TCS-12...we're ready to roll.....

Jim Koehler · Posted: Oct Sat 24, 2009 3:38 pm

OK....
Up at 0530 and put the coffee on....
Sat down with the print and boned up on what I needed to know.

Plugged in the rects., connected the cable to the rx. After studying the prints, I decided to connect the tx cable and just leave the power off going to it. Yer right Curt....no rx audio unless K-103 contacts are either jumpered out or the cable is connected to the tx.

Switched rx "On" and brought PS up slowly on the Variac. She stabilized at about .9 amps at 115 VAC. So far so good. All fils glowing nicely. Connected the long wire, jacked in the cans and brought up the RF and AF controls. Nothing! Then realized I had the Osc. Sel. on CO 2 instead of MO.

All bands receiving. CHU at 3.33 mc. on the advertised, same for WWV at 10 mc. Controls are dirty and contacts on Band 3 very dirty. Have running now for 4 hrs.... No undue heating of components in either PS or rx. In fact, with the cans on, the audio "ain't that bad".

Onward.....
_________________

See the Calliope in action... (Boat anchors Aweigh)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GP0gFes1rE

Tom Herman · Posted: Oct Sat 24, 2009 3:53 pm

Jim,

Congrats on getting it fired up! Now you know it works, and can attend to the necessary cleaning and restoration...
Have fun!

-Tom

Curt Reed · Posted: Oct Sat 24, 2009 6:52 pm

That is very typical of people firing up TCS sets for the first time. They were built with the highest quality components available at the time they were built. I am not intimately familiar with other models of the TCS as there were many, but in the TCS-12, 13 and 14 models I have played around with there were no micamolds or other low quality parts in any of them.
Curt
_________________
Curt, N7AH
(Connoisseur of the cold 807) CW forever!

Tom Herman · Posted: Oct Sat 24, 2009 7:26 pm

Curt,

The RBA/RBB/RBC series is the same. If they were working when last used, they will *usually* come up as well. It's a hoot to bring them out of retirement!

-Tom

Curt Reed · Posted: Oct Sat 24, 2009 7:31 pm

Tom- you are correct. My RBC-5 fired right up and I did not use a Variac on it. I have no idea of how long it had been sitting, but most likely several years.
Curt
_________________
Curt, N7AH
(Connoisseur of the cold 807) CW forever!

Jim Koehler · Posted: Oct Sat 24, 2009 7:58 pm

It's been fun seein' this old girl come alive....

By now it's late afternoon and the amp draw hasn't budged (.9 A +/- 10 ma.) Midway, I shut it down and burnished the bandswitch contacts. Brought it back up on line and she's gud on all three bands. Did well on SSB on 40. Just knock the RF down a bit and it's there. CW's another story...selectivity must've been designed by Barndoor Industries...it's about as wide. (ah...so what!)
Went back to the TM for IF alignment. Have the GR 1001A in the wings warmin' up.

Stay tuned....
_________________

See the Calliope in action... (Boat anchors Aweigh)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GP0gFes1rE

Jim Koehler · Posted: Oct Sat 24, 2009 10:13 pm

It's done....
One thing I noticed was the IF's pictured in the TM weren't the same as I have. No big deal though, was able to peak all the same. Went on to the RF alignment, these components are the same pictured in the TM. Using the output meter, went through all three bands with no problems.
The difference in reception before and after the procedure was like nite and day.

So far...so good
_________________

See the Calliope in action... (Boat anchors Aweigh)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GP0gFes1rE

Curt Reed · Posted: Oct Sun 25, 2009 1:58 am

Congrats! I have never attempted to do any alignment on the sets I used. But one thing to consider also. If the set was stored very long under humid conditions I would suspect the coils have absorbed some moisture and as it is driven out, it may affect your new alignment, so keep the gear handy in case you need to do it again.

Yes, the receivers are quite broad, being 8kc at 6db down and 15kc at 20db down. But some of us more unfortunate hams learned the game on sets like that many years ago. We could not afford anything better, so it taught us how to use our built in inter-cranium filter system.
Curt
_________________
Curt, N7AH
(Connoisseur of the cold 807) CW forever!

