collection.

Quote:

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I may have to start a local Yaesu owners club.

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Ditto. I have the northern chapter covered. :lol:

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Now thats still a lot of Yaehoo stuff :)
You take em from the north and I'll cover the south!

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Originally Posted by AF6LJ

Cool project.

Keep us posted :)

/Sue goes back to tuning her 745, and looking for little things that need fixing.............

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Sure will!
And I have been following your 745 project. Good job!
One day I need to pull mine down and look at it. I keep loosing everything above 24 mhz. 21 mhz and down is fine. I think one of the VCo's is on the verge of it's setting. Sometimes it works and other times it does not. When it quits no TX or RX.

So many irons in the fire at the moment.
Dentron restore, Homebrew amplifier, radio repairs, it just goes on and on. :cheers:

Well the F is putting out 2 whole watts. look out QRP!
Appears the audio section on TX is working. :)
There is no indication on IC or ALC. But at least the pre driver stage is tuning on all bands.
This one may be an easy fix. Strange but I know the RX is down a bit. But the RX quality is great. Best sounding reciever I have in the shack.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by N8YX

2 - FT-901DM
2 - FV-901DM
2 - YR-901
2 - SP-901P
1 - SP-901
2 - FC-901
1 - YO-901
2 - FTV-901R (each w/ all modules)
4 - FT-726R

This is WAAYYYY down from last year. Sold all of my -101/-201 collection.

Quote:

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I may have to start a local Yaesu owners club.

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Ditto. I have the northern chapter covered. :lol:

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Now thats still a lot of Yaehoo stuff :)
You take em from the north and I'll cover the south!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AF6LJ

Cool project.

Keep us posted :)

/Sue goes back to tuning her 745, and looking for little things that need fixing.............

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Sure will!
And I have been following your 745 project. Good job!
One day I need to pull mine down and look at it. I keep loosing everything above 24 mhz. 21 mhz and down is fine. I think one of the VCo's is on the verge of it's setting. Sometimes it works and other times it does not. When it quits no TX or RX.

So many irons in the fire at the moment.
Dentron restore, Homebrew amplifier, radio repairs, it just goes on and on. :cheers:

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Sounds more like you have bad trimmers in the VCO.
You can get them from ether ICOM or Mouser.
Since you have to remove both the top and bottom shields you should replace all of them:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Well the F is putting out 2 whole watts. look out QRP!
Appears the audio section on TX is working. :)
There is no indication on IC or ALC. But at least the pre driver stage is tuning on all bands.
This one may be an easy fix. Strange but I know the RX is down a bit. But the RX quality is great. Best sounding reciever I have in the shack.

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Sounds like the better of two projects :)
Cool.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AF6LJ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Well the F is putting out 2 whole watts. look out QRP!
Appears the audio section on TX is working. :)
There is no indication on IC or ALC. But at least the pre driver stage is tuning on all bands.
This one may be an easy fix. Strange but I know the RX is down a bit. But the RX quality is great. Best sounding reciever I have in the shack.

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Sounds like the better of two projects :)
Cool.

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I agree,
Although the project is more like at 10 at the moment :)

And thanks for that tid bit on the 745. I never been inside this one so maybe that is all I have to do. I did read at one time in some other thread that the trimmers were most likely to go out. Think I am goingto order the new eeprom when I do it also. This one still has the battery :think

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AF6LJ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Well the F is putting out 2 whole watts. look out QRP!
Appears the audio section on TX is working. :)
There is no indication on IC or ALC. But at least the pre driver stage is tuning on all bands.
This one may be an easy fix. Strange but I know the RX is down a bit. But the RX quality is great. Best sounding reciever I have in the shack.

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Sounds like the better of two projects :)
Cool.

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I agree,
Although the project is more like at 10 at the moment :)

And thanks for that tid bit on the 745. I never been inside this one so maybe that is all I have to do. I did read at one time in some other thread that the trimmers were most likely to go out. Think I am goingto order the new eeprom when I do it also. This one still has the battery :think

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The new EEPROM board is a great idea.
I don't know what ICOM was thinking when they chose to place configuration information in volatile ram.
I'm about half way done with the alignment, taking my time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AF6LJ

The new EEPROM board is a great idea.
I don't know what ICOM was thinking when they chose to place configuration information in volatile ram.

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Battery replacement and reprogram = $$$

Pretty simple equation, actually.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Strange but I know the RX is down a bit. But the RX quality is great. Best sounding reciever I have in the shack.

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The front-end RF amplifier MOSFETs used in those rigs are notorious for going out if subject to overload or high static.

Lookee here:

http://foxtango.org/ft101/foxtangoft..._and_PB-1181C0

If you cannot find one of those FETs, I have a few...

