Hamtronics P9 RF preamp kit

[W9MT]

I'm finishing up building a new 220MHz repeater for the Tucson, AZ metro area.

At a recent hamfest I was "gifted" a NOS Hamtronics P9-220 preamp kit for the new machine. It looks quite simple to build, but while all of the parts are still in the sealed up baggie, and the bare pcb looks FB, there was no assembly sheet in the box.

I'm sure the P9 kits for the 2 meter and 220 MHz ranges used a common assembly instruction sheet, but Hamtronics' website doesn't seem to have a link to it.

Does anyone out there have a copy of the assembly instructions that they could scan, pdf it, and email it to me?

(I can probably figure out where most of the parts go by tracing out the board foil and by using pictures I have found from Hamtronics ads in old copies of QST and HamRadio. Winding the 3 tunable coils, however, would be a total shot-in-the-dark.)

Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks.

73, Tony (W9MT)
Vail, AZ
W9MT@arrl.net

[HAMFESTS]

Hi Tony,

I would email Hamtronics and ask for the instructions.

I just bought something from them last week and they are always helpful and replied to my email questions fast.

73

[W9MT]

Thanks for being my one-and-only reply so far, "Hamfests", but I did already email Hamtronics. They answered promptly...during a weekend (!)...but informed me that this particular kit is so old, that they do not have the manual information archived any more.

So my best hope was posting here, in the event someone might have built this 220 version or one of the other ranges of frequency the pcb, the design, and the handwound coils covered.

The pcb is pristine, and the baggie of parts has never been opened. It's like an unbuilt Heathkit, only more narrowly focused in use and purpose.

The Internet is no help, either. I can find references to the kit, and even a schematic that I can use to trace out the pcb to install the parts...but no coil winding instructions to "get it right the first time".

I guess I'm going to have to "wing it".

[WB6DGN]

I guess I'm going to have to "wing it".

Good Grief!  How old could that thing be?  I can't believe that they don't keep documentation like that indefinitely anyway.   I'm guessing that you just ran across someone who didn't want to be bothered searching the archives a little bit.
If it were me (and I have worked in tech. support for an electronics firm) I'd call back and ask to speak with someone a little higher up the "food chain".  Perhaps you can get better results.  Maybe, if karma is working right, the guy you first spoke with will be "assigned" to search for it.  Sadly, you'd probably never know that, though.
Tom

By the way, be sure to let them know that what you really need is the coil winding instructions.  Maybe, at least, they will find that for you.  TA

[NA4IT]

I would suggest asking on the Repeater Builder's Yahoo group.