Hal,
We have to look at two issues separately here.
1. Setting up the Corsair.
2. What is going on with the amplifier.
First the Corsair:
1. The old RCA Phono jacks on any radio or amp have a tendency to corrode a
bit. I suspect you initially had a bad connection to the Corsair's EXT T/R
jack. You should clean the outside of the jack with a bronze-wire brush.
For the inside pin of the jack, you can try cleaning it with something
abrasive such as a round tooth pick.
There is some kind of contact cleaner the guys keep recommending in the
states... something like Oxite... sorry, I can't remember the exact name.
We have a similar substance here but with a different name. IMPORTANT, if
you use that, then remove the cabinet from the Corsair and spray from inside
towards the outside, so that you don't gum up the works inside the radio.
Or else spray onto a tooth pick and apply the cleaner fluid with it. Follow
the directions on the can. Ours says to allow it about 10 minutes before
wiping it off.
The Corsair can work full break-in but the AL-811 cannot. The old
open-frame T/R relay in the AL-811 has no chance of following the CW keying.
Besides making a lot of racket, it will soon burn the contacts.
The Corsair has an adjustable keying delay (hang delay) for its EXT T/R
signal. You can adjust this for about 1/2 second hang delay and then the
amp's relay won't try to follow the keying. (more below)
Unfortunately the Corsair sends RF sooner than the AL-811's relay has
switched. The approximate timing after keying a dit is, after about 5ms,
the RF begins to ramp up, taking about 6ms to reach the full power level.
So after about 11 ms, the RF is there. Unfortunately the AL-811's relay
takes at least 17ms and on average about 20ms to switch and settle. So you
will always be hot switching a little with the first dit. As long as the
amp's relay remains keyed, you won't be hot switching, so it is even better
to set the corsair's delay to about 3/4 second.
The delay is an adjustable thumb-potentiometer on the control board.
CAREFUL; there are two adjustable pots on that board. Be absolutely sure
you are adjusting the right one.
The only way to completely avoid hot switching would be to use an external
keyer with adjustable delay times, such as the MFJ-495 (which is what I
use). I use 25ms of pre-dit delay and about a half second of post-dit
(hang) delay.
The hot switching, assuming you have the hang delay set properly, is not a
huge problem, but eventually it will cause corrosion on the relay contacts
inside the AL-811. Occasionally you will need to clean the relay contacts.
I use a burnishing tool which I purchased at Radio Shack years ago. I dunno
if they are still in business. Some people use a dollar bill to clean the
relay contacts. It is abrasive enough.
Now problem no. 2, the Amplifier:
We need to determine the cause of wrong current in idle.
Two possibilities; either the Corsair is transmitting RF or a parasitic
signal when it should not be, or something is wrong with the amp
Begin by unplugging the cable from the Corsair's EXT/TR jack, but be sure
the other end is plugged into the amp.
Place the amp into operate mode on any band.
While watching the meters, touch the center pin of the cable to the chassis
of the amp.
This will key the amp.
Grid current should be almost nothing and plate current should rise to
whatever value the book has stated (I believe you said 110 mA). Look it up
in the manual. It should definitely not go to full scale!
If the amp is not functioning properly with this test, then there is
something wrong with the amp, not the Corsair.
Assuming that the amp worked OK in the test above, make sure the amp is in
standby mode and plug the cable back into the Corsair's EXT/TR jack.
Now place the amp in operate mode
Again, is SSB mode with minimum power and minimum mic gain, key the PTT and
do not speak into the mic.
You should see the exact same meter readings you saw on the amp test above.
If not, then your Corsair is transmitting some kind of a signal - perhaps
the carrier null is not adjusted properly. I believe there are adjustment
procedures for this in the manual. There is always a chance that it is
transmitting some kind of a parasitic. If you have a watt meter, insert it
between the corsair and the amplifier and see if it shows any power when
keying ptt without speaking into the mic. It should not.
When tuning the amp, always begin tuning by running low power from the
Corsair; about 10 to 20 watts.
Do not begin tuning at full power. Do this by setting the Corsair's power
to 20w and keying it with a straight key. You can also place the corsair
into "LOCK" but just be sure it is not transmitting 100w when you do this.
Be sure that you set up the Amp's presets prior to beginning to tune. This
means set the LOAD and PLATE Capacitors to the band markings on the front
panel and set the band position to the proper position.
With low power applied, first quickly rock the PLATE capacitor back and
forth, tuning for a DIP in Plate Current.
Once this is done, then the plate current should definitely be much lower
than full scale!
NEVER let the Grid Current exceed its maximum rating (as stated in the
manual).
Otherwise the chances are blowing a tube are high.
Too much Grid Current is the number one cause of tube failure.
I won't go further into tuning the amp; I'm sure you already know how to do
that.
Try all this stuff and see how far you get.
Gud Luk Hal!
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Hal via
TenTec
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2015 10:53 PM
To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] [connect toa "AL 811 Amp."
RICK,
OK, I've checked out both rigs, following your instructions along with
those in the manuals.
With the Corsair - No grid readings at all. checked the control board to
see if any wires were cut.
