Thanks to the fantastic help I received from the professors in this
group, I have finally repaired this amp back to operational status. It has
taken ALLOT of time and parts to get it to stop blowing fuses and acting
funny, but it was well worth the experience. I wish I knew what happened to
this beast originally. The last thing I needed to replace was the RG-8 which
ran from the loading cap to the rear RF output connector. The original looks
like it was struck by lightning - the dielectric was reduced to half its
normal size due to severe heating. I only found this problem after getting
the amp to work somewhat, and when I would TX for 30 seconds or so, this
cable would start to smoke. I would also lose the output after a while (just
drop to almost nothing from a steady 200 watts), and finally thought to
myself "what would happen if I move this feedline while transmitting"? Lo
and behold, the output would be intermittent as I moved the cable! Come to
find out, the heat from the tube was affecting a connection somewhere in the
cable. Now after replacing that with LMR-400, I have around 350 watts solid
output! Measured with the Bird, of course! Now to refinish the cabinet...
Again, I want to say Thank-you to all who gave me some tips, advice,
parts dealers, and any other comments/connections to get her running once
more! 73's to the list - what's the next project I can start (amp-related,
of course!)...... Larry
PS - I'm also walking away without "juicing" myself, either!
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