#30 Kenwood TS-50 Part 3 troubleshoot transmitter and repair

[Radio Tech]

#30 Kenwood TS-50 Part 3 troubleshoot transmitter and repair

Third and final episode.
In this  video we are back on the old Kenwood TS-50. We do a bit of troubleshooting and find yet more interesting faults.

Some blown parts, broken parts, and parts not plugged in. Bare with me as we try and bring this rig back to life.

[RobertoLG]

I'm not a HAM, but I like your videos 

[Radio Tech]

I'm not a HAM, but I like your videos 

Well thank you very much RobertoLG.   
It's comments like yours that make doing this satisfying.
So even though you are not a ham it still is basic electronics. With a little RF involved.

I have been wanting to do a tutorial. For basic RF electronics. Show folks that instead of jumping on an expensive HR radio to start out small. Something like a cb radio. For one it is cheap, they work on the same principal, and if you blow it up you are not out of a lot.
But don't think I am that good with tutorials.

Thanks again for you wonderful comment.

[Negative-Bias]

I watched the video other evening on you tube that was serious fault finding very enjoyable, I build test equipment which is where my interest is, that said I have a dead TS 50  which I know I'm going to have to tackle.
Paul

[Radio Tech]

I watched the video other evening on you tube that was serious fault finding very enjoyable, I build test equipment which is where my interest is, that said I have a dead TS 50  which I know I'm going to have to tackle.
Paul

Thank you Paul. Sometimes these can be a real bugger to find the problems. A lot of time spent. Glad you liked it.

Sounds interesting on the test equipment builds.   
You say the TS-50 is dead?  Not powering on? I am willing to help if needed.


On another note I two  on this video....   

[German_EE]

Well done Buddy on finally getting to the last fault      After seeing all the hard work you had to do plus the efforts that Peter over on TRX Bench had to go through there is no way I would buy a TS-50.

[Radio Tech]

Well done Buddy on finally getting to the last fault      After seeing all the hard work you had to do plus the efforts that Peter over on TRX Bench had to go through there is no way I would buy a TS-50.

Thanks for the kind words. This radio was a hair puller for sure. A big thanks to Grant that sent me spare boards, although they were defective too but at least had the traces intact. A lot of hours was spent on this one. So at time you just put it down, go to something else for a while. Come back with a better attitude and most likely find the problem.  Peter did have an interesting fault with his also. Who would had thought lol. But he nailed it down very quickly. Peter is a good tech 

I agree, stay away from the TS-50 unless you love radio repair.

[Negative-Bias]

Thanks Buddy I may need some advice later down the road, mine turns off after about 10 minutes, I had this one time on my ts820,which turned out to  be Electrolytic's   so that's where I'm going to start, I'm certainly not going to rush, watching both TRX Peter and yourself, it seems there is much  this radio can teach me.
73 Paul M0BSW

[Radio Tech]

Cool deal Paul. Yes these radios are prone to capacitor failure. There is one on the front panel board that causes a lot of issues. I did a repair n a prior video.
When you get to it let me know what you find.

[RobertoLG]

I'm not a HAM, but I like your videos 

Well thank you very much RobertoLG.   
It's comments like yours that make doing this satisfying.
So even though you are not a ham it still is basic electronics. With a little RF involved.

I have been wanting to do a tutorial. For basic RF electronics. Show folks that instead of jumping on an expensive HR radio to start out small. Something like a cb radio. For one it is cheap, they work on the same principal, and if you blow it up you are not out of a lot.
But don't think I am that good with tutorials.

Thanks again for you wonderful comment.

hehe, no worries man, and yeah using the senses is fundamental, just take a good look at the stuff and lots of things may reveal themselves, taking components the correct way from the board may save you a lot of trouble, simple things like that are a must know 

[AF6LJ]

Good Job.

EDIT:
I am also having IFR issues.
But it has to wait....
I have two projects ahead of it...

[Radio Tech]

hehe, no worries man, and yeah using the senses is fundamental, just take a good look at the stuff and lots of things may reveal themselves, taking components the correct way from the board may save you a lot of trouble, simple things like that are a must know 

I know you can do it mate. You will get it up and running in no time.

[Radio Tech]

Good Job.

EDIT:
I am also having IFR issues.
But it has to wait....
I have two projects ahead of it...

Thanks Sue.
You know, not only am I a noob at YouTube, I am still a noob at ham radio repair myself.  Only about 10 year into it. But it is folks like you and a few others on the internet that have helped me along the way. Yes I have read a lot of post around certain places. So for one I want to Thank You. 


I have been in my IFR 4 times already. And not a lot of information has been posted on these. I think I am the only one on YouTube that even has a repair video posted.
So looks like I will be grabbing the 3 inch think service manual and digging into it soon. I really hate working on that unit.

I really want to pick up a stand alone spectrum. Something with markers and display graphics on the screen. Maybe one day. I know what you mean about projects. Plenty of them here and now more to do.

[AF6LJ]

Good Job.

EDIT:
I am also having IFR issues.
But it has to wait....
I have two projects ahead of it...

Thanks Sue.
You know, not only am I a noob at YouTube, I am still a noob at ham radio repair myself.  Only about 10 year into it. But it is folks like you and a few others on the internet that have helped me along the way. Yes I have read a lot of post around certain places. So for one I want to Thank You. 


