Doc,

I have been happily married for quite some time so I do not have to worry about scheduling multiple relationships. But from my single days I truly believe that the most ill-designed piece of high voltage home brew gear is far less dangerous than the potential fallout from improper management of too many women in one's life

To ensure that your skull doesn't end up looking like the 2-B cabinet proceed with caution in attracting multiple beautiful objects not finished in black wrinkle paint!

Rodger WQ9E

Wow What a mess......wish you luck. Four years ago I sent a ultra mint HQ170A double boxed,double packed. However UPS decided to have a forklift run it through back to front panels what a shame.

Bill

The matter is resolved! After giving me a full refund, the seller accepted my reduced offer for the radio. I'll post some photos when I get it looking and working a bit better.
-DS

Doc,

Sounds like you reached the optimal solution. Good luck with getting it back in shape.

Rodger

I've been digging in to the 2B more in the last 24 hours. First, the radio still works if you replace the 6AQ5a that got broken in shipping. That's the best news. The front panel has corrosion, so I've removed it and am trying to patch up the bad areas with rust-stop spray paint. The bezel on the S-meter got cracked in "the accident" but it looks like it can be saved, at least until I can find a replacement. Finally, the crystal for the calibrator has a dent in the side and the calibrator is not working. The seller said it worked for him, so I must assume that it is another casualty of the shipping mishap (that crystal and a couple of tubes were "at large" inside the cabinet when I received the set). The best part, though, is that the radio still works. I will probably re-stuff the can capacitor since there is plenty of room inside that can, and replace the tubular paper caps with .1mfd orange drops. Also, I noticed in my 2A that a lot of resistors had increased in value, and the only resistor that I've checked so far in this 2B (the 470 ohm 2 watt resistor) is up to about 520 ohms, so I'll probably be replacing some resistors. One thing I noticed on the 2A is that Drake didn't wrap the leads around the lugs before soldering like National did. That makes changing components easy: just heat the lug to melt the solder and the lead pulls right out.
-DS
It's not perfect, and it won't be -- but there is improvement.

I'm now in the troubleshooting mode, having done what I could for the damaged cabinet and the rusty front panel. The set was receiving on 80 meters and 40 meters, but I lost 40 meters suddenly while copying a cw station about a week ago and 80 meters is weak. I've been checking resistances and voltages and replacing capacitors and selected resistors. The B+ is low. With about 155 vac on pins 1 and 6 of the 6X4 rectifier I'm only getting about 120 vdc for B+ instead of the 152 vdc I'm supposed to be getting. I've replaced the filter caps and the little electrolytic in the audio section. I've paid special attention to the audio section and the 6AQ5. If I remove the 6AQ5 then the B+ goes up to 142 vdc. I've tried two different 6AQ5s and there is no noticeable difference between the two. Both tubes work equally well in my NC303. Now I'm running out of ideas. Any help out there on this Drake?
-DS

Doc,

Did you try a new 6X4 rectifier tube? That would be the next step since you have replaced the filter caps.

If that doesn't take care of the issue, not how the 2B B+ distribution is divided into B1, B2, and B3. Checking the rated versus actual voltage on these three different bus sections may help you to narrow down excessive current draw.

Rodger WQ9E

Rodger! Amazing, because I figured I had ruled out the rectifier tube on purely theoretical grounds. I tried a new 6X4 and instead of watching the B+ slowly struggle up to 120 volts I watched it zoom up to about 180 (which is scary because the caps in this set are only rated at 160 volts) and then settle back to 152 which is right where it is supposed to be! Thanks for getting me back on track. Now to hook it up to an antenna and see if I have more working bands. BTW, I was listening to you on the midwest classic radio net this morning on my 2A (discussed on another thread) which now has the calibrator that came in the 2B and a 100 kHz crystal from an HQ110 and which now seems to be a pretty nice radio.
-DS

Possibly another issue with this 2B: there was a 6CB6a (sharp cutoff pentode) substituted for the 6BZ6 (semi-remote cutoff pentode). I don't see anything to tell me that these are equivalent. Does this substitution make good sense?
-DS

Doc,

Glad your 2B is working better now. I hope the lightning noise was less at your location during the MWCRN. I had planned to use my newly acquired Stancor 20P transmitter this morning but at 20 watts input on AM I decided to wait until conditions are better and used a Ranger/Desk KW for the net. I was receiving on the Telefunken E1501 and if it had a noise limiter I would have turned it on this morning.

