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Thread: ...Every time I get away

  1. #1
    Master Navigator koØm's Avatar
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    ...Every time I get away

    They drag me back in.....

    30 plus years ago, I converted a Golden Falcon (one 9808 driving three 8908's which, drove six 8908 tubes) to three 6LW6's driving the final stage of six 6LW6's.

    Yesterday, I get a call from the owner of the amplifier requesting that I work on it; seems that he has purchased another Golden Falcon from R & L Electronic and he want me to make one good amplifier out of the two hulks.

    I politely refuse by offering the excuse that my vision is bad, he doesn't take no for an answer. Next, I tell him that after a certain age, your hands get shaky and, working with High Voltage is not a good idea.

    He still does not take "No" for an answer.

    Issue is, my 'Elmer' Henry Kuhn made the first modification on this unit and, I am the only one still around who can go in behind him and follow his work; not another Radio amateur or CB'er will do it so, I get the calls 20 years after his passing.

    That POS will FRY every device with a USB port if I try to run it, even into a Non-radiating Cantenna

    ....To be continued.
    Last edited by koØm; 05-21-2020 at 05:06 PM.


  2. #2
    'Grumpy old bastid' kb2vxa's Avatar
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    Oh no, another leenyar driving a leenyar driving the local Tennessee Valley Indians to the warpath http://myvintagetubeamp.com/2019/02/...amp-amplifier/ like a certain D&A Phantom 500 aka The Green Dragon. No, it wasn't mine, I was an AM Gangsta in my CB daze, it sounded like the mic was under water, I wouldn't touch one with a 10ft pole or a Hungarian midget!

    Next time that something less than a man coes slinking around keep this from The Everly Brothers' Cathy's Clown in mind:
    I've gotta stand tall
    You know a man can't crawl
    But when he knows you’re tellin’ lies
    And he hears them passing’ by
    He's not a man at all
    To be continued? For the sake of huMANity I certainly hope not.
    "The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you."
    Neil deGrasse Tyson

    73 de Warren KB2VXA
    Station powered by atomic energy, operator powered by natural gas.

  3. #3
    Master Navigator koØm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kb2vxa View Post
    Oh no, another leenyar driving a leenyar driving the local Tennessee Valley Indians to the warpath http://myvintagetubeamp.com/2019/02/...amp-amplifier/ like a certain D&A Phantom 500 aka The Green Dragon. No, it wasn't mine, I was an AM Gangsta in my CB daze, it sounded like the mic was under water, I wouldn't touch one with a 10ft pole or a Hungarian midget!

    Next time that something less than a man coes slinking around keep this from The Everly Brothers' Cathy's Clown in mind:
    I've gotta stand tall
    You know a man can't crawl
    But when he knows you’re tellin’ lies
    And he hears them passing’ by
    He's not a man at all
    To be continued? For the sake of huMANity I certainly hope not.
    Worked out a game plan:

    1. unload from trunk and lug heavy iron outboard Distribution Transformer from car to house
    2. 'nother trip to retrieve RF decks
    3. Do all of the low voltage work on tube sockets and test.
    4. Patch my variable B+ supply in and bring the plates up to about 500 volts
    5. Unplug every computer / Rf sensitive in the house.
    6. Connect DOSY "wattmeters" and check for some output
    7. Package and lug back to car (I'm charging really for the strain on my back more than RF work!)
    8. Deliver and return myself to repair retirement.


    In my retirement, I am turning down jobs containing "Toobs" with Handles; there are at least three stations running Steel Tubes in the area.

    .


  4. #4
    Master Navigator koØm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by koØm View Post
    Worked out a game plan:

    1. unload from trunk and lug heavy iron outboard Distribution Transformer from car to house
    2. 'nother trip to retrieve RF decks
    3. Do all of the low voltage work on tube sockets and test.
    4. Patch my variable B+ supply in and bring the plates up to about 500 volts
    5. Unplug every computer / Rf sensitive in the house.
    6. Connect DOSY "wattmeters" and check for some output
    7. Package and lug back to car (I'm charging really for the strain on my back more than RF work!)
    8. Deliver and return myself to repair retirement.


    In my retirement, I am turning down jobs containing "Toobs" with Handles; there are at least three stations running Steel Tubes in the area.