Jim Koehler · Posted: Oct Sun 25, 2009 2:26 am

Trollin' the freq.'s in my new ride.....

Boy! Am I rusty on the C-Dub end! Found a comm. station rappin' out 5 letter code, in A3 no less!....at about 20 wpm. Started hardcopy...maybeee 3 letters out of five. By midway, all groups were getting solid, by the end? I put the pencil down and just listened. Granted, I cuddn't tell you what the groups were, but in my head it all started coming back.

"inter-cranium filter system."....

yeeeup!
_________________

See the Calliope in action... (Boat anchors Aweigh)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GP0gFes1rE

Curt Reed · Posted: Oct Sun 25, 2009 2:38 am

If you are like most people, you learn something and it is never forgotten. With CW, a lot of people get rusty with no using it over time, but you will often be surprized at how fast it can come back to you. I have not been on the air for seven years now, but still can hold my own with receiving CW. I have no idea of how fast I can receive it now, but I suspect it being somewhere around 40 wpm. Last time I checked was nearly two years ago, and at that time I was down to 42wpm where I was at 46wpm a year earlier.

I just wish I could send it that fast! At one time when I was younger I could. But with getting older and starting to suffer post-polio syndrome, I can not control my fingers or hands like I used to. It is horroble when your brain tells your fingers to do something, and then have to wait for them to do it. Like a slipping clutch somewhere in the driveline.
Curt
_________________
Curt, N7AH
(Connoisseur of the cold 807) CW forever!

War Bird Radio · Posted: Oct Sun 25, 2009 1:07 pm

Jim,
Good to hear the RX is up and running. Really didn't expect it to be other wise unless the set was badly neglected. On the TX you'll have to clean the band sw too but most trouble is from the contactors and antenna varicoupler.

I've mentioned before, may first set when I as a novice was $10 from a junk dealer. They were sitting on a dirt floor when I first saw them. He got them from an old guy who tried to sell them in a garage sale but no one wanted them. They sat outside in the rain for about a year before the junk dealer picked them up. After drying out for another year I finally got around rigging up a power supply and they came to life with no problem. The tubes were original with date codes of early '40s. You just can't beat a TCS set.

The funny thing about the TCS set is that the Navy used them exclusivley but Collins designed them and advertised them for use in tanks and heavy armor vehicles. Well, the Marines did use them in jeeps. Just funny how things work out.

When copying CW & SSB, it is best to turn the AF gain up all the way and use the RF gain as volume control. The TCS has a strong BFO and is rarley over loaded. You do have to jocky the RF gain some when listening to a QSO where one station is much stronger then the other.

Just picked up a very clean TCS-13 RX at a swap meet for $25. Also got a BC-348Q for the same price.

John

Jim Koehler · Posted: Oct Sun 25, 2009 2:03 pm

Got the Dyno PS up on the bench this morning for a looksee....

Other than the broken foot on the big dyno, everything else looks good when compared to the print and the practical. Opened up the end bells and tried to turn the rotors but the grease (or oil?) made for a tuff spin. I remember Curt mentioning the procedure for cleaning them up, correctly, and getting them up and running again. The armatures look pretty good...plenty of undercut left on the mica. Though the gunk factor is there so that also has to be attended to.
The fuse block carries a 30 and 25 amp fuse, plus a spare. I guess my old plating supply will have to come out of retirement to power up this unit. Either that or run battery cables from the truck!
Any idea what the actual amp draw would be using the dynamotor unit?
Also, I'm thinking about what I can do about the cables. It seems that where the armored part of the sheath connects to the head assy has separated leaving the wire harness exposed. The connection point to the head is similar to a liquid tight connector but, of course, different dimensions. The other cable has a clamp type assy similar to a romex connector. Is there any way, short of desoldering the wires and shortening the harness, to "pretty-up" this mess? And from the looks of the cable, it also provides an electrical ground bond that, right now, is being taken care of with a jumper between PS and rx.
Tnx...
...Jim
_________________

See the Calliope in action... (Boat anchors Aweigh)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GP0gFes1rE

Curt Reed · Posted: Oct Sun 25, 2009 5:01 pm

Jim-my manual says the maximum current draw is when it is on phone operation and with the transmitter being modulated 90%, the current consumption is 205 watts. The receiver is in standby in this mode. However, the dynamotor starting current can be many times the running current, often by a factor of nearly ten times.

