Kenwood TS-830 Survival Manual

Also see for TS-830: Instruction manual

Contents

20Answer 2: Check the driver valve base soldering under the RF board, I had the same problemand found hair line cracks in the soldering of the base connections, also there are a couple ofresistors and a two pin plug to check right next to the base of the driver valve well if that doesn'twork check the last wafer switch, for bad contacts.Answer 3: I found on mind this happens on the 18 MHz band along with a loss of receive onthat band. Cleaning the band-switch -- I think the last or second last wafer before the final cagetemporarily fixed the problem, and a longer lasting fix was obtained with lightly applying "Rail-Zip" to the slider, which overcomes oxidation improving contact. This is available in modelrailroading shops for improving contact on electric train tracks to the engine. (Ron 4X1MK)7.10 No dip on the plate current and no or small outputQuestion: Alas... my venerable 830 serving me for the past 19 years got sick...No dip on the plate current on any band, and just on 40 m I could get some output, but without adip. Changes tubes, cleaned the contacts on the bandswitch wafers (this helps for an intermittentproblem on 18 MHz, where there must be some stubborn dirt which reappears from time totime), to no avail. (Ron 4X1MK)Answer: With the cover off the 6146's compartment, I turn the plate tuning knob and see thatthe final tune capacitor goes pretty slowly for how much I'm turning the knob... hmmmm.. thatvernier drive certainly has geared things down a lot... then... EUREKA !!!!..... I see that for afull half revolution of the scale on the front panel, the plates only have moved maybe 20degrees... so I tightened the two Phillips screws on the shaft coupler, which had become quiteloose over the years, aligning the plate tuning scale with the capacitor meshing, and everythingworks again as it should. Very simple mechanical problem. (Ron 4X1MK)7.11 Reducing power output to QRP-like levels, No.1On SSB, turning down the mike gain is a very poor way to reduce output power because doingso defeats the transmitter's ALC system. Thus, when you turn down the mike gain, you cannotassure any particular peak output level, and you're also turning down only the voice modulationcontent of your signal; the original carrier suppression, unwanted sideband suppression,miscellaneous transmitted noise, spurious and so forth are not adjusted "down," at all, butremain as they were. As such, signal quality overall suffers. The best way to "turn down" thepower of a TS830S - and many other rigs of that vintage that have no power level control onSSB - is via the external ALC port on the rig's rear panel. Providing an adjustable bias level tothat port, ranging from 0 V DC to –10 V DC, will allow full-range power adjustment, down tozero output. This is easily accomplished with a 9 V transistor radio battery (be sure to wire the"+" battery terminal to chassis ground - the ALC voltage supplied must be negative) and a1000 Ohm potentiometer wired as a voltage divider.Tune up normally with the pot adjusted for zero voltage at the ALC terminal, and you shouldhave about 100 W output. With the key down, now turn the pot until the power falls off towhatever power output you desire. Then, switch to SSB and your output will be that reducedlevel. DO NOT RETUNE anything on the rig, its tuning will be just fine. This is the way Iadjusted to output power of my TS830S for many years, it works perfectly and still provides allthe normal audio punch and clarity, but at reduced output power. (WB2WIK/6)7.12 Reducing power output to QRP-like levels, No.2The MIC and CAR controls are used for adjusting power output. The meter circuit is notespecially helpful in measuring SSB power, so an outboard PEP reading wattmeter comes in