This page is under Construction. Welcome to My new Site. This site Contains pictures of my Newly Aquired RCA BTA-500R transmitter that used to belong to Jim Hawkins. Prior to Jim owning this transmitter. It was the backup at WERA 1590 In Plainfield,NJ
I also Just aquired these 3 transmitters a Gates BC-1H1, a Collins 300G, and a Collins 1kw Fm In order to take just 1 I had to take all 3.. No big Deal there are lots of photos so if you have a slow Connection it will take awhile to load .
Here I am with the RCA loaded up in the Trailer in Jim Hawkins driveway for the Trip home
The transmitter now sitting in its new home my 8x10 shed out back
The Burnt up PA plate choke in place as I recieved the transmitter
The Transmitter Plate....
The PA RF Choke You can see where it Burnt up.....
The PA RF Choke after being stripped.. I counted 333 turns of #26 wire
the Choke ceramic Core after being Cleaned for re-winding.. I used wet Emory paper for this.
the newly wound PA RF Choke... I think I did a good job Just hope it works..
The newly wound PA Choke re-installed Looks great so far..
The Plate transformer as you can see the terminal Block Bakelite plates are broken.. this needs to Get fixed...
here is the plate transformer after I rebuilt the terminal plates using plexiglas.. If the Plexiglass Does hot hold up to the high voltage I will have to build New ones out of Fiberglass Stock... Looks good.... This Beast weighs over 100 lbs...
looks like a mod here.. the selenium rectifier was removed and this string of Diodes was installed.. I will have to replace this with 2 stud type Diodes.. I think this is part of the Bias supply? Not sure... If you know please send me an Email...
I just finished rebuilding the bias power supply. as you can now see. I installed 2 stud mount type Diodes and supported the Resistor that was Hanging in the Above Picture.
Looks Like another mod.... this is the Audio input section. I do not know why the Choke here is shorted out with clips.. maybe Jim didnt have enough gain on the Input
Here are the Plate straps for the 4 tubes as you can See the 2 on the Left are as I got them Before Cleaning. the 2 on the Right are ready for being sealed so they dont oxidize again.
all 4 plate straps cleaned and sealed ready to be installed.
The plate straps and Tubes re-installed. looks really nice... notice the area above the Tubes and relay are now spotless Clean.. compaired to pictures at top of this page..
Shot Of transmitter will all Tubes installed.. notice My Friend at the bottom of the cabinet. think NYC has big Rats Im out in the Country..... LOL
I went to take Pictures and Found this big old Rat in My shack (Rat shack).. The wife and kids played a Joke on Me... they were laughing their butts off..
A close-up of the Rat.... Funny as hell.
This is the Tank circuit As it was when I recieved the transmitter from Jim Hawkins It was modified so he could attempt to get it loaded up on 80 meters 3.885 Mhz This Did not work and was the cause of the Plate Choke to Burn up.. I had to restore the Tank circuit back to Its Origional configuration.. My Camera died Lost my Picture.. Photo credit:Jim Hawkins
First of 3 Pictures of tank circuit rebuilt back to factory spec
Second of 3 Pictures of newly rebuilt Tank circuit back to Original Specs.
3rd of 3 Pictures of newly rebuilt Tank circuit back to Original Specs.
On My First attempt to Tune the transmitter without Power using an MFJ Antenna analyzer this is what you see.. at 1.885Mhz Its pretty resonate But loading Up at 40 Ohms.. I just cannot seem to get it to 50 Ohms..Email Me with your Thoughts On this...
Success...... I found out in the above Picture when Tuning the Tank circuit I had a 15k resistor to simulate the plate load.. this Time I used a 3.9K resistor and I finally hit paydirt at 50 Ohms... as can be seen by this picture.. Now I just have to Get AC power out to the Transmitter shack.
as of 10 Am on 4-13-2003 the Old baby came to life... Love the way these tubes light up.. I had 1 tube that did Not want to Light up... replaced it with My Only spare.its the one with the tape still On the base marked NEW... Special thanks for the help from Powell E.Way III of WKDK. to get this far..
with the Lights out and the Shed Door Closed... these 4-250's really Light up the room. Next will be to get an ATU Built for the antenna.. and then add the New solid state HV rectifiers I am getting From Jeff Corkren. and then add plate voltage..
This is what the operating position in the Barn looks Like. the MFJ Tuner ontop of the Johnson transmitter is Fed from the shed 100 feet away which houses the RCA BTA-500R transmitter. Notice to the far Right is the Gates BC-1H1
This is My present operating position in the 8X10 shed.With the R390a receiver. and audio mixer feeding the transmitter.
