[Warren]

Yes. that sounds like the aignment instructions say, but I wasn't aligning it yet. I was doing some am tests they have in the instructions just to see if it all did what they said. Thanks.

[tab10672]

OK, I recall seeing thet in the troubleshooting section. If everything was done right and the coils are good you should be able to pull in a couple local stations with just filter replacement. Unless an original cap is shorted or open.

[jerryhawthorne]

For loose coupling to the radio antenna I have found that the about 4" square plastic external AM loops used on many new cheap radios works great. Just hook the + from the signal gen on one of the exit wires, leave the other wires from the gen and the coil not connected. It makes a great "coil" that is convenient (hangs on a peg board hook when not in use), and compact. Just set it behind the radio your testing.
Best, Jerry

[Warren]

Tab, Thanks, yes I can receive a few stations, there are a few that come in loud but alot of them i can hear but it is in the background with some hum, I am hopeing the alignment will help this. Jerry, thanks.. thats a good idea, if I had one. I did make one from a couple 1/4 thick X about 2 x 6 inch pieces of plywood , i cut a slot in both in the middle so the two would fit together to make an "X" and drilled 6 holes in each end to run wire through. I have yet to try it but seems like it should work. i will hopefully know soon. Thanks.

[Warren]

I must be missing something. When I read the AM Alignment Procedure it tells me to hook up the output meter to terminal 3 of the aerial terminal board and it says to hook up your signal generator according to the chart. On the chart it says to hook up the signal generator through a .1 mf cap to terminal 3 of TB400 , isn't that the aerial terminal board? I'm sure both the vtvm and the signal generator doesn't hook up to the same place. Hopefully someone can clear this up for me, thx.

[tab10672]

Looking at the directions, it says they both go to 3 just remember the cap through the sig gen

[Warren]

Ok, I will try that, seems strange. Should I get a tone also through the speaker at the same time? Also, should the am antenna be hooked up also? Thanks for your time on this.

[tab10672]

Terminal 3 should be a tap into the speaker for the output meter, so you should have a tone/sound and that is what the meter is reading. you shouldnt need the ant. until you use the loop.

[tab10672]

It seems like the sig gen should connect to terminal 1 on the schematic because that is the ant. coil connection, maybe it is a typo? I would hook the gen to terminal 1

[Warren]

I was thinking might be a typo too. I will try it. I also tried to get a tone with my antenna I made to hook up to the generator but couldn't really get a tone on the 47-1230 or another radio. don't know if its the antenna I made or the signal generator I bought used. I will have to do some more testing. Would I be able to hook up a frequency counter to the audio output of the generator to see if it is working? I will do some more on it tomorrow, I am off work tomorrow .

[tab10672]

I have to connect both wires from the gen to the loop I made. I have tried mine with just the hot side on the loop and it didnt work, maybe some gen have a stronger output than others?

[Raleigh]

If you have a frequency counter you should be able to see if the RF is working. I'm not sure if the frequency counter will count the audio, but maybe if you play with the ranges it will. Update: I found that my frequency counter will sometimes count 4 KHz on some ranges, but most of the time it wants to count the RF frequency regardless of range or RF frequency.

I have the same Paco signal generator you do. If yours is working and set to modulated RF, you should be able to hear a tone on any radio with just a wire connected to the positive output of the generator and held near the radio. No loop is needed. I do always connect mine through a .01 uf cap, but it doesn't make a difference for this test if I don't. I wouldn't connect the signal generator to a radio without the capacitor.

If your RF is working you should be able to interfere with most radios by tuning through the frequency of your frequency generator, even without the audio tone. You'll get squealing on either side of the tuned frequency, but probably not exactly on it.

It doesn't seem to matter whether I connect my loop across + and - terminals, both sides to +, or leave one end open. It also doesn't make too much difference if I use a loop or just a wire.

[Warren]

Ok, I seem to get a tone now with the loop antenna I made. My instructions say to use a .1mf cap between the gen and radio, should I be useing a .01mf instead? So far I don't seem to be getting a tone when I do the first step on the alignment instructions which is to setup the gen to 455kc and set the radio to 540kc (which seems strange to me but...), When I do this I do not hear a tone coming through the speaker.

[Raleigh]

Oops. My mistake. Mine is also a .1 uF.