I can't answer your question about the cables. I have seen cables like that before that were intentionally done up that way where the outer shield is dead ended at the end of the cable. This obviously was done to eliminate ground loops when the transmitter was remote from the receiver. But if you have the stacked units, then the grounding would be thru the mountings and I would think the ground loop problem would not exist.

I am still trying to figure out why back in 1968 at NAS Seattle, in the AO (Aviation Ordance) shack they had a TCS setup with the receiver remote from the transmitter by a couple of feet. That setup had the cables with the shield cut off. But why would the AO's need HF communications? Been wondering about that for over 40 years now.
Curt
_________________
Curt, N7AH
(Connoisseur of the cold 807) CW forever!

Jim Koehler · Posted: Oct Sun 25, 2009 9:53 pm

A few pics.....

_________________

See the Calliope in action... (Boat anchors Aweigh)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GP0gFes1rE

War Bird Radio · Posted: Oct Mon 26, 2009 2:36 am

Jim,
I've seen that before. As for how to repair, you got it right, un-solder the connector and sorten the wires, re-solder and clamp the shield. Or wrap it with two rolls of tape. Twisted Evil

Another thing I wanted to mention, there is an interlock switch on the back of the TX chassis that will keep you from powering up the unit when it's out of the case. To do any adjustments you must either short the switch or lay the unit on it's back which should depress the swtich therefore closing it.

John

simmonds1970 · Posted: Oct Mon 26, 2009 4:21 am

A big congrats Jim on getting her up and running.

BTW - Nice shop. It looks as clean as mine... Wink

_________________
73 de KF7EOO

Chris Simmonds

"Get busy living, or get busy dying" Andy Dufresne - Shawshank Redemption

AAFRadio · Posted: Oct Mon 26, 2009 12:11 pm

Jim Koehler · Posted: Oct Mon 26, 2009 1:22 pm

Tnx fer the comments....

Usually, there's two or three jobs sitting on the bench but lately things have been kinda slow. A Philco BOL TT is sitting on the wing bench waiting for a new photocell ( on order) . My bench is an "L" shaped affair...12' for the wing and the main bench including the lathe is 14'.
But what you don't see are the 40 or so BA's behind me.

The ferrules are salvagable. They've been banged up a bit but they can be straightened out. Like I said, the other cable has a clamp-style head assy...that was easy to do.

I will say, I never expected the performance of the rx to be this good. And this is before doing anything electrically but checking the cap tolerances. (even these were within specs!) The rotary switches are a must to clean up. Even now I'm still experiencing erratic operation on band 3.
What would've been a nice touch, to an otherwise nice rx, is at least a pilot lamp or two around the dial window. I've gots da feeling that the dial pan scale was probably nickel plated or something to that effect. It's appearance is quite gray now and difficult to see.
Any ideas?
_________________

See the Calliope in action... (Boat anchors Aweigh)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GP0gFes1rE

AAFRadio · Posted: Oct Mon 26, 2009 1:58 pm

Jim Koehler · Posted: Nov Tue 03, 2009 9:31 pm

progress report....

Got into the dynomotors and repacked the bearings (Tnx Curt). Put them up on the bench supply and both are humming along and pumping HV. The smaller unit wud barely turn without some force. The grease was pretty hard. I used a small pencil torch to just warm it up abit and then washed it out with WD-40. Did this a few times to make sure all the old stuff was out. Used the blowgun and the bearings were freerunning and sparkling! Repacked with Lubriplate, heated it up a bit so it would ooze into all the spaces and it was done.

Onward....
_________________

See the Calliope in action... (Boat anchors Aweigh)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GP0gFes1rE