I have a wireless receiver that seems to have a dead crystal in the
VCO. I called Nady who makes the unit and they want $15 + $10
shipping. This seems kind of high especially on the shipping front.
It seems that the ham supply places only have ~30MHz as the highest.
Anyone might be able suggest a source?

(Dave Runton) writes:
I have a wireless receiver that seems to have a dead crystal in the
VCO. I called Nady who makes the unit and they want $15 + $10
shipping. This seems kind of high especially on the shipping front.
It seems that the ham supply places only have ~30MHz as the highest.
Anyone might be able suggest a source?

Find out what the actual frequency of the crystal is. There's
probably a frequency multiplier inside the receiver, like 18x or
something. So a receive freq of 209.15 mhz would need a 23.38 mhz
crystal. A 209.15 mhz xtal would have to be extremely tiny and I
don't think I've heard of such a thing.

Just pony up the money and be done with it....
Seems like a fair price... generic crystals are cheaper but you want
accuracy and stability.

http://www.icmfg.com/crystalfaqs.html
http://www.bomarcrystal.com/

Rgds:
Eric




"Dave Runton" wrote in message
om...
I have a wireless receiver that seems to have a dead crystal in the
VCO. I called Nady who makes the unit and they want $15 + $10
shipping. This seems kind of high especially on the shipping front.
It seems that the ham supply places only have ~30MHz as the highest.
Anyone might be able suggest a source?

Dave Runton wrote:
I have a wireless receiver that seems to have a dead crystal in the
VCO. I called Nady who makes the unit and they want $15 + $10
shipping. This seems kind of high especially on the shipping front.
It seems that the ham supply places only have ~30MHz as the highest.
Anyone might be able suggest a source?

That's actually a pretty good price.

The ham guys, like ICM and JAN Crystals will probably be in the same price
range, but you will need to know the loading and what overtone the crystal
operates at. VHF crystals are no problem for any of the guys, because they
are basically lower frequency crystals that are cut to operate at harmonics.

The cheapest crystal source I know of is QMX Crystals in El Paso. Six
bucks each for VHF land/mobile crystals. 915-533-4453.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

In article writes:

I have a wireless receiver that seems to have a dead crystal in the
VCO. I called Nady who makes the unit and they want $15 + $10
shipping. This seems kind of high especially on the shipping front.

It's perfectly reasonable for the crystal. I agree that the "shipping"
is outrageous, but it's standard practice for small items to
individual buyers.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Dave Runton wrote:
I have a wireless receiver that seems to have a dead crystal in the
VCO. I called Nady who makes the unit and they want $15 + $10
shipping. This seems kind of high especially on the shipping front.
It seems that the ham supply places only have ~30MHz as the highest.
Anyone might be able suggest a source?

How much ****ing around are you prepared to do to save a few bux on $25, and
maybe end up with the wrong thing ?

geoff

Paul Rubin wrote in message ...
(Dave Runton) writes:
I have a wireless receiver that seems to have a dead crystal in the
VCO. I called Nady who makes the unit and they want $15 + $10
shipping. This seems kind of high especially on the shipping front.
It seems that the ham supply places only have ~30MHz as the highest.
Anyone might be able suggest a source?

Find out what the actual frequency of the crystal is. There's
probably a frequency multiplier inside the receiver, like 18x or
something. So a receive freq of 209.15 mhz would need a 23.38 mhz
crystal. A 209.15 mhz xtal would have to be extremely tiny and I
don't think I've heard of such a thing.

Also a crystal for a receiver will have an offset for the IF. If the
IF is 10.7 MHz then the LO will be 10.7 MHz offset from the input
frequency. and the crystal will be an integer sub multiple of the LO.
This is all assumming we're talking about a fixed freq unit and not a
PLL.

I agree with the others, $25 is a pretty good deal to get the EXACTLY
correct crystal from the manufat. There are a lot more varibales for
crystal beside frequwncy such a series or parallel mode and loading
etc.

You may be able to save $15 but it may take you on an adventure.

Mark

After some research I agree that 209MHz is probably not the crystal
frequency - it seems high - but that's the way it's marked.... Since
the transmitter works, I took a look at it on the spectrum analyzer.
Nothing else anywhere near the right level except down at 17.43MHz -
so that works out to a 12x multiplier. The schematic doesn't really
seem to have a multiplier in there but I should probably go through my
ARRL handbook again

The receiver still works even though the VCO is dead. I guess that
all of the filters are just tuned up for the right frequency and there
is enough energy to result in a demod-ed signal. But that's why the
range sucks.

