I’ve been subscribed to your channel for about a year, and I look forward to very new video you release. I also follow a few pages that you follow such as W2AEW’s page and The Radio Shop. I’ve been licensed since 1970 and have remained somewhat radio active throughout that time. Your videos have taught me some troubleshooting tricks and techniques that have resulted in getting me into a restoration mode. In the past when I attended a hamfest I’d avoid radios and test equipment that were in a visible state of disrepair. Now, I look for them, so I can restore them and give new life to an old faithful piece equipment. 90% of the repair process is usually replacing failed capacitors. Just wanted to say thanks for all your hard work!
Thanks for your feed back! I'm really glad that my videos makes sense to you. Restoration is a very challenging hobby and indeed it makes a lot of fun. 73
Brilliant video Peter....Thankyou for doing another CB alignment. Very well explained. It just makes you think how people go inside these radios and must just screw around,i mean what are they trying to achieve ? Good work bringing it back to usable again.
Yeah that is really funny folks doing it without knowledge and equipment simply trying to get more output. They often don't know why the radio might not work afterwards.. Thanks for watching 73
Hi Peter. I worked on the "Cherokee" branded version of this radio, with bipolar finals. I found it to be off frequency about 600 hz. Got it starightend out, but I wonder if many of them came misaligned out of the box. Oh yes I added a small fan right behind the power supply as I found the temperature difference affected the Pll. Frequency wounld change as the radio warmed up. Pll was fairly stable after the fan mod... Great Video!
Hi Larry, yeah this radios are honestly horrible. You are not able to do a reliable job on the radio which is a shame..To get it stable you first need to do a lot of mods which is it simply not worth..Thanks for comment 73
Good morning Peter, it looks like someone had fun with a 1985 Zetagi 5-digit counter:-) Boy, that kind of radio is crappy. Not so much the board itself, but the quality of the housing, the knobs and dialers....It makes you feel dirty when touching and wiggling around;-) I have the same radio on the bench called SS-497. Maybe i will work on it in the next two weeks...The "civil" version of Albrecht have a lot of fans, and yeah, they are nice looking base stations, but once again: 5 USD more spent in good quality parts will satisfy everybody.. As always; Thaks for sharing, you did a god job and now the OM has a clean radio back in service. 73 de Olaf!
LOL yeah Olaf most likely the Zetagi haha... But you are right the design of this particular radio is crap. Even the schematic is wrong better use the schema from the Magnum 257 there you have less drawing errors but still some. Eigentlich bin ich ein Albrecht fan aber dieses Funkgerät ist wirklich schlecht. Wenn ich mir die Ausgangspattern bei SSB anschaue ist das wirklich traurig was die da abliefern. die 3rd Order Produkte sind fürchterlich auch bei verschiedenen Bias Strömen und unterschiedlicher ALC Einstellung. Ich weiß nicht was die sich gedacht haben?? Schönen Sonntag 73
@@TRXLab Du hast zu 100 Prozent recht. Du kennst sicher die zusätzlichen Service-Informationen zu den 8000ern und 497ern von Albrecht? Ich glaube, dass war denen selbst unangenehm...VCO Probleme, Netzteilprobleme, Hitzeprobleme. Teilweise recht "robust" gelöst, aber schon im Design fehlerhaft. Und die Info Bulletins kamen im Monatstakt.. sehr schade, da die Geräte recht beliebt waren und immer noch sind, weil moderne Heimstationen keinen grossen Herstellerkreis mehr haben.
ja genau ich kenne die ganzen Modifikationen und wenn du sagst "robust" gelöst ist das mehr als freundlich ausgedrückt. Schade auch das man die Knalerweiterung mit diesem kleinen Zusatzboard einfach mit rech dicken Leitungen auf die kleinen SMD Widerstände gelötet hat. Auch dazu gibt es keine vernüftige Dokumentation und die Dinger fallen immer ab. Richtig eigentlich eine schöne Basisstation aber leider zu viel Probleme. Diese Geräte mache ich auch nur für Freunde alles andere kann man sich nicht leisten...