Yeah it amazes me why icom did that, as John said $$$$$$


I may have to take you you on on the FET's. I do not have any. But I have yet to put a tuning stick in the rig yet. Could just be out of alignment or maybe not.
One of my old mentors told me years ago " Do not tune anything until you have it fixed". That sort of stuck with me over the years and may have saved some money. A guy brought in a 726 a few weeks ago and could not get any RX on 2 meters. The first thing he did was start tuning. Then replaced parts. Then tuned some more. replaced more parts. He replaced the correct part to start with. It was just to the point of being out of tune. Cant beat shot gunning.

Got no time at all to play with the Yaesu tonight.http://www.gokarters.com/vbforum/ima...es/badmood.gif
Had to costumers walk in wanting some equipment looked at.
And I am not even open to the public on Monday nights. LOL
Mondays are to work on the back log.
Ended up working on an 101EE and a Heathkit tuner.
Oh well. Maybe Friday. http://www.gokarters.com/vbforum/ima...rinkbeer09.gif

Well, Got up at 3am this morning. Could not sleep.
http://www.gokarters.com/vbforum/ima...es/clowns.jpeg
Went out to the shack to play with a few things. Put the F on the work bench and removed the covers. I did find out that the bias pot does control output power. I can vary the power from 0 to 4 watts just by turning the bias control. So now tonight I am going to take some voltage measurments in the PA and check for burnt or open resistors. I feel like this one is going to be simple.
Got to find me another high voltage volt meter. My B&K VTVM bit the dust. Now I am limited to 1000 volts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Well, Got up at 3am this morning. Could not sleep.
http://www.gokarters.com/vbforum/ima...es/clowns.jpeg
Went out to the shack to play with a few things. Put the F on the work bench and removed the covers. I did find out that the bias pot does control output power. I can vary the power from 0 to 4 watts just by turning the bias control. So now tonight I am going to take some voltage measurments in the PA and check for burnt or open resistors. I feel like this one is going to be simple.
Got to find me another high voltage volt meter. My B&K VTVM bit the dust. Now I am limited to 1000 volts.

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Hmmm
I'll put a nickle on a blown component in the screen PA supply.
:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AF6LJ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Well, Got up at 3am this morning. Could not sleep.
http://www.gokarters.com/vbforum/ima...es/clowns.jpeg
Went out to the shack to play with a few things. Put the F on the work bench and removed the covers. I did find out that the bias pot does control output power. I can vary the power from 0 to 4 watts just by turning the bias control. So now tonight I am going to take some voltage measurments in the PA and check for burnt or open resistors. I feel like this one is going to be simple.
Got to find me another high voltage volt meter. My B&K VTVM bit the dust. Now I am limited to 1000 volts.

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Hmmm
I'll put a nickle on a blown component in the screen PA supply.
:)

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That, or the driver-to-PA coupling cap which always seems to fail...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by N8YX

Hmmm
I'll put a nickle on a blown component in the screen PA supply.
:)

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Quote:

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That, or the driver-to-PA coupling cap which always seems to fail...

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That's why I only put down a nickel. :)

One of these days I'll have to pick up one of those.
That would be a fun project.

Good suggestions guy's.
Was there a problem also with the cathode resistors in these rigs?
Seems I read that somewhere.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Good suggestions guy's.
Was there a problem also with the cathode resistors in these rigs?
Seems I read that somewhere.

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Yes, and the two aforementioned component failures often contribute to the cathode resistors' demise.

Good Info

http://www.gokarters.com/vbforum/ima...ies/iagree.gifhttp://www.gokarters.com/vbforum/ima...oodPost-vi.gif

Interesting reading on the FT101 and lack of RX sensitivity:

http://www.foxtango.org/phpBB2/viewt...ht=sensitivity

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Originally Posted by N8YX

Interesting reading on the FT101 and lack of RX sensitivity:

http://www.foxtango.org/phpBB2/viewt...ht=sensitivity

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Another good source of info.
Interesting site.

Thanks

How long has that forum been up?
I see tons of questions but no replies to them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

How long has that forum been up?
I see tons of questions but no replies to them.

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A while - 2006, at least. I joined, lost my password and have tried to get Carol or another moderator to reset it. Thus far, I have heard nothing back. Maybe my reputation as "forum a$$h0le" precedes me. :rofl:

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Originally Posted by N8YX

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

How long has that forum been up?
I see tons of questions but no replies to them.

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A while - 2006, at least. I joined, lost my password and have tried to get Carol or another moderator to reset it. Thus far, I have heard nothing back. Maybe my reputation as "forum a$$h0le" precedes me. :rofl:

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:neener: :rofl: Thats funny right there.

But this is strange..
I went to register and it told me the user name was already used....
So I try to log in and tries a few passwords. On the third one I was in.

