Starting Up My 19-Set Mk III Cdn

[David Dunlop]

Well, 15 years have gone by since this 1944 RCA Canada product was last active, and things turned out very well this afternoon, when the electrons were once again turned loose.

First step was to ensure my CPP-2 Power Supply was set to 12 Volts and properly hooked up to my DC Distribution System. Next was to properly connect the power cable from the 19-Set PSU to the Distribution System. Set the meter to LT to read the PSU output and flicked on the Dynamotor. First bit of pleasure was seeing the red indicator lamp glow. The Dyno gave a brief squeak initially and took perhaps 20 seconds to come up to full speed. The meter initially showed 10 volts output, came up to just over 11 after a couple of minutes and settled in at just under 12 after 5 minutes. I then switched over to the Vibrator.

Same red glow from the indicator lamp and a much quieter hum from the PSU. The meter read just over 11 volts initially and settled in at 12.5 volts after 5 minutes. So far so good. HT1 meter reading was spot on spec for both Vibrator and Dynomotor. HT2 was spot on for the Dynamotor.

After 5 minutes, I switched the IC on in Vibrator mode. The meter dipped to 10 volts briefly and came up to 12 volts. Then flicked on the B-Set after another 5 minutes. Same response on the meter. Another 5 minutes and on went the A-Set. Same meter readings. I let the set idle in this mode for another 10 minutes and started to get that warm varnish, electrical smell wafting from under the canvas cover.

I then switched off the three components on the transceiver and noticed the meter reading for the Vibrator was reading 14 volts under no load. Brought the three components back on line and the meter settled in right at 12 volts. I then installed the Dummy Load, turned off the B-Set and hit the pressel switch. Happy Dance. The mike and earphones were in good working order, and the Dynamotor kicked in just as it should. Switched back to the Dynamotor on the PSU and let it run another 5 minutes. Meter was reading just under 12 volts with all three components in standby. When the three components were switched off, the meter was showing just under 13 volts. So far so good.

Now I just have to refresh my memory on use of the Crystal Calibrator, test it and tune in an appropriate frequency for next Saturday.

David

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Now I just have to refresh my memory on use of the Crystal Calibrator, test it and tune in an appropriate frequency for next Saturday.

David

Is there a military radio event happening ?

[David Dunlop]

Hello, Mike.

Nothing official at this point. Just got tired of staring at and dusting a perfectly capable 19-Set Mk III for all these years and decided it was time to get it back on the air. I originally restored it in the late 1970’s.

Hence the decision to get my Amateur Licence last year and spend a chunk of this year building a 134’ Dipole Aerial for it. A fellow Ham friend also has an original Mk III about 16 Kms West of me, also operating on a slightly smaller dipole. We thought it would be fun to try and connect and this Saturday is the first free day for both of us to see what happens. The fact it is November 11th added to our motivation. Probably the late 1960’s around here when the 19-Sets were phased out of use by the Military.

David

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Hello, Mike.

Nothing official at this point. Just got tired of staring at and dusting a perfectly capable 19-Set Mk III for all these years and decided it was time to get it back on the air. I originally restored it in the late 1970’s.

Hence the decision to get my Amateur Licence last year and spend a chunk of this year building a 134’ Dipole Aerial for it. A fellow Ham friend also has an original Mk III about 16 Kms West of me, also operating on a slightly smaller dipole. We thought it would be fun to try and connect and this Saturday is the first free day for both of us to see what happens. The fact it is November 11th added to our motivation. Probably the late 1960’s around here when the 19-Sets were phased out of use by the Military.

David

Let us know if it is a successful day. With the coming of the internet, the lower HF ham bands have gone very quiet around here. There was a time when the 80 meter band was so crowded it was almost impossible to find a clear frequency. Now, the bands are virtually deserted ! The old timers are all dead or dropping dead and the kids have nil interest . In years past when the phone calls were very expensive many people got a ham license as it was a cheap way to speak to relatives interstate or overseas, I used to hear them clogging up the bands with family gossip.

Was Dave Lawrence mixed up with 19 set nets ? I heard him being interviewed on the BBC years ago.

[Bruce MacMillan]

There used to be a weekly 19 set cw net but I don't know if it still active. It was run by members of the original 19 set group of which Dave was a member.

Reed Park, VE1NU, always ran his set on November 11th.

David, with that dipole you should be able to make some contacts. I was able to make a qso between Vancouver and southern Ontario using a barefoot 19 set and issued 34' vertical aerial. Distance was about 2000 miles.

[David Dunlop]

Mike and Bruce.

It has probably been close to 20 years since I so much as monitored the HF Bands here, but in chats with the local Amateurs they would concur that activity has dropped off. Even activity on 2-Meters, which is quite popular, has apparently dropped with checkins running in the mid 30’s on the twice weekly net. Part of that could be the much greater diversity of interest in what can be done on the amateur bands, compared to several decades ago.

As you noted as well, Mike, at one point, radio was an effective life essential, but in todays world has been much replaced with cheaper, more convenient options.

There is a nightly HF Net here, Bruce, that I was going to tune into with the 19-Set, just to refresh my skill sets and comfort zone with the set controls. It is actually a very simple set to get to know to operate, in spite of the visual presence of all the knobs and fiddley bits. Then I realized the HF rigs working that net are all doing so on the lower sideband signal at 3747 kHz. That, becomes a major challenge to tune to with a 19-Set, let alone try and work it in voice mode.

My friend and I are probably going to try 3885 kHz and keep it pure and simple. Hope to meet up at Timmie’s later today and sort that all out. Will let you know the time frame we come up with.

David

[David Dunlop]

Met up with my friend this morning and he popped over with a number of pieces of test equipment. Nice to know someone with 40 plus years of experience in radio broadcast engineering and a seasoned amateur on top of that!

He was as pleased as I was to run my 19-Set and new dipole system through its paces and find it is all working together so nicely.

3885 khz will be our frequency of choice Saturday. It is right smack in the sweet spot for my dipole. We are going to try and connect at 17:00 hours Saturday Evening CST. Or if you prefer, 23:00 hours UTC (GMT). We were going to try a little later in the evening, but HF traffic increases significantly in the evening and we wanted a more quiet time, just in case either of us ran into issues picking up our signals.

The only potential fly in the ointment at the moment is the fact solar flare activity has been spiking the last few days. Said interference just bumped up from a G1 Level to G2. If it hits G3 by Saturday there won't be much of anything to find or listen to on the ethers.

David

[Mike K]

I think it will go well . Maybe the ground wave will reach that distance but the dipole might be mostly skywave energy. A vertical might be better ?

I have never had a 19 set on the air. I did have one QSO with a NO. 11 set on 40 meter cw ...with a VK5 . Drifting all over the band .

Being a transceiver some of the mixing stages in the 19 set are common to tx and rx. With the coarse tuning dial of a 19 set It's so easy to "pick out" one of the unwanted products of the mixer and you can unknowingly transmit on a frequency outside of the band.

[David Dunlop]

Rats!

It was a “NoGo” this time round. My set was up for it but I received a call from my friend late in the morning to advise he was having some dipole issues and help was on the way to try and get the aerial repaired. A Wind in the Willows development.

Will plan for another day once his aerial is back up and running.

David

[Mike K]

bad luck

One day we will try a VK to VE contact on the 40 meter band using WW2 radios ! I've done it before with US stations , with a simple dipole antenna. Must admit the signals were extremely weak but we exchanged call signs so that's a QSO in my book. How is your morse ?