Hi Peter, I wanted to ask you a long time ago, which external reference source do you use for your frequency counter? So exactly the Albrecht was certainly not even adjusted from the factory :-) I recently had an old Sommerkamp device on the bench. It was a TS-660S which still uses this old-fashioned quartz-frequency synthesis. Unfortunately, you can not bring these heaps of quartzes on frequency. Partially the frequency deviated - 1 kHz. This Radio nowhere has trimmers or coils been installed to pull the quartz crystals. Thankfully, the TS-660S only has AM. That's not so noticeable ;-) How fast 43 minutes are over again :-( Thanks for your work and the video Peter. 73 Bernd
Hi Bernd, I'm using a very high precision OCXO which is monthly checked against my rubidium standard and the rubidium get's checked every 6 month against a caesium standard. I know the issue with the Sommerkamp radios that is horrible..Thanks for watching.
I would like to buy something like this here www.ebay.de/itm/HOT-PLL-GPSDO-GPS-Tame-Disciplined-Clock-Sine-Wave-GPS-Receiver-10M-1PPS-DE/122884198500. Do you think that would be OK? Unfortunately, I do not have access to other highly accurate references.
Basically yes but I can't say anything about the product quality and reliability of what they say in there specs. Assuming that all is okay the product is fine..
@@berndb.5097 You could check several discussions around these GPSDO units on google. In short, the small units are often based on the internal oscillators of the GPS module. That results in a fast start-up but not so high stability and some stepping effects on the 10MHz. If you buy one of the more expensive bigger boxes, there are (double-)oven controlled oscillators inside. You need to let these run for a long time (~2h) before you use their outputs. All of them are based on old telecom surplus or trash. I use two GPS references from old telecom base stations and they run 24/7. That said, if you check or repair mostly HF/VHF/UHF radios, even the cheaper devices are far better then no reference at all.
LOL, not sure how to break the news to you but that radio wasn't screwed up. I wish half the radios I got were in such good condition. Some of the hacked and butchered radios I get make that radio look new out of the box. I seem to get all the horror show reject radios that no one else can repair. It definitely looks like someone needs to get their frequency counter calibrated. They had that one pretty far off. Like you I use a external frequency standard distributed to all my test equipment. If you have a spectrum analyzer that can also be referenced to a external standard it makes a really nice small signal frequency counter. Just set the center frequency to the frequency your trying to adjust and as you get closer to it reduce the span of the spectrum analyzer. You can take surprisingly accurate frequency measurements when you set the span, resolution bandwidth and video bandwidth correctly. And with practice it's actually faster than using a frequency counter. You can see the frequency peak moving back and forth across the screen as you make adjustments.
LOL yeah Mike I believe you see more crap than me as ham radios are often not that much screwed up like CB radios. Well we all know that we also have golden screwdrivers within the ham community but still I believe it is not that much horrifying compared to what you must see from time to time.
Thx very much peter for your time. It was a great video about the importance of good alignment. I always thought that finals bias alignment was necesary only after changing some of them, but i see its a good idea to check always ). Waiting your next video :)
I disagree a little about the absolute frequency accuracy in SSB. While this radio is surely way out of spec, it doesn't matter that much. For decades we used radios with an analog, mechanical dial which had a readout precision of 1kHz at best, the accuracy was even worse and additionally to that it drifted with temperature quite noticeable. It's just an operating issue, you knew that and if you had a sked with someone on for example 3650kHz you of course looked for him at 3630-3670 on your dial or something like that. You need to do that anyway because of QRM. And of course you have to take it into account when transmitting, to keep enough distance from the band edges to not accidently transmit out of band. And everything changes or course if you talk channelized SSB, like used on CB. If you don't have a VFO, you need to channels to be on point, yes.
Yes of course but that is sometimes not easy as a pre amplifier will increase the noise as well. Better use a scope with y output to put your counter to the y- output. See what Stefan has written down below in the threat!
