[Kekoa]

Before
[Image: http://www.pbase.com/david_3/image/15812...iginal.jpg]

After
[Image: http://www.pbase.com/david_3/image/15812...iginal.jpg]

I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to secure the electrolytic capacitors in the middle of the chassis.  They are much bigger than I thought they would be, and combined with the large resistors connected to positive end, it makes for a rather big package.  They wouldn't fit in the original location. Right now, they are hanging from a zip tie (which you can't see in this picture), and are fairly stable.  But I think I can do better.

This is my first attempt at recapping, so I'm just happy it works.  

[Kekoa]

Installed a fuse today, and am down to the last few items on the cabinet.  Might try to install the grill cloth tomorrow, and finish things up.

I wanted to see how it well it functioned on the short wave bands, so I fired it up for about an hour tonight. Since it is out of the cabinet I used a simple random length wire for the antenna.  I managed to pick up a number of Spanish speaking stations, one of which I believe may have been located in Caracas.  Not entirely sure about that though, since I'm not a fluent speaker. Also picked up WTWW out of Lebanon, TN (I'm in Texas).

The current draw is a steady 0.5 amps, which I guess is pretty normal for these radios.  That actually seems quite low to me, considering what some of the modern, amateur radios draw on receive.  But I'm not complaining.

Anyway, things are moving right along, and I just might be hooked on this new hobby.  My SSTran should be here tomorrow.

[sam]

kekoa
nice and clean  
think every one here loves sstran  leave mine on 24/7
sam

[Kekoa]

Well, here it is (ignore the dust on top of the cabinet).  And it works, too.  

[Image: http://www.pbase.com/david_3/image/15815...iginal.jpg]


Next project...building the SSTran.  

[Ron Ramirez]

Beautiful. Now I should get mine going!

Who was asking about the sides being different? I just looked at mine...and mine is different, too; it has grooves parallel to the edges on each side, as someone else had described and pictured.

Kekoa, your pictures keep disappearing. Can you re-add them, please? Thanks.

[Kekoa]

That was me asking about the cabinet sides.  I think mine is the different one, in that, the sides of the cabinet are all solid veneer.  The other 53-960s I've seen (which really isn't that many) have the "groves" on the sides.  I'm partial to the "solid look", myself.

[Image: http://www.pbase.com/david_3/image/15803...iginal.jpg]


In other news, the SSTran is complete and working. The kit is very nice and well organized, but  was missing one capacitor (it happens).  I got an e-mail from Phil yesterday, saying he would send it right out.  But I've never been very patient, so earlier this week I picked up a replacement from Mouser, while placing an order for some odds and ends.  I couldn't find an exact replacement, but I found one close enough (same capacitance, but much higher voltage rating). Anyway, it's so refreshing to be able to find a (internet) radio station that I actually like.  There are dozens of stations around here, but none of them appeal to me.

[morzh]

Kekoa

(about el. caps) Try this: you are leaving the old ones in place, right?
You could possibly epoxy new cans (or hotglue) using a crease created by old caps' protruding parts and the chassis' surface as anchor, and then solder to them.

[Kekoa]

Morzh,  I actually ended up doing something similar to that.  I took a small loop of hook-up wire and soldered it to one of the connections on the original electrolytic can.  That gave me a place I could use as an anchor point for a zip-tie.  So the end result is slightly different from the picture I posted.

I thought about trying to stuff them in the original can, but I don't see how they would fit.  It would have to hold a 20uF, and two 10uF electrolytics, and the new ones are just too big to fit in the old can.  The second can was also a  20/10/10 configuration, but the 10uF's were in parallel, so I replaced them with a single 20uF.  That saved a little space.

[morzh]

Believe it or not, they do fit, and without any major effort too.
But this is optional and is a matter of personal preferences.

[Ron Ramirez]

Kekoa

Here's a quick shot of my 53-960 - the cabinet is empty, as I am about to start working on its chassis:

[Image: http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k420/...g~original]

I agree that the solid veneered sides (such as on your cabinet) look better. But this is still a huge, heavy, impressive radio!

I will be using some new electrolytics from Mouser in my 53-960, made by Nichicon. These are very tall and skinny, and I hope they will all fit inside the old cap cans. The 10 uF are 10mm in diameter x 20mm tall; the 22 uF are 12 mm diameter x 25mm tall. Much slimmer than most conventional electrolytics.

[Kekoa]

Ron, you may already know this, but just in case....there is an error in the  Riders schematic.  The values on the C51 electrolytic are  wrong in the parts list, and their locations are drawn wrong on the schematic.  Also, they are wrong on the bottom view of the chassis. I ended up buying the SAMs schematic, just to be sure.

It is actually:

C51A...20uF
C51B...10uF
C51C...10uf

C51B and C51C are in parallel.

The Riders bottom view of the chassis shows A & C connected at the positive side.  This is wrong.  It is actually B & C connected on the positive side.
The SAMs schematic shows the location of C51B and C  swapped with the location of C51A (doesn't really matter since B & C are in parallel).



Now that I've totally confused you.....the SAMs schematic is correct, and matched my 53-960 exactly.