It's such an old unit, I hate to throw a lot of $$$ just to have
something to use for wireless around the house/studio. A whole
receiver sells on ebay for $15 - just not the right frequency (doh!)
I found some 17.47MHz crystals at digikey for $1 each. I'm just
going to replace both sides and tweek the inductors for the slight
change in frequency. It's worth a shot.

Thanks for the inputs - as a ham - I am cheap! (wonder which came
first) Too bad ebay has taken a lot of the fun out of hamfests. You
just can't haggle with a guy who has prinouts of the latest closing
prices from ebay on what he is selling.

Dave - KD4FOE

In article writes:

After some research I agree that 209MHz is probably not the crystal
frequency - it seems high - but that's the way it's marked....

That's so you get the right crystal when you buy it from the right
source.

It's such an old unit, I hate to throw a lot of $$$ just to have
something to use for wireless around the house/studio.

$25 is a lot of money? What do you use for microphones?

A whole
receiver sells on ebay for $15 - just not the right frequency (doh!)

That's the way it goes sometimes - repair parts cost more than the
cost of an obsolete unit. You could wait for the right frequency to
come along, but you could die first.

I found some 17.47MHz crystals at digikey for $1 each. I'm just
going to replace both sides and tweek the inductors for the slight
change in frequency. It's worth a shot.

That would work, and it's a typical hobbyist approach (nothing wrong
with that) - do a lot of extra work to save a couple of bucks, and
learn something in the process. The only problem with that is that
what you learn probably won't ever be useful again.

Too bad ebay has taken a lot of the fun out of hamfests.

Boy, I'll say. I don't know how much overpriced junk I've seen that I
might be able to use. When I make a more reasonable offer, the usual
answer is "I'll just take it home and sell it for that or more on
eBay."



--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Your digikey crystals will be an interesting learning experience..... they
are most likely made for computer clocks..... where accuracy and
temperature stability are not important.... thus their cheap price.

The real ones not only would be matched to the drive level and load
capacitance... but also might be matched for the temperature
compensation....

Also if this is a receiver there will be an offset for the i.f. frequency as
well as the multiplier....

If there is a vco in the circuit their is likely a Phase Lock Loop PLL
multiplier.... and possibly a divider as well.

In the end it might be an good learning experience, but you are not saving
any money if you are wanting a useable microphone as an end result.

Regards:
Eric



"Dave Runton" wrote in message
om...
After some research I agree that 209MHz is probably not the crystal
frequency - it seems high - but that's the way it's marked.... Since
the transmitter works, I took a look at it on the spectrum analyzer.
Nothing else anywhere near the right level except down at 17.43MHz -
so that works out to a 12x multiplier. The schematic doesn't really
seem to have a multiplier in there but I should probably go through my
ARRL handbook again

The receiver still works even though the VCO is dead. I guess that
all of the filters are just tuned up for the right frequency and there
is enough energy to result in a demod-ed signal. But that's why the
range sucks.

It's such an old unit, I hate to throw a lot of $$$ just to have
something to use for wireless around the house/studio. A whole
receiver sells on ebay for $15 - just not the right frequency (doh!)
I found some 17.47MHz crystals at digikey for $1 each. I'm just
going to replace both sides and tweek the inductors for the slight
change in frequency. It's worth a shot.

Thanks for the inputs - as a ham - I am cheap! (wonder which came
first) Too bad ebay has taken a lot of the fun out of hamfests. You
just can't haggle with a guy who has prinouts of the latest closing
prices from ebay on what he is selling.

Dave - KD4FOE

writes:
Amen brother! A year ago I was at the Baton ROuge La. hamfest and a
lady had an old Heathkit hw100 transceiver....
SHE must've got her $150 or better on eBay but from waht I saw looking
around the innards of that radio it was worth $100 to me and not $150.

That's a good point about Heathkits. You never know how good a job
whoever assembled them did, unless you look inside. So buying one on
ebay is sort of asking for it. But man, those were nice rigs back in
those days. It's really cool to be able to get something like that
now even for $150. You can even get something like a TS520 for not
that much more. Anything of the sort would have cost several times
more back in those days.

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NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 02 Apr 2004 11:19:21 EST
Date: Fri, 02 Apr 2004 16:19:21 GMT
Xref: number1.nntp.ash.giganews.com rec.audio.pro:1057575


On 2004-04-02 -nospam said:
I have a wireless receiver that seems to have a dead crystal in
the VCO. I called Nady who makes the unit and they want $15 + $10
shipping. This seems kind of high especially on the shipping
front. It seems that the ham supply places only have ~30MHz as
the highest. Anyone might be able suggest a source?
How much ****ing around are you prepared to do to save a few bux on
$25, and maybe end up with the wrong thing ?
I echo that. First off I doubt that crystal is actualy cut for 209
mhz.

should you be able to find out what the actual frequency of the
crystal is you might be able to get one from Jan I believe there's a
web site for them, probably order online. GOogle the ham radio
newsgroups, rec.radio.amateur.equipment etc. to find it.

