The eternal search for the cunundrum of joining a FT-897 and an SB-200.
The saga of the SB-220
I'll start at the beginning and work my way up to where I am now trying to get my working FT-897 to connect with my used SB 220.
In the beginning, the Amp was wired for 220v so I modified it to work on 110v. I purchased what appeared to be the appropriate cable to connect the two devices, made the modifications to the FT-897 (set program to Linear and move a jumper) plugged it in and let it rip.
All I can say I didn’t see any smoke or smell anything burning but it didn’t do anything either. So begins the quest.
Originally was concerned about the power connections and breakers. Upon further inspection, I noticed that both breakers were broken from what appears to be a little shipping damage. I ordered two more from Harbaugh Electronics and then spend a lot of time getting them in properly with the warps in the frame and too short connection wires along with being “ham-handed” and improper soldering tips. I eventually got everything connected to my inexperienced observation and approval.
Then I retested everything and I could not get the switching relay to activate. I didn’t know about the standby relay at the time. I didn’t even know what it did.
I checked continuity from the AC input to the relay and it appeared it has the appropriate voltages.
I talked with fellow hams and Rod, WA6PKJ, sent a couple of articles he had and those helped a lot. I sat and stared at the bottom of the SB-220, stared at the Heathkit Assembly Manual and various other articles I could find on the internet. Eventually, some of it began to make some sense to my addled brain.
Remember that so far I had spent many weeks in a futile attempt to begin understanding electronics to a level needed for this work.
The wonder of it all is that it started making some sense. I was able to identify some things and I could see how what wires did what.
I am still appalled at my poor workmanship but even after reworking, some things never looked any better than rank amateurish.
Onward.
I'll fill in the rest of the story soon.
Hi David...
Did you get the low voltage keying circuit rebuilt on your ssb220? I think the last time we talked about your ssb 220 ....you were ordering parts from Harbach to do it.
Cheers! Rod
7/7/19, after a few months of off and on experimenting I decided to check things out with my trusty wooden handled hammer.
I found to my surprise that when tapping the relay for the standby switch the fan displayed its appropriate characteristics for such a circuit. I was not pleased with the sloppy actions of the relay that was manufactured by a company no longer in existence. I found what appears to be an appropriate replacement relay on Jameco, it should be here in a couple of days.
The replacement relay for the standby switch arrived today, 7/10/19. I’ll check out the wiring diagram and connections before I plug the relay in. (It has an octal connector).