D&A Maverick Amplifier updates...

 This is a D&A Maverick that I repaired and updated with Russian 6P45C tubes. The Maverick originally had 4 small 6JG6A tubes driving 4ea 6LQ6 tubes. The PA was much like the Dentron GLA-1000 and the Amp Supply LA-1000 (designed for 100w drive). The Maverick essentially added a 100w driver stage with the 4ea 6JG6a tubes.

I replaced the 110v plate relay, and made a few repairs to this amp. Next, I rewired the sockets and converted it to the much larger and more robust Russian 6P45C tubes, in a 2 driving 4 configuration. The Maverick has a stout power supply, with 2 plate & filament transformerscin phase. 

This can now be driven with 30w pep, but with the little 3 watt radio I use on 29.000 AM, is doing about 650 pep on AM. With my IC-756 limited to 30 watts on SSB, it'll do about 800 on 10m SSB. Here's a few pics and a video...

Yaesu YD-844 Microphone

 This is a Yaesu YD-844 mic that a friend in Western NC sent to me for repairs. He bought it on eBay for his Yaesu FT-901...but when it arrived, it didn't work on his rig.

I checked it over and found it incorrectly wired for his rig, found broken wires in the base of the mic, discovered some unknown "goo" where the cord entered the mic, and the 4-pin plug was missing a locking screw. On the bright side, the mic was in good cosmetic condition, the mic cartridge was in good shape, and the cord was fine.

I cleaned the sticky goo from the cord and mic, repaired the broken wires, rewired the connector, and replaced the missing locking screw. 

I also disabled the Yaesu "lift to talk" switch. I've found most hams hate this feature, and in my opinion, it was a horrible idea. A sprint loaded post extends out the bottom of the mic, and connects to a switch, inside. When the mic is lifted off the table, it keys the transmitter. It also keys the transmitter went bumped over on it's side for some reason. 

Here's a vid and a few pics. It's back at its new home, and being used on a FT-901. Great mic!

D&A Raider Repairs

 This is a D&A Raider I picked up sometime back, repaired it, and gave it a few mods. It needed a new tube in the keying circuit, a new relative output meter, a new plate load control, and had issues in the output tank band switching. I mono-banded the tuned input & output tank, and added adjustable output via mods to G1 bias. Here's a couple of vids and a few pics...

Browning M100 on 10 Meters AM...

 I put my little Browning M100 on 10m AM 29.000 mhz, today. What a sweet Lil amp, worked with my 10 converted Midland radio. Here's a little video...

Browning Labs Mark 100 Rebuild...

This is a rebuild / restoration of a very RARE Browning Labs Mark 100 Amplifier. This was a tube type mobile amp, running a pair of 6JG6A sweep tubes at about 650vdc in grounded grid. It has a heavy steel cabinet, uses a typical pi-net output circuit and a DC-DC converter to achieve the HV through a step up transformer. 

I got this from a friend, and she was in very rough condition. I stripped the cabinet and sanded it smooth. I color matched it to the original color with info from another collector.

The original transformer was burned out, the germanium switching transistors were bad, as were the caps, t/r relay, etc. Since no one uses these in mobile operation any more, and it needed a new transformer, I decided to configure it for 115vac to make it usable again. It got a fresh transformer, it already had a solid set of 6JG6A tubes, new caps, wiring, t/r relay, lv dc control circuit, new safety grounding AC power cord, etc. 

2-1/2 watts drive with 5-1/2 pep modulated on AM keys about 45 watts, modulated to 90+ watts pep. Can be driven with up to 20 watts pep as long as the dead key is kept around 2 watts. Its a rare piece of Browning history, much more rare than the model 180, and there's not many of these left. Here's a few pics and videos...