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Reviews For: Heathkitshop Drake AC-4R power supply replacment

Category: Ham Radio Kits

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Review Summary For : Heathkitshop Drake AC-4R power supply replacment
Reviews: 9MSRP: $65 + shipping
Description:
PCB and components to update the Drake AC-4 power supply
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.theheathkitshop.com/page6/page6.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0094.9
KA9P Rating: 2019-03-25
Great Quality and Value Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just rebuilt an old AC-3 Drake supply with the new AC-4R, and it worked well. Although it's not specifically designed for the AC-3 I found Mike's new brackets worked great to mount the board vertically where the caps used to be. Checked out fine the first time. Great value and quality.
KD0YSX Rating: 2015-07-02
Excellent product, excellent support Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm not a particularly gifted electronics hobbyist but I found the kit straightforward to install. Had a small problem and the support was excellent. They stand behind their work. Very high quality components. My TR-3 is now running clean, pure power and everything is just working better.
KT6L Rating: 2011-03-19
An Excellent Kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Overall rating I would like to give is 4.999 with the instruction manual lacking a little polish.

Printed circuit board and components are first rate! The instructions are sometimes imprecise and even confusing and require a little thought to navigate. Some of the supplied wire wasn't long enough to complete the rebuild. A simple way to improve the product and ease the difficulty would be to include colored images with minimal annotation of the hardware as it progresses through the rebuild. The owner/designer of the product offers his email for advice or answers to questions.

But these are minor difficulties and, in my opinion, a Ham operator should possess the skills and motivation to overcome them. If you're contemplating the rebuild yourself and cannot get through the instructions on your own resources then I ** S T R O N G L Y ** recommend that you N O T attempt this project as you could kill yourself.

I'm really pleased with the design and fabrication of the board and the components. The designer put a lot of effort into the board, its layout and installation and test. My T-4XB now runs like new with full output on all bands.

So I want to give this Kit a rating of 4.999 - an excellent product which would be superior if it were to have a little more work done on the manual.
KC8IMB Rating: 2010-12-24
100% Satisfied Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
As has already been said, this is life insurance for your Drake! I have an AC-3 with a T-4X. A capacitor in the original supply began losing it's "magic smoke" suddenly one day. Fortunately I was able to kill the power before any damage (VERY fortunate). The instructions are A+, and construction is a snap. Just remember to re-adjust the bias once the new supply is installed. Jeff Covelli, WA8SAJ, has a nice writeup of his install on the web here...

http://www.wb4hfn.com/DRAKE/DrakeArticles/AC4-Upgrade/AC4_Upgrade.htm

Don't hesitate purchasing this if you're still running the original supply. You'll have more in time and money repairing the damage if you don't.

Thanks Mike!
-73-
Zack ~ KC8IMB
NJ3A Rating: 2010-03-28
Drake Life Insurance Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Easy kit to assemble and install. Great and cheap insurance to keep your Drake AC-4 from needing IV Geritol...
KE2UU Rating: 2009-05-17
EXCELLENT PRODUCT...EXCELLENT PARTS Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Thank you Mike! He has produced an excellent solution to Drake power supply aging with resultant hum. His kit is easy to build, has easy to understand instructions, and his parts are first class...no cheap parts from China. The pc board is commendable.
W8ZNX Rating: 2008-05-08
good for your Drake Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hello All

have now rebuilt
two Drake AC-4 power suppies

using the AC-4R kit
straight forward, good parts
great customer service
all around good guy

oh yes they work great

yours truly
Mac
NZ0T Rating: 2008-01-18
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My AC4 lost the bias during SKN so I ruined a matched pair of finals and a couple of resistors. I got the AC4R kit from Mike and now the T4XB is working just like new. The kit is well thought out and easy to build and install with quality components. I highly recommend it to anyone still running an original AC4 or AC3!
KI4OJC Rating: 2007-01-17
Excellent solution to old Drake PS Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I enjoy old Drake rigs, but am worried about sudden failure of the power supplies, now 35+ years old. Mike,WB8VGE, already well known among Heathkit lovers, has produced a kit to replace diodes, resistors, and capacitors for the Drake AC-4. The kit is brilliantly designed, and easy to build. The pcb is simple to stuff, and installs on standoffs attached to the original transformer. The instructions for rewiring the chassis to the pcb are easy to follow. Of course, this kit is installed in a dangerous high voltage appliance, but modest soldering and electronic kit assembly skills are sufficient. It's so easy, a Caveman/Lawyer could do it! Performace was exactly to spec, and bias was in middle of the pot's turning range.

I strongly recommend this kit and the upgrade.

Bevin
K4ALE [formerly KI4OJC]