Well, I took a few weeks to get to it, but.....
After a call to Ten Tec about my Herc II (unused but 8 years old, sitting
in a garage near the ocean), the service tech suggested I get some DeOxit
to the main relays. He also told me that the relay "clicking" I heard
during SSB transmissions could be a wire "too close" to a reed relay on
the input splitter board, deenergizing the relay on RF peaks.
OK. I got around to doing it. I moved the wire near the reed relay. I
took DeOxit and sprayed the relays. I also took out and reseated every
wire connector, sprayed with a little DeOxit for good measure, and
reassembled.
The voltage is now much more stable, the drop is not so great on the built
in meter (though that meter is not much help, the scale is not helpful).
The amp has worked perfectly for the last few hours of CW and SSB, the
very same battery combination and power cable are being used. Looks like
I got it. I am still interested in a heftier power cable, I currently use
4 number 10 wires for positive, 4 number 10 wires for negative, about 7 or
8 feet long to the batteries. I am probably going to get some number 1
cable at 10 feet, feed it into the house, then hook up a 2 foot piece of
the present cable cut off to make the connection easy. That ought to give
me a little more juice at the amp.
There was a small fuse inside the amp, it was completely loose. Didn't
check what it was for, but re-bent the clasps and it clamps down fine now.
Next, I'll build a remote connector for my OMNI VI.
Thanks again for all the help, guys.
Clark
WA3JPG
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