WB0SMX

  HW-16 C202 Removal Filed in Vintage Radio on Feb.18, 2013 After cleaning the HW-16, I went to HayseedHamfest and ordered the cap kits for the HW-16 pair. They are a little pricey, but I think it’s worth it to get the custom electrolytic in a can to replace the original. For an extra 4 bucks, he adds some of the power supply resistors to make the replacement easier by relieving you of the burden of trying to save old parts with short leads. While waiting for those parts to arrive, I started out with the removal of C202, a 50uf, 350 volt electrolytic in a can, with a cardboard cover over the can. The plan was to remove the can from the chassis, then remove the carboard cover intact, if possible. I started by cutting the 3 wires off of the center lead on the capacitor, and one wire off the mounting lug.   C202 still mounted Once those were free, I was able to remove the two mounting screws and pull the can out of the rig. With the can out, I applied heat from my ...

  HW-16 Initial Cleaning Filed in Vintage Radio on Feb.18, 2013 The weekend after the Superstition Hamfest, I took the two HW-16s outside to do an initial cleanup and inspection on them. The first one was a little cleaner overall, with less corrosion. The second had a bit more corrosion, but still not excessive. I started with a gentle brush cleaning with hot, soapy water.   Scrubbing with soap and water After the covers were relatively clean, I continued to the chassis of the first rig. it started out pretty grungy.   HW-16 #1 before cleaning After cleaning, it looked much better. I don’t mind sticking my fingers in there, now.   Chassis #1 clean I may have to use naval jelly or some other method to get rid of the little bit of corrosion left, but it looks pretty good as is. Next, I continued on the HW-16 #2.   Dirty HW-16 #2 After cleanup, it looks pretty good, too. It has a bit more rust/corrosion on it, though.   HW-16 #2 clean After the chassis...

  Superstition Hamfest Finds… Filed in Vintage Radio on Feb.18, 2013 We arrived early to the Superstition Hamfest in Mesa on February 9th. As we were walking down the first row, John (WB0WHO) noticed a nice HG-10b VFO that would make a good match for the HW-16. It was sitting on top of another HW-16, with a price of $100 for both. After playing with the knobs and dials to confirm they were working on both pieces, I offered the gentleman $75 for both. He quickly accepted my offer, and 5 minutes into the hamfest, I had found and purchased what I was after.   A Spare HW-16 We took our catch home, and did an initial inspection. The bad news was that there were holes in the top of the case that I had not seen at the hamfest. It’s the weird thing about Arizona hamfests… They start before dark and are pretty much over by 10:00 am or so. The good news was that the tuning dial was intact and working, and all of the HG-10B moving parts were moving.     HG-10B And...

  My “New” TS-430 Filed in Station on Feb.11, 2013 With all of the electrical fixes finished on the TS-430, I felt kind of sad when I looked at it. 30 years of hauling around in various mobile installations, and field day operations have taken their toll. I decided to give the old girl a facelift.   All Done and buttoned up Here are some “before” shots of the case. Like a said, pretty beat up…   Top before  Side of top...   Side before I started by dis-assembly. Taking the front cover off was a little tricky, because the tuning knob really sticks tight. We happened to have a cold spell in Arizona, and this time when I tried, it pulled right off. After that the rest of the knobs came right off, allowing me to remove the front panel. The top and bottom clamshell covers just have screws holding them on. Once disassembled, I pounded out the dents using a hammer as an anvil, and a second hammer as a, well, hammer… Next, I used some 600 grit sandpaper to ...

  TS-430 Fixes Filed in Station on Feb.11, 2013 A couple of years ago, my (then) 28 year old Kenwood TS-430 started to have problems. The first symptom was that the display would count up in frequency, no matter which way I turned the tuning knob. This was intermittent  occurring mostly in the first few minutes after turning the rig on for the first time in the day. Eventually, it became worse, until it was a constant problem. At that point, I put the old 430 on a shelf and bought a new TS-480 as a primary rig. So fast-forward to present day, and I decided to bring the 430 off the shelf and do some repairs. I started off checking the various power supplies, and found the the 5-volt supply was sitting at around 3.5 volts. Suspecting the usual suspects, I changed out the two electrolytic capacitors tied to the 5-volt regulator. That fixed the immediate problem.   Bad Electrolytic Capacitors Finding the caps on the back of the IF Unit, near IC-9, which is conne...