I have been in my IFR 4 times already. And not a lot of information has been posted on these. I think I am the only one on YouTube that even has a repair video posted.
So looks like I will be grabbing the 3 inch think service manual and digging into it soon. I really hate working on that unit.

I really want to pick up a stand alone spectrum. Something with markers and display graphics on the screen. Maybe one day. I know what you mean about projects. Plenty of them here and now more to do.

Fairly advanced stuff...
Back in the day I fixed IFR 1200S and 1000S for the company I worked for.
YOU may already know the unit is known for intermittent issues regarding connectors and PCB edge connectors. In damp climets it can be worse than out here in California..
The Scope switches get cranky with age.

Your problem is simple, shouldn't take too long to find.

[Radio Tech]

Fairly advanced stuff...
Back in the day I fixed IFR 1200S and 1000S for the company I worked for.
YOU may already know the unit is known for intermittent issues regarding connectors and PCB edge connectors. In damp climets it can be worse than out here in California..
The Scope switches get cranky with age.

I have cleaned those connecters twice in the past 5 years. Very humid here on the east coast.
I think it is either the HV caps or the switches you mentioned. I lean more towards the switches though since the problem comes and goes.  I really should try and source  some new ones.

Your problem is simple, shouldn't take too long to find.

I hope you are right ...about not taking too long.   

[voltz]

Good video Buddy. I like your practical 'using all your senses' approach. You found a few faults in that one. Nice job.

[Radio Tech]

Good video Buddy. I like your practical 'using all your senses' approach. You found a few faults in that one. Nice job.

Thanks for the kind words voltz,
Amazing what you can learn through the years not having proper test gear , which I do have now. And as you said I still rely on my senses for troubleshooting.
I remember years ago sitting at my moms kitchen table armed with a Radio Shack analog volt meter and soldering iron and a old ECG cross reference book. Man those were the day.

[voltz]

Yep. Amazing what can achieve with enough time and experience. I agree, you dont always need fancy gear!. Saying that, good luck with your SA. Hope that gets fixed very handy bit of kit. Looks like a Y amp issue, gone south!

[Radio Tech]

Yep. Amazing what can achieve with enough time and experience. I agree, you dont always need fancy gear!. Saying that, good luck with your SA. Hope that gets fixed very handy bit of kit. Looks like a Y amp issue, gone south!

 

Well while at work today I went ahead and printed off the schematics and board layout for the scope unit. I do have it on CD and a reprint manual. But these are now on 11x17.

You could be correct about it being the Y amp. But, what ever it is it is intermitted.  The other day when it quit all of a sudden it started back working. Then out again. A few minutes later it was back to full working.
Bad solder?
Loose connector?
Bad switch?
Or thermal issue? ( Really do not think it is that since I can power up from cold start and it want come on)

Will tear down this week end and have a look. May start a new thread on the teardown repair.
Don't tell no one but I bet Sue already knows what is wrong...

[RobertoLG]

I hope that you post some pics when you get that oldies back in shape, like that national you got at your doorstep and the others too, you got a nice "playground" there too hehehe 

[Radio Tech]

I hope that you post some pics when you get that oldies back in shape, like that national you got at your doorstep and the others too, you got a nice "playground" there too hehehe 

I surely will. In fact I have a bunch of pics of that National already. I am going to do a "Restoration Tip" video on how to handle comedic and appearance video on old rigs like it.  When I restore a piece of equipment I do not want it to look brand new. I like it to have that used look but work like new.
Thanks for your comment 

[RobertoLG]

I hope that you post some pics when you get that oldies back in shape, like that national you got at your doorstep and the others too, you got a nice "playground" there too hehehe 

I surely will. In fact I have a bunch of pics of that National already. I am going to do a "Restoration Tip" video on how to handle comedic and appearance video on old rigs like it.  When I restore a piece of equipment I do not want it to look brand new. I like it to have that used look but work like new.
Thanks for your comment 

Cool, I'm waiting to see the pics and the video, give the oldies some love

[retrolefty]

I hope that you post some pics when you get that oldies back in shape, like that national you got at your doorstep and the others too, you got a nice "playground" there too hehehe 

I surely will. In fact I have a bunch of pics of that National already. I am going to do a "Restoration Tip" video on how to handle comedic and appearance video on old rigs like it.  When I restore a piece of equipment I do not want it to look brand new. I like it to have that used look but work like new.
Thanks for your comment 

 Ah, keep the patina in tact.   

[Radio Tech]

 Ah, keep the patina in tact.   

Agreed.
I do not care for Museum restored equipment. I like them to look used but work like new.

[Radio Tech]

Fairly advanced stuff...
Back in the day I fixed IFR 1200S and 1000S for the company I worked for.
YOU may already know the unit is known for intermittent issues regarding connectors and PCB edge connectors. In damp climets it can be worse than out here in California..
The Scope switches get cranky with age.

Your problem is simple, shouldn't take too long to find.

Sue,
I want you to know you were spot on 
It was the switches all along. I took it apart and removed those switches. Took them apart and cleaned all the contacts and traces. Working like a charm now.
Video to come. Thank you very much.