HOwever you might find that it isn't built the same or something else,
so I'd suggest you just bite the bullet and buy one from your
receiver's manufacturer. It's the easiest way to assure that it's up
and running again.

THat isn't a bad price. I bought an old REgency hr-2b 2 meter fm
transceiver at a tailgater about five years ago for less than a $20
bill. My lady had just gotten her ham ticket and I was needing a
radio for the van. tHis one was already crystaled up for our locale.
However quite a few of the crystals were dead, especially the transmit
crystals. A friend of mine went through the rig with a signal
generator and a frequency counter to do some tweaks and make sure that
those crystals that did oscillate properly were on freq.

For all the dead channels etc. and a few I thought I'd like to add it
would have cost me close to $200 to bring that radio up to snuff
again. rOughly $20 a channel as you need a crystal for transmit and
one for receive as well.

Btw when we upgraded the radio in the van I gave it to my stepdaughter
who was newly licensed about three years after we bought it, with the
same dead channels still dead.

I'd say you're getting a fair price for what you need there. IF
you've the knowledge you might get by a bit cheaper but I don't think
you're going to save yourself enough to be worth the headaches and
aggravation. Pay Nadi and get the right piece the first time.


I hope you're planning on using it at the same venue always.
Otherwise I'd want something with some frequency agility anyway.




Richard Webb
Electric Spider Productions
REplace anything before the @ symbol with elspider for real email

--

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On 2004-04-03 said:
Too bad ebay has taken a lot of the fun out of hamfests.
Boy, I'll say. I don't know how much overpriced junk I've seen that
I might be able to use. When I make a more reasonable offer, the
usual answer is "I'll just take it home and sell it for that or
more on eBay."
Amen brother! A year ago I was at the Baton ROuge La. hamfest and a
lady had an old Heathkit hw100 transceiver. dUring my college days
there was one at the college club station and I spent many enjoyable
hours operating that rig. I knew I'd probably have to go through the
thing changing out electrolytics and other goodies that were going
south as her dad had been in a nursing home for a couple of years and
hadn't used the rig. OF course all of his newer stuff was gone and
she had some of his old hollow state stuff including three or four
complete Heathkit stations. SHe didn't have the speaker with this
one, just the transceiver and the power supply.

TO make a long one short I offered her $100, she wanted $150. THis
was her basic response.

SHE must've got her $150 or better on eBay but from waht I saw looking
around the innards of that radio it was worth $100 to me and not $150.





Richard Webb
Electric Spider Productions
REplace anything before the @ symbol with elspider for real email

--



"So she said it was either her or ham radio....OVER"

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Date: Sun, 04 Apr 2004 03:12:25 GMT
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Paul wrote:
Amen brother! A year ago I was at the Baton ROuge La. hamfest
and a lady had an old Heathkit hw100 transceiver....
SHE must've got her $150 or better on eBay but from waht I saw
looking around the innards of that radio it was worth $100 to me
and not $150. That's a good point about Heathkits. You never know
how good a job whoever assembled them did, unless you look inside.
So buying one on ebay is sort of asking for it. But man, those
were nice rigs back in those days. It's really cool to be able to
get something like that now even for $150. You can even get
something like a TS520 for not that much more. Anything of the
sort would have cost several times more back in those days.

ROger that. ONe thing I like about those or the Kenwood 520 is the
6146 finals instead of them TV sweep tubes. THe 6146 was a lot more
rubst imho.

This one looked like it was painstakingly put together, just old and
knew I'd probably have to go through it, might as well shotgun all the
caps in the power supply etc. THat's why to me for a nostalgia trip
it was worth $100 but not $150. WOuld have been glad to put in the
work on the bench to pull out the old green monster now and then to
put on the air but not for $150. For $100 it took me down memory
lane.

I also cut myself off at $100 as I had gas to buy for the trip back to
NEw Orleans and dinner yet. Luckily the xyl was along and kept me
from meeting her demanded price. I might have done, but I'd already
bought myself a new Heil microphone and the xyl a new two meter rig
for the van.

I had a HEath sb303 receiver at one time, many hoappy hours spent with
it. I bought it after I left a Hamarlund hq180 in a pawn shop. That
one really depressed me too. NOw there was a receiver!!! SOunded
great listening to am or sw broadcasts and was a darned good receiver
for sideband work too. IT would eat the receiver in the Icom 740 I
have on the operating bench now for lunch!



Richard Webb
Electric Spider Productions
REplace anything before the @ symbol with elspider for real email

--