I like factory ,Peter and all my Ham radio's are factory in every way, I was lucky once, right place right time and got a rubidium oscillator I made a frequency standard 10Mhz, perfect , I'm told with age they get even better, I have no idea on that, I guess I'll find out, loved this video a real lesson, which some should learn from, leave aligning to the expert's like you . 73 Paul M0BSW
Frequency standards drift with age. Rubidium oscillators are no different, and they need to be adjusted on frequency as well. Get a GPS disciplined oscillator like a Thunderbolt and you'll always be on frequency.
Hi Paul, well yes a new standard needs to get burned in and that is meant with it is getting better with age. Thanks for watching and have a nice Sunday 73
To measure a frequency at low level, it´s useful to use an old analog scope with Y-Output and connect the counter there. Advantages are that the oscillator is loaded only with the probe (10MOhm at 10:1) and you can see, what you are measuring.
I’ve been subscribed to your channel for about a year, and I look forward to very new video you release. I also follow a few pages that you follow such as W2AEW’s page and The Radio Shop. I’ve been licensed since 1970 and have remained somewhat radio active throughout that time. Your videos have taught me some troubleshooting tricks and techniques that have resulted in getting me into a restoration mode. In the past when I attended a hamfest I’d avoid radios and test equipment that were in a visible state of disrepair. Now, I look for them, so I can restore them and give new life to an old faithful piece equipment. 90% of the repair process is usually replacing failed capacitors. Just wanted to say thanks for all your hard work!
Thanks for your feed back! I'm really glad that my videos makes sense to you. Restoration is a very challenging hobby and indeed it makes a lot of fun. 73
Peter you are the best RF engineer in Europe! Thanks for your willingness to share your skills with us.
Best regards from Carl, G0lka.
Oh wow thanks for the kind words Carl! 73
Excellent video Peter, thank you so much for taking the time to video and post this. Best Regards Sarah
Another Great Video Peter!!!!!!. Thank You!!!!
Thanks for watching !
Thanks for yet another outstanding video Peter, keep it going :)
Thanks Arshad 73
Brilliant video Peter....Thankyou for doing another CB alignment. Very well explained. It just makes you think how people go inside these radios and must just screw around,i mean what are they trying to achieve ? Good work bringing it back to usable again.
Yeah that is really funny folks doing it without knowledge and equipment simply trying to get more output. They often don't know why the radio might not work afterwards.. Thanks for watching 73
You had me re-studying the mega, kilo, and cycle readings, that's for sure. Thanks for the lesson on alignment! Best 73's...Dan w4mnc
Ah okay glad that you liked it! And thanks for watching Dan!! All the best and 73
23:00 .. do you use that "Video Distributor" thingy as a "repeater" for your 10MHz standard for all the devices on your bench?
Hi Peter. I worked on the "Cherokee" branded version of this radio, with bipolar finals. I found it to be off frequency about 600 hz. Got it starightend out, but I wonder if many of them came misaligned out of the box. Oh yes I added a small fan right behind the power supply as I found the temperature difference affected the Pll. Frequency wounld change as the radio warmed up. Pll was fairly stable after the fan mod... Great Video!
Hi Larry, yeah this radios are honestly horrible. You are not able to do a reliable job on the radio which is a shame..To get it stable you first need to do a lot of mods which is it simply not worth..Thanks for comment 73
Good morning Peter, it looks like someone had fun with a 1985 Zetagi 5-digit counter:-) Boy, that kind of radio is crappy. Not so much the board itself, but the quality of the housing, the knobs and dialers....It makes you feel dirty when touching and wiggling around;-) I have the same radio on the bench called SS-497. Maybe i will work on it in the next two weeks...The "civil" version of Albrecht have a lot of fans, and yeah, they are nice looking base stations, but once again: 5 USD more spent in good quality parts will satisfy everybody.. As always; Thaks for sharing, you did a god job and now the OM has a clean radio back in service. 73 de Olaf!
