Hi Everyone,
After a 10 year hiatus, my love affair with
Corsair II has resumed after I recently acquired a
pristine sample of this transceiver. It came to me
nearly flawless regarding electronics, mechanics
(switches and PTO etc.) and cosmetics. This is one
fine transceiver to use on CW and SSB. My K3 has
been sitting idle for a while now.
But as received, it was obvious that the BFO
frequencies were not correct for SSB producing a
very pinched audio. So I replaced the stock SSB
filters with INRAD 2.8's with a great improvement
in SSB fidelity as I had done in my earlier CIIs
from the mid-1990's
Against my better judgment, I tweaked the trimmers
on the DSB board tied to the 9.000 MHz crystal and
of course got things messed up.
The CII manual states that calibration of these
trimmers (C1, C2 and C3) on the 80980 DSB Board
requires a frequency counter. This is a piece of
equipment that I have never owned.
I was able to get SB-N and SB-R spot on by ear by
zero beating against WWV 10 MHz and using their
500 and 600 Hz tones that alternate each minute
during the hour. (I zero beat WWV in SB-N and SB-R
against a 500 and 600Hz audio tone generator
program on my computer). It's easier to do than to
explain.
Here's the problem. While SB-N, SB-R and my CII
frequency counter are now spot on against WWV, my
CW Rx frequency reads 700 Hz low against the CIIs
frequency counter. I assume that TX frequency is
also low as I have no trouble getting CW calls to
respond to me on my frequency.
In SB-N and SB-R it is reading correctly, just not
so in CW. It's a minor annoyance that I can
mentally compensate for but I would like to get it
fixed if I can.
Can anyone recommend a procedure for doing this
'by ear' without a frequency counter?
And if in the end I need a counter, can anyone
recommend one that won't break the bank? I have
seen many on eBay etc. for relatively modest cost.
I know that a high quality counter can be expensive.
I have seen several "Leader" Nixie readout
counters in the used market but know nothing about
them. I have also seen a mini-counter kit from
Cumbria Designs in the UK and a Chinese counter,
the LDB-TFC2700L.
Finally, I fitted Phil's (K4DPK) PTO stabilizer to
the CII with outstanding results. It makes the PTO
extremely stable over long periods of time. The
circuit works as advertised, is an easy install
and Phil is a great guy to do business with. The
remote VFO is next.
Thanks any suggestions.
73 de N1LQ-Dave
|