Any TenTec rig is a great CW radio.  

Also Elecraft.  


Flex radio has a great reputation also, I am lusting after a Flex 5000.  Soon.  



KE3WD

What are the tolerance ratings for the resistors in question and do your measurements fall inside those limits?  

Discoloration due to heat *may* be normal over time.  


KE3WD

This fellow might still have one on his shelf, give a call:

http://www.hiltonsport.us/


KE3WD

Check carefully for that capacitor!  

If it is missing, that could be cause for the failure of the resistor over time...

The cap is there to bypass RF on the rectifier, suppress rectifier switching transients.  


Without the cap, over time, switching transients could be causing the poor little resistor to work overtime.  


KE3WD

Adjusting the Bencher paddles is, well, one of those things that get misunderstood or not understood by many, judging from the reviews in places like eHam.  

Once understood, you can get good results with them.  

And, as already mentioned, they are for a light touch on the paddles, which is essential for speed.  

Here is a good article I just dug up that is essentially okay from a quick scan, although I do not agree with the contact spacing given "start with the thickness of a dime" (!) I use a common calling card for those who like a wide space, a dollar bill or doubled dollar bill for my own tastes, feeler gauges  would be a good thing for the terminally Deutche-minded:

http://www.morsex.com/misc/keyadj.htm#Bencher

Of course, if your mind is made up on a new key, by all means.  


KE3WD

If you are referring R-109, which is on the negative leg and uses D-106 as a low voltage regulator, by all means check D-106 and the little filter cap across it.  D-106 is a 3A, 100PIV rectifier, might just replace it and the cap to be certain here, although if they rang out good I would likely leave them alone.  Those two components are the only things that draw current from via that resistor.  

There is a very good chance that the resistor just died from age and heat, too, this happens. If the resistor is not blackened and did not suddenly pop or the like, which you would have heard, a brown and cracked resistor of this sort may just be suffering from old age and heat over time.  

I doubt if you have any tube probs here.  


KE3WD

My first thought is, "Tell us what two iambic paddles you are currently using and dissatisfied with."  

I've never met a set of any paddles or even a straight key that worked fine right out of the box, there are adjustments, tricks, tips and even mods that can get what you desire out of most of the common keys out there.  

For instance, a lot of Hams berate the ubiquitous Bencher paddle design, there are ways of making it into an almost touch-sensitive paddle that keys like a dream.  I gap mine with the width of a dollar bill. (!)

When the Bencher is lubed and adjusted to be able to do this, sometimes weather changes necessitate slight readjustment -- one day the ambient temperature in the shack changes and the key may send a string of dits or days all by itself due to the close gap now making contact.  Jeweler's screwdriver and re-gap with the dollar bill solves that.  For a darn sight less than 500 dollars.  



KE3WD

Good news.  

I was joking, tongue in cheek about the "you killed it" thing.  Sort of.  You did say that 200W line without clarification, you see.  

Wonder why the extra keying line was added, though...


KE3WD

I already did, for the filters, I.C.E.  

For the balun, DX Engineering.  

google.


KE3WD

You killed it.  

Just noticed that you can also just hit that Morse Academy link I cited and choose to just download the .pdf manual for the program, under the heading of "Learning Menu" is a printout of the AERNT character order from 1 (A) to 43 (0).  

>>by N3OX on September 16, 2007  
 

I don't think you're going to find their rig in QST ;-) <<


Not the point.  

What they WILL find by checking out even a handful of past QST rig tests, paying attention to the always-included 'scope pix of the first QSK keyed character width, is that they will be hard put to find ANY rig that doesn't truncate that first character.  

Some are better at it than others, though, delivering a little bit longer first dit length, maybe there is one out there somewhere that actually can make the full dit length in QSK mode, don't know, it would be one of the exceptions rather than the rule, though.  And that's the point.


KE3WD

>>by KI4WNO on September 18, 2007  
 
I have been trying to find more information on the "AERNT" method for learning CW characters, but I am having a hard time.  <<

As I mentioned earlier, the good old Morse Academy trainer uses the AERNT US Military methodology in its training system software:

http://www.speroni.com/AH0A.html


Pay attention to what you have to do to get the old software to run under XP -- it is easy and it works.

Another slightly different naming convention for the same process is sometimes called, "ARANT" although I see google doesn't bring up much web information on that one, either, but the first return does mention Morse Code.  

This may be something that is going to be lost to the ages, a pity, for the Armed Forces turned many a young man and woman into pro level CW ops or receiver copiers in very short time with the method.  USAF receiving stations in EU during the Cold War, many copied the Russian's CW 24/7 using typewriters, character for character -- and most had no idea what was being said, paper passed to translators.  None other than the famous Country Western songwriter and singer, Johnny Cash was a USAF CW copier during the cold war, relating how he copied the first airborn CW messages from Russian aircrewman about the first Soviet atomic bomb test, remarking that the airman had a straight key, presumably strapped to his leg and sent "machine like code" to describe what he witnessed for his masters.  

But I digress.  AERNT is simply a method of learning the code by starting with the simplest and shortest characters first and their didah inverse.  Then add the next simplest in order of character length and keeping the 5 character grouping until you have all the alphabet, numerals and base punctuation memorized.  

First day in the military, you were taught the AERNT and then proceeded to immediately copy groups of same on the same day.  Next day, next 5 character group taught same way, with end of day being 10 character copy sessions from paper tape code machine, inclusive of yesterday's 5 character group, and so on.  

If you are wanting to learn to copy in the fastest way I know about, downloading and using Morse Academy from the beginning, starting with the first 5 characters of AERNT and learning to hear them and type them into the software is like a computer game.  A week or two of daily drill and fun is all it takes.  

You will find the rest of the character strings in proper order once you start Morse Academy up.  



KE3WD

I.C.E. telephone interference filter:

http://www.iceradioproducts.com/filtersrf2.html#3

1:1 balun at antenna feedpoint to ensure that the coax is not radiating from the shield is always a good thing, too.  


Modern cordless phone should also be tested by itself to see if the RF may be swamping the phone's wireless circuits etc. using the phone line as an antenna.  Disconnect from telco at main and then check the phone out while transmitting if you still have interference after installing a good phone line RF filter like the I.C.E.  May have to get a different phone then.


KE3WD

If worse comes to worse in finding an original board, I've often had luck using a Communications Concepts PA board in many rigs of this nature, although haven't had the situation come up with an M700 yet.  

If there is room, it is an alternative.  

http://www.communication-concepts.com/default.htm

Also, it is typically the case where a big outfit like ICOM likely used the same board or one with slight differences in other models of the same era.  Finding out which models may have used that same board can be problematic sometimes, but if you peruse the other offerings of that era with an eye for the same basics, you sometimes can deduce which models to also look for that may be able to cough up a good or repairable board.  

Salt water intrusion is nasty stuff.  If the radio was not thoroughly washed out with distilled water and dried out near the time of the salt water intrusion, be advised that even though you may replace the PA board and get it to operate, other sections may be very close to coughing up problems.  

Over the years of repairing electronics, I have found two liquids out of all the liquids I've seen spilled into various electronics that are extremely corrosive over time.  One is salt water and the other is Coca Cola.  

The Black Russian spilled inside the Phase Linear stereo power amplifier was another recurring "recall" I remember well (grin).  

Good luck with the project,


KE3WD