Post by BBB on Mar 18, 2015 8:46:35 GMT -5
Picked up a Connex CX-4300HP AM/FM radio off the bay for a decent price. There are a few new ones left. Figured it would be one of the last radios to hit the shores that still had standard electronic components (not SMD) and a bipolar transistor final. They advertised them as a 70 watt radio with a single 2sc2290 transistor final.
This new batch came in looking old school with the standard red channel display and incandescent lamps in the meter back light. Not the blue stuff. When I opened it up I was surprised to see the "pill" painted over with red paint. I said ah-ha they're trying to hide something. After a bit of mineral spirits I was able to remove some of the red paint but evidently the factory removed the print from the pill before they painted over it
Ranger must have cheaped out and I bet it's one of those knock off DEI brand pills in there. Bastards, buyer beware. Radio was a dog out of the box after the easy conversion. 7 watts swinging 12 watts with about 60% modulation even with a power mic. On the EPT360015C board, I adjusted the low and high power pots, the modulation pot and finally lifted a resistor (R249) to get the thing to reach 100% modulation. The AMC transistor stayed intact.
Now it DK's 7 watts and swings 35 watts. That seems about right to get the 2sc2290 turned on and not driven into saturation with a little headroom in there for better audio. I've wanted a Connex radio for a long time but didn't want one that had a golden screw driver in there before I got it. Mission accomplished but it took a bit of tweaking to get it up to speed.
This new batch came in looking old school with the standard red channel display and incandescent lamps in the meter back light. Not the blue stuff. When I opened it up I was surprised to see the "pill" painted over with red paint. I said ah-ha they're trying to hide something. After a bit of mineral spirits I was able to remove some of the red paint but evidently the factory removed the print from the pill before they painted over it
Ranger must have cheaped out and I bet it's one of those knock off DEI brand pills in there. Bastards, buyer beware. Radio was a dog out of the box after the easy conversion. 7 watts swinging 12 watts with about 60% modulation even with a power mic. On the EPT360015C board, I adjusted the low and high power pots, the modulation pot and finally lifted a resistor (R249) to get the thing to reach 100% modulation. The AMC transistor stayed intact.
Now it DK's 7 watts and swings 35 watts. That seems about right to get the 2sc2290 turned on and not driven into saturation with a little headroom in there for better audio. I've wanted a Connex radio for a long time but didn't want one that had a golden screw driver in there before I got it. Mission accomplished but it took a bit of tweaking to get it up to speed.