From: Dimitrios Tsifakis <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, 18 December 2012, 8:41
Subject: Re: LF: FT-241A xtals?

I am glad you found the eBay seller and your project is about to be
revived. A VFO, as David G4DMP mentioned before, is also another valid
option. It shouldn't be too hard to make a VFO stable enough for 472
kc, even if it is a valve one! As a test, I built a VFO for 7 Mc using
a 6C4 oscillator and a 6AG7 as a BA - it was perfectly good for CW
work.

I hope we can exchange more technical information about both projects
here. Maybe this will be a source of inspration for others that have
considered the possibility of using valves for a 472 kc transmitter.

73, Dimitris VK1SV


2012/12/18  <[email protected]>:
> What a coincidence Dimitros!
>
> After answering to your posting I did a search on Ebay for FT-241 crystals
> and found the same seller - an order has already been made :)
>
> Many thanks for bringing up this subject - I had lost hope already.
>
>
>
> Paul-Henrik, OH1LSQ
>
>
> Quoting Dimitrios Tsifakis <[email protected]>:
>
>> Hi Paul-Henrik,
>>
>>> Yes, the same thought has been on my mind for a long time now. The
>>> problem
>>> is that fundamental X-tals for this frequency band are nearly
>>> unobtainable.
>>> I have even tried to custom order some new ones for me and a couple of
>>> friends but never succeeded - the quantities would need to be much larger
>>> for this type of crystals. (They use a different kind of cut as compared
>>> to
>>> crystals for say 3500kHz which can still be ordered custom fairly easily)
>>>
>>> Hopefully people with a stash of suitable vintage X-tals will wake up
>>> when
>>> the new band opens for real and put some up for sale if they don't want
>>> to
>>> use them themselves.
>>
>>
>> I bought a few crystals from this ebay seller:
>>
>>
>> http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FT-241-CRYSTALS-Many-to-choose-from-You-pick-/260897401407?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cbeb26a3f&_uhb=1#ht_4373wt_1188
>>
>> There seem to be a few left. They are sold as-is, but I found that the
>> majority of the ones I bought worked OK. There may be other sellers on
>> eBay.
>>
>>> I'd say go for it - I have built a couple of "MO-PA" transmitters for
>>> 80/160m, they are really pleasant and rewarding projects with a distinct
>>> sound of their own. This is especially true if you also key the
>>> oscillator.
>>
>>
>> I have built recently a similar transmitter for 40 m, using a 6CL6 and
>> an 807. When I keyed the oscillator together with the PA, I couldn't
>> get it to behave properly, so I added a switch to leave the oscillator
>> on and key only the cathode of the PA. I only key the oscillator when
>> I want to draw some attention with the home-brew sound!
>>
>> In general, I have had difficulty sourcing a HV transformer suitable
>> for an 807. In the past, I found that one can build a voltage doubler
>> or quadrupler, with modern electrolytics, it is a viable alternative.
>> The 6.3 V for the filaments I found I can get from a 6 V transformer.
>> Hint: it's easy to add extra turns on a toroid type transformer :-)
>>
>> 73, Dimitris VK1SV
>
>
>
>
>