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1-6 of 6 messages
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Playing with a Swan 500, got some questions...
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by KD0JHT on November 3, 2009
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Hi there all, I am waiting on my call sign, just passed tech & general this last weekend. I have NO experience with HAM radio.
I have this Swan 500c (3 position function switch=early?) that I have been goofing around with. No mike, no key, just listening around. I ran a 60' length of MIG wire from the antenna jack out to the end of the driveway shortly after I got it and tuned around on the bands, heard some CW and a LOT of carriers on 80 and 40, but only rx noise on 20, 15, and 10. Propped the end of the wire up on a stepladder, put the cars in the street, and pulled in some intelligible phone on 80 and 40, but again only noise on the other three. Rigged up a LOUSY 40m dipole tonight and heard lots more carriers and CW, and a lot of big phone signals on both 40 and 80, but again straight noise on the other 3. Judging by the chatter I heard, the 80 meter band was really hopping tonight due to extraordinarily good propagation, but I am starting to wonder if my rig is dead on those other 3 bands?
I plan to keep plugging away on learning morse (hard to do with 3 young kids and the xyl watching "wheel of fortune") and just listening around on the bands while I figure out what all this Swan will need to get on the air while I wait for my call sign. I don't plan on doing any "sending" until I get a feel for the etiquette of things. BTW I got the rig on Ebay and the seller intimated a suspicion that the "recieve" wasn't as good as it should be, albiet it "loaded up good" on TX. Besides I still need a mike, and I need to rig up a decent antenna.
Question is...could the rig be dead on some bands but not others? Thanks all!
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RE: Playing with a Swan 500, got some questions...
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by W3ERE on November 3, 2009
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Do yourself a really big favor, at least do it IF you truely wish to learn morse code, forget about getting a microphone. If you don't know the code and have a mic really handy you will be tempted to use it and once you start talking you put aside the thought of learning the cade because it really is difficult.
The higher bands are kinda lonesome most of the time, due to low sunspot activity, we've been at a deep low for a couple of years. Other than some locals, the only time I hear much on 20, 15 and 10 is when there is a contest happening.
Be patient, improve your knowledge and above all find an "ELMER" somebody nearby that has been in the hobby several years, he or she will help you get the most from ham radio, going it alone is no joy.
Hope you enjoy the hobby as much as I have over the past hmmmm...soon to be 33 years, in 22 days.
73 Ed W3ERE
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RE: Playing with a Swan 500, got some questions...
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by WB5JEO on November 4, 2009
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It may well need some alignment. Find a local tech Elmer. Ask around, and you may well find someone qualified who has used the Swan 500C, but that's not required, just a working knowledge of the type. (And he very likely still has it. I still have mine. I inherited it from my SK father in the early 80's.) It's worth it. It's an excellent radio with very respectable power. The receivers, while not the elaborately processed affairs common today, are quite good. The transmit audio, by the way, is exceptional. I have never since had the compliments I got with the Swan using a D104 mic. (The old Astatic D104 is indeed a good mate for old radios of this kind and can be had cheap. It's fashionable for some brainchildren here to sneer at it as a "CB mic," but it's perfectly good for vintage tube rigs. I'm the third generation of hams in my family to use this same mic. Not the same model - the same microphone.) My Swan stood up to many years of hard RTTY and slowscan service before I got it. But, being the vintage it is, they very often need a going through, especially when they've sat up unused for a few years, which is very common with old radios. Mine, in fact, has sat up too long and needs attention to be serviceable again. It might even just be in need of cleaning up the contacts in the bandswitch. (I don't just now recall, without opening it back up, what else in the way of simple contact cleaning might be in order that could be done with not much technical knowledge.) If you open it, take care, and give a read to how to safely mess with the guts of this class of rig. They can be lethally dangerous, even with recently disconnected from power.
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RE: Playing with a Swan 500, got some questions...
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by KG6YV on November 5, 2009
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I would agree with the other person indicating that 20/15 and 10M are not open very often right now due to low sunspot counts. If the 500C has a crystal calibraror you can turn that on and tune those bands to see if you hear a tone at the 100kc marker points. That will tell you that the receiver works and there isn't any band activity.
FYI,
Greg
KG6YV
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RE: Playing with a Swan 500, got some questions...
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by WG8Z on November 5, 2009
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Nice radio,I have two as well as two 270cygnets and a 750cw.......
good yahoo group "Swan-Network"
You have some variables going on that will keep you from telling if your RX is up to snuff.....Your antennas arn't constant and may not be matched to the bands you are trying to listen to. Propagation varies with time of day or night so you may or may not be listening on the right band at the right time.
The Swan's share common circuitry between TX-RX therefore the PA Grid,PA Plate and Load settings effect the RX as well as TX....Find a local Ham or Club and seek out an Elmer who has Experience in the Old radios that glow in the dark.....I ideally you'll find one with an equipped shack (Antenna's,tuners,dummyload/wattmeter) who will let you bring the rig over and help you put it through it's paces. The swan single-conversion design is very easy to re-align if needed.....Dipping and loading for TX is easy if show by someone who has experience...If you do not understand this process do not attempt as the sweep tube finals can be wasted very easily and aren't cheap or easy to come by. I have had and continue to have many hours of fun operating my Swan's.
The clean audio path and the fact that the 500c with a decent set of finals will net you 250 to 300 watts of output power will bring many unsolicited Great Audio and Signal reports..... Good luck and enjoy the Classic Radio
73 de Greg/wg8z
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RE: Playing with a Swan 500, got some questions...
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by K3JVB on November 6, 2009
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ditto...ditto ditto
Welcome to the bands. Get the ticket, and drop me a line. I will walk you through, how to ckeck the rig.
But you will need some sort of resonant antenna or dummy load for the bands that you want to try.
E mail me direct when you are ready.
Good luck, see ya on the bands.
Bur52@aol.com
John-k3jvb
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