    .
    I should have turned this one down.

    On Edit: I pulled the bottom off of the donor amplifier -- stock, hasn't been touched since it was constructed in the 1980's

    Pictures to follow......

    IMG_20200521_stock_falcon.jpg

    IMG_20200521_pristine.jpg

    .
    Last edited by koØm; 05-21-2020 at 04:35 PM.


  5. #5
    Administrator N8YX's Avatar
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    There were a couple 11M amplifier builders in the area.

    Don't know if one had a hand in this construct, but in '79 the Beacon Journal ran a story of an FCC bust involving someone I occasionally talked to in the Class D service. Said individual had a refrigerator-sized, 7.5KW amplifier and in the article was shown being dollied off his front porch.

    What this did was to galvanize the gent into commissioning a 25KW "AC Sky" class mobile amplifier and operating strictly mobile from that point forward. That thing generated much more splatter than the base amp did, even when said base amp was run into a high-gain directional antenna.
    Last edited by N8YX; 05-20-2020 at 01:00 PM. Reason: Grammar
    "Everyone wants to be an AM Gangsta until it's time to start doing AM Gangsta shit."

  6. #6
    'Grumpy old bastid' kb2vxa's Avatar
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    If the FCC raises the average fine from $7,500 to $75,000 and up maybe the alpha hotels will understand this shit is ILLEGAL for good reason? Backing up to 1959 the cookie company made one of their worst ever blunders, would you call 27MHz equivalent spectrum to 460MHz? Then those dozen alternators up front and a hundred pills in back mobiles can be entertaining at a shootout. The video is overly long and boring, so fast forward to when you hear the engines rev up, that's where it gets interesting.

    "The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you."
    Neil deGrasse Tyson

    73 de Warren KB2VXA
    Station powered by atomic energy, operator powered by natural gas.

  7. #7
    Administrator N8YX's Avatar
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    Bears repeating:



    I heard Prime on Ch6 in the 2009-2010 time frame, when I had my first FT-901DM set up. (The hidden "Aux" band was a little more difficult to tease into life than its FT-101 equivalent, though there were other things one had to do to get the rig to transmit on the segment - which was a must for 12M coverage).

    His was easily the biggest signal on the band, and also the cleanest. Great sounding audio and no splatter. Someone put a lot of time and money into that station and it shows.
    Last edited by N8YX; 05-21-2020 at 08:49 AM. Reason: Grammar
    "Everyone wants to be an AM Gangsta until it's time to start doing AM Gangsta shit."

  8. #8
    Master Navigator koØm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by N8YX View Post
    There were a couple 11M amplifier builders in the area.

    Don't know if one had a hand in this construct, but in '79 the Beacon Journal ran a story of an FCC bust involving someone I occasionally talked to in the Class D service. Said individual had a refrigerator-sized, 7.5KW amplifier and in the article was shown being dollied off his front porch.

    What this did was to galvanize the gent into commissioning a 25KW "AC Sky" class mobile amplifier and operating strictly mobile from that point forward. That thing generated much more splatter than the base amp did, even when said base amp was run into a high-gain directional antenna.
    John "Slaveboy" King was actively doing work in your area a couple of years back; don't know about now.

    "Sneaky-Pete" the former apprentice of "John-Boy" Williams (Memphis,Tenn.) is doing work out of Arkansas if you take it to him; pay his Airfare and hotel cost and he will come to your home and do the repairs.

    .


  9. #9
    Master Navigator koØm's Avatar
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    This is not a simple repair, this is a major rebuild.

    IMG_20200521_11_meter.jpg
    under_side.jpg

    Someone has been inside this thing since the last time I saw it 15+ years ago. It's been so long since I messed with the insides of one of these things; goodness only knows what's what in this thing.

    Not shown is the outboard B+ transformer.

    .

    ETA: If you think it looks bad from a photograph, you should get a 3-D view of it.
    Last edited by koØm; 05-21-2020 at 05:08 PM.


  10. #10
    "Island Bartender" KG4CGC's Avatar
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    Hey Mel, I'll be interested to read about what you find. I'd also be interested to know why you think it was done.
    Thank you and 73.

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