I would go back to the recommended 6BZ6 for the RF tube. The AGC system was designed around having a 6BZ6 in the first stage. It will be interesting to see other's take on this substitution. I thought I recalled seeing the reverse substitution (6BZ6 replacing 6CB6) recommended in another rig but I cannot recall which one.

Rodger WQ9E

Rapid progress on this radio tonight. I did a wholesale replacement of all four of the tubes on the left side of the set (V1-V4) and now I have all the bands working again. I just spent about 30 minutes copying some cw on 40 meters. So it looks like I have two working "black boxes" now.

I could use a new front panel and a new S-meter bezel for the 2B if anyone has them.
-DS

When I removed the front panel I lost the proper orientation for the Passband knob on its shaft. The shaft is not keyed and it rotates a full 360 degrees with no stops at the ends. Does anyone know how to recover the proper position for that knob?
-DS

Can't you see where the setscrew made the original indentation?

Have you gone through the normal alignment process already? If not make sure the 50 KC BFO is exactly on frequency. If you need to you can listen to it on an external receiver and its harmonics are easily received up through at least 150 Khz.

Once you are sure the BFO is exactly on frequency rotate the passband tuner through its range while listening to just band noise. You should find a equally high pitch at two points well removed from each other over the rotation. If the pitch is higher at one extreme than the other use the screw adjustment on the passband tuner and adjust and compare until these two points have the same high frequency pitch. Then with the bandwidth in the 2.1 position listen for the lowest frequency pitch as you adjust the passband tuning. Temporarily loosen the knob and set it to the middle of the 2.1 passband marking and tighten the knob. The pitch should be the same at each dot mark indicating the SSB settings for this range, reposition the knob on the shaft slightly until you achieve this setting.

Rodger WQ9E

This is the inner shaft in a concentric control, so it is small in diameter and there is no visible mark from the set screw. Rodger, I have not done the alignments yet, since it seems to tune much better than my either NC303 or NC183D, but the procedure you set out is just what I needed. Thank you.
-DS

Doc,

You are welcome. The alignment of the 405 KC conversion oscillator and 50 KC BFO will affect the setting so if you have to reset either/both of these then the passband tuner will need to be setup again.

Rodger WQ9E

My initial attempt to hear the BFO on 100 and 150 kHz was unsuccessful. I only have one receiver that goes that low: a Grundig Satelit 800, and I could not hear the BFO signal at all. My Fluke 1900A frequency counter goes low enough, but I need to take some time to figure out how to safely connect it to the BFO output (probably just a coupling capacitor). Actually what I really need to do is to start at the beginning and go through the full alignment procedure (even if I change nothing) just to familiarize myself with the procedure. And, I must admit, radios are taking somewhat of a backseat to a home improvement project I've begun: replacing my kitchen/dinning room floor. A dusty, smelly (residues of previous owners' pets long dead) job that may take most of the summer.
-DS

Okay, here's a possible error by me: I did hear signals down around 100 and 150 kHz, but I assumed that switching off the BFO would make them disappear if that was the signal I was hearing. Switching the BFO on and off had no effect on the signals I heard. Now it's possible, I suppose, that the BFO runs all the time the receiver is turned on and switching the BFO switch on and off only connects/disconnects it from the detectors. A glance at the schematic, however, tells me that this is not the case --- unless I just don't understand enough about how the circuit works.
-DS

Doc,

Try running a lead from the Sat 800 antenna to near V-7 in your 2-B, you can either clip onto the Sat 800 whip or use its external antenna input. Make sure the 800 is in SSB mode. The BFO has a pretty healthy harmonic output so it should be easily audible. By the way, make sure your Satellit 800 is on frequency, check for SSB zero beat on one of your local broadcast stations to see if it is slightly off.

The BFO only operates when turned on.

By the way, in case you didn't know R.L. Drake company did most of the design work for your Satellit 800 and may well have repaired yours if it every had a warranty issue. A properly working Satellit 800 is a good receiver and mine is located on a shelf in the kitchen and often copies 3885 prior to a net on Saturday mornings.

Rodger WQ9E

I will try what you suggest for the BFO. Yes, I did know that the somewhat maligned Satellit 800 was a Drake design, and I've had very good luck with mine. (It's a late model, and a nice "daily driver," although the FM broadcast reception is inferior to that of my $80 Sangean WR-11 and the three filters are not all that great on HF.) I used to have a Drake R-8 that I didn't like as well although at that time I was an apartment dweller and my antenna was probably inadequate for it -- I guess I should put the brakes on my own topic drift right here!
-DS