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IT IS FINISHED!!!!!

No, I did not finish it with a bat or gun....


Thanks to everyone that gave me input and some time just troubleshooting this I now understand what was going on but not necessarily why.


I began by just taking basic measurements of the regulator circuit.  I could not seem to understand why I had 8vdc at the regulator collector in AM mode.  I was curious what VR14 (AM max power) did to the voltages when it was adjusted.  Guess what?  It increased or decreased the voltage at the collector.  What?  I had 8vdc because the AM max power was turned up?  One other discovery.  If you adjust AM max power it also affects the voltage at TP 7 when you are in SSB mode.  One thing that has me questioning the alignment is if you set the SSB APC before you set the AM max power then the SSB APC will not be 12.5vdc after you adjust AM max power.  Should you adjust AM max power 1st?  Hmm.  One other thing I discovered was if I turn SSB APC back to about 11vdc then I can set the bias of the finals (100ma total) correctly.  If it is turned up above that the bias setting will not give usable readings as I shared earlier.


Now to it being fixed.  I tested all of the caps, diodes and resistors in the regulator section and found they were all ok.  I also reinstalled the inductor in R249.  I began a re-alignment by turning back the SSB APC voltage to allow me to set the bias correctly.  I then did the remaining part of the alignment per procedures for the 98VHP (procedures that I had) except I set the AM max power before I set the SSB APC.  The radio transmitted and modulated correctly.  In fact, it transmitted and modulated VERY well.  I did some on-air checks and got great reports.  Funny enough, the owner of the radio was listening and heard me do the on-air test which was nice.  He got to hear the performance of his radio.  I will say that the finals ran a little hotter than I anticipated they would but I've not used one of these radios before so I am unsure what is normal.


Thanks everyone (especially Andy) VERY much for all of your input!!!  The one thing that keeps me going is knowing that I am not alone as long as I have an internet connection and this group.  Also, it is interesting how there is not much info available on this specific radio/board.  Bama, your pics were very valuable to helping me better determine what was factory installed which was quite the challenge.