LOL yeah Olaf most likely the Zetagi haha... But you are right the design of this particular radio is crap. Even the schematic is wrong better use the schema from the Magnum 257 there you have less drawing errors but still some.
Eigentlich bin ich ein Albrecht fan aber dieses Funkgerät ist wirklich schlecht. Wenn ich mir die Ausgangspattern bei SSB anschaue ist das wirklich traurig was die da abliefern. die 3rd Order Produkte sind fürchterlich auch bei verschiedenen Bias Strömen und unterschiedlicher ALC Einstellung. Ich weiß nicht was die sich gedacht haben?? Schönen Sonntag 73
@@TRXLab Du hast zu 100 Prozent recht. Du kennst sicher die zusätzlichen Service-Informationen zu den 8000ern und 497ern von Albrecht? Ich glaube, dass war denen selbst unangenehm...VCO Probleme, Netzteilprobleme, Hitzeprobleme. Teilweise recht "robust" gelöst, aber schon im Design fehlerhaft. Und die Info Bulletins kamen im Monatstakt.. sehr schade, da die Geräte recht beliebt waren und immer noch sind, weil moderne Heimstationen keinen grossen Herstellerkreis mehr haben.
ja genau ich kenne die ganzen Modifikationen und wenn du sagst "robust" gelöst ist das mehr als freundlich ausgedrückt. Schade auch das man die Knalerweiterung mit diesem kleinen Zusatzboard einfach mit rech dicken Leitungen auf die kleinen SMD Widerstände gelötet hat. Auch dazu gibt es keine vernüftige Dokumentation und die Dinger fallen immer ab. Richtig eigentlich eine schöne Basisstation aber leider zu viel Probleme. Diese Geräte mache ich auch nur für Freunde alles andere kann man sich nicht leisten...
Hi Peter,
I wanted to ask you a long time ago, which external reference source do you use for your frequency counter?
So exactly the Albrecht was certainly not even adjusted from the factory :-)
I recently had an old Sommerkamp device on the bench. It was a TS-660S which still uses this old-fashioned quartz-frequency synthesis. Unfortunately, you can not bring these heaps of quartzes on frequency. Partially the frequency deviated - 1 kHz. This Radio nowhere has trimmers or coils been installed to pull the quartz crystals. Thankfully, the TS-660S only has AM. That's not so noticeable ;-)
How fast 43 minutes are over again :-(
Thanks for your work and the video Peter.
73 Bernd
Hi Bernd, I'm using a very high precision OCXO which is monthly checked against my rubidium standard and the rubidium get's checked every 6 month against a caesium standard. I know the issue with the Sommerkamp radios that is horrible..Thanks for watching.
I would like to buy something like this here www.ebay.de/itm/HOT-PLL-GPSDO-GPS-Tame-Disciplined-Clock-Sine-Wave-GPS-Receiver-10M-1PPS-DE/122884198500.
Do you think that would be OK? Unfortunately, I do not have access to other highly accurate references.
Basically yes but I can't say anything about the product quality and reliability of what they say in there specs. Assuming that all is okay the product is fine..
@@TRXLab That's what I thought too.
You can not read more than the specification. I will try it. We will see if it works.
@@berndb.5097 You could check several discussions around these GPSDO units on google. In short, the small units are often based on the internal oscillators of the GPS module. That results in a fast start-up but not so high stability and some stepping effects on the 10MHz. If you buy one of the more expensive bigger boxes, there are (double-)oven controlled oscillators inside. You need to let these run for a long time (~2h) before you use their outputs. All of them are based on old telecom surplus or trash. I use two GPS references from old telecom base stations and they run 24/7. That said, if you check or repair mostly HF/VHF/UHF radios, even the cheaper devices are far better then no reference at all.
LOL, not sure how to break the news to you but that radio wasn't screwed up. I wish half the radios I got were in such good condition. Some of the hacked and butchered radios I get make that radio look new out of the box. I seem to get all the horror show reject radios that no one else can repair. It definitely looks like someone needs to get their frequency counter calibrated. They had that one pretty far off. Like you I use a external frequency standard distributed to all my test equipment.