User name and pass word was the same. I changed it. I do not remember ever registering on that forum.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

But this is strange..
I went to register and it told me the user name was already used....
So I try to log in and tries a few passwords. On the third one I was in.

User name and pass word was the same. I changed it. I do not remember ever registering on that forum.

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Interesting. VERY interesting...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by N8YX

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

How long has that forum been up?
I see tons of questions but no replies to them.

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A while - 2006, at least. I joined, lost my password and have tried to get Carol or another moderator to reset it. Thus far, I have heard nothing back. Maybe my reputation as "forum a$$h0le" precedes me. :rofl:

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:neener: :rofl: Thats funny right there.

But this is strange..
I went to register and it told me the user name was already used....
So I try to log in and tries a few passwords. On the third one I was in.

User name and pass word was the same. I changed it. I do not remember ever registering on that forum.

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is there any posts made on that account?

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Originally Posted by W2IBC

is there any posts made on that account?

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I did a search and not one at all.
Also in the user profile it does not show an email address. So I but mine in it so if there was one the password can not be retieved. I looked to see if there was a registered date on it. Did not see it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by W2IBC

is there any posts made on that account?

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I did a search and not one at all.
Also in the user profile it does not show an email address. So I but mine in it so if there was one the password can not be retieved. I looked to see if there was a registered date on it. Did not see it.

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You know this is just plain weird right?

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Originally Posted by AF6LJ

You know this is just plain weird right?

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Very weird yes. I am just going to keep an eye on it see if it changes. If it does then I file a complaint. :yes:


Back to the 101, tonight I am going to take voltage measurments in the final are and check components. The past two nights I was not able to do anything worth while. I did put a switch box and connected one of the 101's, the 520, and te 745. This way I can switch between them quickly. The 101 seems to be right up there with the 520. Both of those are a bit better than the 745. So maybe the RX does not need much tuning.

I went through each band again last night and all bands will load up about 2 watts. Which means the rig is pretty much evened out on the driver tune.

Oh,
As I am sitting here thinking to myself (at work), I know the 101 will not transmit when the acc plug is removed. I remember looking to see if it was there and noticed that there was a RCA jack hanging off the back of it.

Hmmmm. Just wonder.

Well,
Interesting. I came home and swapped the acc plug. On 40 meters I am getting 160 watts out. On 80 I am getting 100. Anything above is 20 watts and below.

The S-meter works on RX. But does not show anything in PO, IC, or ALC. So I have no idea at the moment where the bias is set at.

I am going to check components and tubes now and see where we are at.

At least we know the transmiter does work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

Well,
Interesting. I came home and swapped the acc plug. On 40 meters I am getting 160 watts out. On 80 I am getting 100. Anything above is 20 watts and below.

The S-meter works on RX. But does not show anything in PO, IC, or ALC. So I have no idea at the moment where the bias is set at.

I am going to check components and tubes now and see where we are at.

At least we know the transmiter does work.

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Cool :)

No progress this week end.
Worked at the plant all day Friday and had a shop full of work Saturday.

Going to look at the meter circuit today and see if I can find a problem there.
A friend of mine called yesterday and told me he just picked up a plain 101. So going to be looking at that one also.

I decided to play arounf with the E today. Pulled all the boards cleand contacts and check for bad looking components ect. Mostly just to give a good cleaning.

I noticed the the crystal in the 11 meter slot had Jan on the top of it.
The original 11 meter crystal is 33.020. The one in the rig is a 30.520.
I have not done the math yet but this should put the rig in the 24mhz range (12 meters) ?
I am sure that is what it is with out doing the math.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc4umo

I decided to play arounf with the E today. Pulled all the boards cleand contacts and check for bad looking components ect. Mostly just to give a good cleaning.

I noticed the the crystal in the 11 meter slot had Jan on the top of it.
The original 11 meter crystal is 33.020. The one in the rig is a 30.520.
I have not done the math yet but this should put the rig in the 24mhz range (12 meters) ?
I am sure that is what it is with out doing the math.

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You are correct. I also have 30 and 17M FT101 WARC rocks floating around here somewheres if you want 'em...

I think I am going to put the 12 meter crystal in the F. Get the original 11 meter crystal for the E. I llike to get those from ya also.

Well,
Here is a bit of good news.
The E now transmits and receives. I thought this one was toast to start with.
All it took was a couple of solder connections. A coplete removal of all the plug in boards. Some contact cleaner and a brass brush.

Now the RX is down from where it should be. About 300 mv. But hey, it is working. Sort of cold today so brought it in the house and tore it down on the kitchen table. I went back to the shop and grabed my IFR 1200 and just checked it out.

When I started it had no RX or TX. The VFO indicator did not light. And the RF capacitor was disconnected from the choke. The TX looks good and can get it at 60ma on SSb and about 120ma on AM.

So both 101's work with a few bugs to work out.
This is a good day.