Actually, it probably would be more accurate to say amateur band solid-state receiver. Hammarlund did market the all solid-state short wave receivers, RDF-10 and the HR-10 portable.

Pete, wa2cwa

I have an original E. J. Johnson brochure (Form No. 900-Z-078) that showcases the Avenger, Thunderbolt II, and several accessories. I even have the 8S size schematic (Drawing Number D-025-0848-001) print of the the Thunderbolt II dated 4-5-71. I believe I read and/or someone told me that the Thunderbolt II appeared as a Henry Tempo (something) amplifier for a short period of time. Given that Johnson were pretty much out of the ham radio transmitter business by the late 60's/early 70's, it's possible that maybe the amplifier was going to be manufactured by Henry and sold under the Johnson name. With the Avenger project dead, there was no reason to further market and produce a Thunderbolt II under the Johnson name.

Pete, wa2cwa
 

You said: "Let's resurrect 2 and 6 meter AM fellas" During band openings you'll generally find lots of 6 meter AM operating up around 50.4 MHz. And, there are listed a number of 6 meter AM nets around the country. See: http://www.amwindow.org/nets/netfreq.htm There's even a few 2 meter frequencies listed. Antenna polarization generally is horizontal. A rotary 3 element or more beam, 30 feet high and above, and some power, can make you a player. With a Gonset Communicator or a Lunchbox (or similar rig) and a mounted vertical on the box, you can generally only wish for contacts unless you have locals who have an interest or desire.

Pete, wa2cwa

Does the receiver have 9 tubes?

Pete, wa2cwa

I have the TR-2 service manual available.

Pete, wa2cwa
http://www.manualman.com

I also have both the Eico 235 assembly and operating manuals available. Actually I have over 244 different Eico manuals.

Pete, wa2cwa
http://www.manualman.com

Gordon sent you the schematic; maybe he has the "-00" service manual. Personally, I would replace the old board with the newer board and see if all functions work as described.

Pete, wa2cwa

There were three issues for the service manual. Part # B51-0916-00, B51-0916-10, and B51-0916-20. The "-00" was only around for about a year (if that), the "-10" was around the longest (it also says "Revised" in the upper left front cover), and the "-20" (says "Third edition" in the upper left front cover) documented several more changes not covered in the revised ("-10") edition. However, none of these changes, corrections, additions, deletions, updates, etc. were ever listed in either manual so the only way you find out about them is when you are doing some troubleshooting. Some of the changes/updates/etc. were documented in service bulletins which eventually rolled into actual production changes and eventually into the next issue of the service manual. As far as I can tell, Kenwood's TS-830 boards were never updated with a different dash number (-00, -10, -20, etc.) when a change was made to the board.

In looking at the AF Unit assembly board drawing in my (-10 and -20) editions, there are some unused plated holes and traces where your Q14 (and maybe some components) might have been originally placed. With both boards (yours and new) oriented the same way (viewing from the component side, it seems that to the right of Q13 and C49 might be the area. It's only a guess, but it seems like a logical place. You can manually trace the printed wiring paths and maybe add some light to the schematic Gordon sent you. Personally, if I were you, I would install the new board and put your old board aside (maybe use the spare components for a possible later repair).

There were several service bulletins covering changes to the AF Unit Board over its life and most likely you probably have some of them (if not all) in the new board you have. There was a service bulletin (SB-847R), Low Voltage Supply Optional Improvements (power supply drift and stability improved) that changed  some values of resistors, added a resistor across both Q30 and Q34 (collector to emitter), and also changed a diode. There was also a service bulletin to improve the noise blanker performance.

Pete, wa2cwa

The TS-830S AF Unit board has the Part # X49-1140-00. I checked all of the issues of the TS-830S service manual and none of them had a Q14 on the AF Unit board. I also checked the TS-830S schematics that Gordon posted on this web site, including the ones in the manuals, and no AF Unit board has Q14 shown.

Pete, wa2cwa

You'll find AM operating on just about every major band (160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, and even 2 meters). If you check the ARRL band plan you'll even find AM calling frequencies listed. And, since AM is "phone" you can find AM operating anywhere phone operation is authorized. Not only is homebrew and vintage equipment used,  you'll also find many AM operators using current state of the art rigs (Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom, Flex, Elecraft, Ten-Tec). Even the FT-950 can operate on AM. I've worked a number of stations using them on AM. The popularity of AM operating has been growing for years. There's even an AM page on the ARRL web site: http://www.arrl.org/am-phone-operating-and-activities

Pete, wa2cwa

Here's an ARRL video on installing a PL-259:
http://www.arrl.org/multimedia#

Pete, wa2cwa

Frank, K2AW, is now a silent key.

Pete, wa2cwa

6 meters can open up any time of day and any time of the year. "Good" Sporadic E openings (single and multi-hop) can generally be found during the summer months. They can be brief, only lasting minutes, or they can be long, lasting hours and even days. During the high points of the sun spot cycle, great international openings are possible all over the world. During the last secondary sun spot peak, I worked 49 states and 87 countries running 85 watts to a beam. Contacts were mostly SSB but did check into several 6 meter AM nets over in Europe. In the Florida area, you also have the advantage of more regular trans-equatorial propagation (into South America). To take full advantage of openings, almost all stations are running horizontal polarized antennas. Having it rotatable is also a plus. Calling CQ on 50.4 MHz is not a dying art so give it a try.  There is also listed a Florida 6M AM Net that operates on 50.4 MHz, Wednesday, 8:00 PM Eastern. There is no easy way to attach a frequency counter directly to the receiver. Some type of mixer interface would be required. For transmitting, hang a simple RF probe off the input of the counter. There  might be enough stray RF to give you a transmitter frequency reading. All Gonsets tend to run hot. Frying eggs for breakfast on the cabinet is not uncommon.

Pete, wa2cwa

Why diddle with the 15 pin connector. You have a TX GRD jack (see page 29 of the FTDX3000 operating manual) on the back of the transceiver. It says, "This RCA jack's center pin is closed to ground while the transceiver's transmitter is engaged." Sounds like that's you need to key the SB-201.

Pete, wa2cwa

Page 8 of the CDC manual. AUXILIARY - a single marker dial. The marker located on 1.7 to 2.3 position with the switch in the clockwise position. The other position on the AUXILIARY switch is 3.5-30. You only put the switch in the 1.7 to 2.3 position when you going to operate on 160 meters. If you leave it in this position and try to operate all the other bands, you will have major problems tuning the final (dip and load etc.).

Pete, wa2cwa
http://www.manualman.com