If you have a spectrum analyzer that can also be referenced to a external standard it makes a really nice small signal frequency counter. Just set the center frequency to the frequency your trying to adjust and as you get closer to it reduce the span of the spectrum analyzer. You can take surprisingly accurate frequency measurements when you set the span, resolution bandwidth and video bandwidth correctly. And with practice it's actually faster than using a frequency counter. You can see the frequency peak moving back and forth across the screen as you make adjustments.
LOL yeah Mike I believe you see more crap than me as ham radios are often not that much screwed up like CB radios. Well we all know that we also have golden screwdrivers within the ham community but still I believe it is not that much horrifying compared to what you must see from time to time.
Thx very much peter for your time. It was a great video about the importance of good alignment. I always thought that finals bias alignment was necesary only after changing some of them, but i see its a good idea to check always ). Waiting your next video :)
Thank you Carlos! To have a eye on the bias is always crucial. 73
Great video peter. Thanks
Thanks Richard
Nice job as usual Peter... we dont see those Albrechts here in the states
Keep em coming
73
Jeff de WD8JM
Thanks Jeff! you might know the radio as Magnum 257 by RF Limited ..73
Thanks Peter. Nice explanation.
Thank you Robert
I remember seeing these in the states, sold under the Cherokee brand name.
AH very good info never heard about Cherokee brand name....I know Magnum is using it as well..Thanks for stepping in 73
I disagree a little about the absolute frequency accuracy in SSB. While this radio is surely way out of spec, it doesn't matter that much.
For decades we used radios with an analog, mechanical dial which had a readout precision of 1kHz at best, the accuracy was even worse and additionally to that it drifted with temperature quite noticeable. It's just an operating issue, you knew that and if you had a sked with someone on for example 3650kHz you of course looked for him at 3630-3670 on your dial or something like that. You need to do that anyway because of QRM.
And of course you have to take it into account when transmitting, to keep enough distance from the band edges to not accidently transmit out of band. And everything changes or course if you talk channelized SSB, like used on CB. If you don't have a VFO, you need to channels to be on point, yes.
Is there a pre-amplifer available for frequency counters that would plug into the BNC input to increase sensitivity?
Great alignment video, thank you.
Yes of course but that is sometimes not easy as a pre amplifier will increase the noise as well. Better use a scope with y output to put your counter to the y- output. See what Stefan has written down below in the threat!
Nice, Peter! I wonder, how is the CMS50 set to SSB mode? I have tried this to no avail. Is an extra option for this needed?
That is a costly option...
@@TRXLab Yes, I figured that. And it is probably not available now also..
I like factory ,Peter and all my Ham radio's are factory in every way, I was lucky once, right place right time and got a rubidium oscillator I made a frequency standard 10Mhz, perfect , I'm told with age they get even better, I have no idea on that, I guess I'll find out, loved this video a real lesson, which some should learn from, leave aligning to the expert's like you .
73 Paul M0BSW
Frequency standards drift with age. Rubidium oscillators are no different, and they need to be adjusted on frequency as well. Get a GPS disciplined oscillator like a Thunderbolt and you'll always be on frequency.
Hi Paul, well yes a new standard needs to get burned in and that is meant with it is getting better with age. Thanks for watching and have a nice Sunday 73
To measure a frequency at low level, it´s useful to use an old analog scope with Y-Output and connect the counter there.
Advantages are that the oscillator is loaded only with the probe (10MOhm at 10:1) and you can see, what you are measuring.
Very good hint Stefan. Thanks for feed back 73
2720673[0]-730=2720600...it is missleading because the last digit is not displayed, ya... it took me a while but yes you are right
;-)
You are the best thank you you tuber teacher lol
Thank you!
I bet someone try their own so call tune and peak of this radio or the local CB guys lol
most likely yes Danny! Thanks for watching 73