Didn't notice any. Checked grounding the center pin on the receiver end and
yes I heard the relay click in on the amp.
When I bought the set up, many years ago. The ham had used the amp with the
corsair and operated CW.
Yes, I'm looking to use it mainly for CW.
This is my first attempt to use the amp.
When I connected the Paragon - I found it to work the relay ok.
But when I keyed it, with drive at zero, and mike gain at zero, the grid
current went off scale and the plate current went up past 600 ma. where the
plate current should have been at 110 ma . checked and rechecked, can't
figure out what is going wrong.
Both rigs work ok barefooted. I have been using them right along with no
problems.
Oh, yes, I for testing purposes have the antenna into a dummy load, till I
know everything is working OK.
I checked the relay out put. when I keyed the rig with drive at zero, yes,
I did hear the relay and the output showed the ground and center pin were
common.
OK, now I tried it for one last time... and when I key the corsair, I got:
the grid current almost 90 ma
the plate current, about 200 ma too high.
I tried varying the drive on the corsair, no effect on the meters.
Tried varying the "Load " and "Plate" controls on the amp, still no effect
on the meters.
so at least we are gaining a little. But ???
over to you, Rick.
Hal AA2ID
PS: thanks for your helps far.
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP <Rick@DJ0IP.de>
To: 'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment' <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Fri, Feb 20, 2015 6:10 pm
Subject: Re: [TenTec] [connect toa "AL 811 Amp."
Clarity: In the paragraph where I wrote, "if you don't hear it clicking,
that's a good indication"...
I meant that it is a good indication that SOMETHING IS WRONG IN THE CORSAIR.
Sri, that bit wasn't clear, first pass.
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Rick -
DJ0IP / NJ0IP
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2015 12:07 AM
To: 'Hal'; 'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment'
Subject: Re: [TenTec] [connect toa "AL 811 Amp."
Hal,
Do you plan to run CW or SSB or both?
The AMP Key line from the linear should connect to the EXT T/R Jack on the
Corsair.
With the radio connected to the amp (coax and all), and with the amp in
operate position, without keying the transmitter, remove the cable from the
EXT T/R jack and tap the center pin against the chassis of the Corsair.
This should cause the amp to key up and you will clearly hear the amp's T/R
relay click.
If it is not doing this, then you have a bad cable or there is something
wrong with the amp.
If it does key, then maybe the transceiver's Amp keying relay is not keying.
There could be a blown transistor (Q10), which is the open collector
transistor that keys the Corsair's relay, but it could also be something
else.
Sometimes people who do not run an amp are disturbed by the clicking of this
relay so they go inside the radio, onto the control board and open up a wire
to disable it. If you are running barefoot, this causes no problem. But if
you want to run an amp, then you must re-connect whatever they disconnected.
Maybe the previous owner intentionally disabled this relay because he ran
barefoot and did not like the noise.
You'll have to check that. If you don't hear it clicking, that's a good
indication. But to be sure, you need to check for continuity between the
center pin of the EXT T/R jack and ground.
Do this with an Ohm meter, but BEFORE doing anything, turn the RF Power and
MIC gain all the way down.
Then connect an ohm meter and without speaking into the mic, simply key the
mic. This should cause the relay to switch and the center contact of EXT
T/R to short to ground. If it is not doing this, something is wrong in the
relay circuit on the control board.
Gud luk and let us know what you find.
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Hal via
TenTec
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2015 10:03 PM
To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] [connect toa "AL 811 Amp."
I have a corsair and a paragon xceivers.
I want to connect it to the amp. I tried the ways suggested in the manuals,
but no go.
Has anyone done this and can tell me how?
loop forward to your experience.
Hal AA2ID
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill ACITO, W1PA <w1pa@hotmail.com>
To: TenTec <TenTec@contesting.com>
Sent: Fri, Feb 20, 2015 1:10 pm
Subject: [TenTec] 540/Triton Mods
I tried to contact Jerry directly but the email bounced.
Rather than sending snail-mail, does anyone have this fore-mentioned doc
(word file) they can send me directly?
The last item is available on the web, but I can't find the first two.
Please contact me at my call @ hotmail.com
I have a recently acquired 540 I'd like to restore.
Thanks,
Bill W1PA
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill ACITO, W1PA
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2015 12:29 PM
To: kg6tt (on the arrl dot net)
Subject: 540 Mods
Jerry,
Do you still have this doc? Can you send it to me?
Thanks and 73,
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jerry Volpe"
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 2:50 PM
Subject: [TenTec] Three final Ten-Tec Triton IV mods & info docs available
> Not sure why, but I was in a mod to retype the remaining Ten-Tec mods
> that I had on file. If any of these would be useful to you... mostly
> if you have a pre 1400 serial number Triton IV... then send me an
> email OFF reflector.
>
> - TEN-TEC Early S.N. Triton IV Modifications
> - TEN-TEC Improving the TRITON IV's Receiver Dynamic Range
> - TEN-TEC Triton IV Service Note SN-1-540 Mods and Interconnecting
> Accessories
>
> These are all in compressed Microsoft Word format. (I didn't send a
> lot of time proof reading)
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