Something to report, and a few questions for the group. A few weeks ago
I picked up a 580 Delta for my nephew who at age 14 has just completed
his Technician license (KC2IBQ) and passed the 5 wpm code test. The rig
was dirty and the case was in rough shape due to a repainting and then
being mobile mounted in such a way that it wore through the paint. A
light sanding and repainting made it pretty again (Rustoleum "Anodized
Bronze" is an excellent color match to the front panel). When it was
complete, I worked Yugoslavia and Turkey within 5 minutes on 20m SSB on
my G5RV Jr., and had a nice QSO on CW last night with an excellent report
from the other end. Now, a couple of questions:
- Is the "hang AGC" on these rigs audio derived? (didn't look at the
schematic before I shipped the oper manual to Neal for him to drool over)
- Related to above, is the Notch an IF or AF notch? It seems to operate
like an AF notch, taking out the offending signal's AGC action. If it's
an AF notch, I'm very impressed with the operation. But seems like an IF
notch.
- My Logikey K1 and K3 will not key the rig - apparently won't pull it
low enough. Are there keyers that will, or do I need to just build a
relay circuit? (I'm looking for a keyer to get him - have a Heath
HD-1410 on the way, but not here yet)
Thanks to all of you who suggested the Delta would be a great radio for
him. I definitely agree. And the 500 Hz crystal filter with the audio
cascaded filters are excellent selectivity aids!
73, Duane
Duane Calvin, AC5AA
Austin, Texas
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