WS19 guide for dummies?

[David Dunlop]

Congrates on being a 19-Set owner, but be warned, once bitten by these things you will discover the amazing list of bits to add to it! I got my first one in 1976 and have gone through about 2 dozen since. Still have a Mk II Cdn and Mk III Cdn.

I have heard the caps can be tricky on this and similar older sets but have personally never run across a bad one in all the sets I have fired up. I have heard of more problems from sets that have been tinkered with and sometimes that is obvious to spot. A couple of things I would suggest:

Clean the inside of the set and P/S of all dust before applying power. Take this opportunity to pull all valves and inspect them for loose fitting glass. Find somebody with a tube tester to check all valves.

When you fire it up for the first time, do so with the chassis of the set out of the case and remove the bottom cover if still present. Prop the front edge of the set up on a couple of small blocks so you can monitor what goes on underneath and on top of the set and be prepared to pull the power if you have to in a hurry.

I would not recommend ever using the B-Set. In todays radio spectrum, the frequency it was designed to operate in lies in the middle of modern aviation frequencies and the signal is not a clean one. In fact, a friend of mine just recently discovered there is an FM component to the B-Set signal, which is interesting in it's own right, but can complicate things even more today.

Lastly, you mention you have a 110V Supply. Do you mean the RCA 19-Set A/C Supply? If so, you have a real gem there. There were not many made and even fewer spare parts. If you know it works, be VERY happy with that knowledge, but don't use it to drive your 19-Set. It should run with a rather quiet hum. The older it gets and the wonkier the components, the more noise it will start to make, and then it will just quit. There are just not enough surviving to get original replacement parts to fix one to original status.

Your best power supply bet is to find the A/C Supply that was used with the C42 Set Ground Stations (CPP-2). It will give you the choice of 12 or 24 V DC at 22 or 11 amps, and they do throw enough heat to keep a mug of coffee warm on top of it.

The 19-Set will take about 20 minutes or so to stabilize temperature wise when fired up, depending on outside ambient temperature. During this time, they are prone to drifting off frequency a bit, but once they settle in they're fine.

Enjoy and keep us posted.


David

[Bob Carriere]

Hi David

Yes I have stumbled on two RCA 110v. power supplies, look good, claimed to be working ..but never tried them yet.

I also have the CPP 12/24 volts more recent power supplies.

All my time is tied up on firewood and prep for the coming Winter but should fine some spare time when it gets colder outside.

Will do a visual inspection of the insides and gently blow any dust away before any live power is applied.

I played with them when I was a kid in the 50s...... my dad bought a truck load which was dumped very unceremoniously in our back yard...... literaly dumped from a sand truck........ I remember the argument he had with my dear Mom.......they use to sell for $25 as is or running for $75........ my dad repaired radios/tv in his spare time.....

Transport Canada used to have guys on the road with plain grey American motors station wagon with a loop antenna on the roof.......Mr. Tibeault was one of them who visited my dad's place quite often.....used to pump my dad for leads on who had bought them..... they use to inteferre with civvy taxi and Hull concrete truck dispatchers radios of the time...... and C42 made black zebra bars on channel 13 just right when they scored a goal all you had to do was key the mike...... also had a nice daughter ....Betty....I had the hots for....

Sorry we got rid of all his tube testers..... but I still have the device Dad made out of the rotary transformer from the 19 power supplies.... he used the output to burn his initials on his tools.....VAC with all 3 letters overlapped..... I still have his Halicrafter SX99 receiver and separate speaker enclosure.

Ah for the good old days.

Cheers

[Bruce MacMillan]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

Hi David

Yes I have stumbled on two RCA 110v. power supplies, look good, claimed to be working ..but never tried them yet.

Cheers

Don't plug the power supplies in just yet. Try to find a local ham operator or someone with a tube tester. That power supply uses 4 rectifier tubes that are prone to shorting. They should be tested first as when they short the nearest thing to a fuse is a transformer winding. If a winding burns out you've changed a rare item into a common boat anchor.

I use mine as a daily driver but bring it up with a variac avoiding inrush current.

As to using the CPP2 it should work for receiving but when switching to transmit the dynamotor can draw up to 50 amps while it spins up. I don't know if it would supply enough current. Maybe David has tried it.

Like David I've owned a lot of 19 sets over the years and have found that for most part the radio itself worked quite well as is, even after 70 years. The power supply has the big capacitor that needs some tlc.

When it gets time to play you may find some local help through the original 19 set site. http://www.qsl.net/ve3bdb/
A lot of the members are in southern Ontario so help could be close by.

Have fun and remember the one hand rule.

[David Dunlop]

An Amateur friend of mine has run his 19-Set Mk III for a number of years now on a CPP-2 with no problems, and tested mine out for me as well. The startup does not seem to phase the CPP-2 at all.


David

[Bruce MacMillan]

Thanks David, that's good to know. I suspect it works because it is not a regulated supply. It is a "brute force" item that has only a rectifier & filter. Most people that have issues are using a modern electronic regulated supply and they shut down due to inrush current.

I used to run mine from a couple of cheap 12V car batteries from Canadian Tire.

Due to shipping regs I had to leave them behind. I'll have to find a local "English Tyre" store and replace them.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Bruce.

Could you give me a brief idea on how you wire in and use the variac to gradually warm up your set.

Bob C.

[Bruce MacMillan]

Hi Bob,

The variac I use is a variable transformer complete with AC power cord & socket. I plug the WS19 AC supply into the socket and the cord into a 240-120 stepdown xfmr. Remember the UK is 240V not 120V.

As the supply is actually rated for 110VAC I slowly turn up the voltage to 110VAC. This only takes about 5 seconds but it eliminates the instant on inrush current to the primary. Without going into a whole lot of electronic theory this has worked for me for years.

These variable transformers can be had from dealers like Electrosonic, Digikey or Mouser.

Here's a thought for you guys in Ontario that have get togethers. Why not have a 19 set workshop where people can learn & have a hands on experience. Mr Parker, Mr Skagfeld??