Shadetree Mechanic
Delaware Base Station 808
Welcome to WWDX! That is an interesting radio, I have never seen one of those before.
-
You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
Ranger AR 3500 100w help
- Thread starter HouseForsaken
- Start date
Welcome to WWDX! That is an interesting radio, I have never seen one of those before.
Greetings!
Firstly - thanks for consulting this forum, as you can tell many know this radio.
Secondly, thank you for keeping it intact. Not many radios are treated that well today. There Is technology in that radio that many manufacturers copycat and call their own.
SIGH, you never truly appreciate the human mind and its' abilities until you throw their efforts onto a PC and all it does is crunch numbers. Spits out some numbers and "they" call it an upgrade when the PC says it can be done better...not always true.
I'm referring to the "hand work" done in all the layout traces and thought process to make this radio what it is - that another company simply took over and never even turned around and said "Thanks".
You own a one of a kind one of the originals that RCI has claimed to be their own - only it was made by hand - all those bugs worked out - layout and power routes, signal runs, function traces - all done by hand - it's art. Plain and Simple. Look for Ranger AR-3500 and RCI 2900 - you'll see what I mean.
Something like this is what I'd like to see more often...
But anyways, my ramblings isn't why I'm posting this.
I wanted to let you know - some of the tricks techs used to do, is use a color code for their work. In this radio, it was Violet or purple - it's everywhere. So the Purple wires represent the work done to the radio to handle the issue of the speech processor that was put in. The ground traces, power supply feed - even extra work - all done in purple to help the tech "remove" or undo the work - back to stock if the customer chose not to keep it in or transfer it to another radio - the tech could use the layout as a template to solve, simplify the install into another radio - he can see his handi-work.
You also have another issue with age, these things are solid state - but even that has limits. Including the Electrolytic caps - these can fail and prevent the radio from even powering up. If you're not careful, even the caps at this age, can explode and leave tiny bits and pieces of themselves throughout the circuit boards, providing potentially damaging short circuits from their internal foil shorting out leads on other components mounted nearby.
You say it powers up, good - be careful with it until you've had a more competent tech look over this radio. There is nothing like experience here - I see date codes on these that look like 1986. Which would correlate to the time this radio was made. An experienced tech would know the level of platform and technology used during the time and although archaic - would understand the functional block the device provided versus the integrated units that are so prevalent with unknown and not truly tested - platforms of technology.
It's nice to see something like this, and many of the younger sect of techs, were not even born the day this radio got shipped from the factory - right off the assembly line.
Above all, enjoy the radio - it is a keeper.
:+> Andy <+:
Firstly - thanks for consulting this forum, as you can tell many know this radio.
Secondly, thank you for keeping it intact. Not many radios are treated that well today. There Is technology in that radio that many manufacturers copycat and call their own.
SIGH, you never truly appreciate the human mind and its' abilities until you throw their efforts onto a PC and all it does is crunch numbers. Spits out some numbers and "they" call it an upgrade when the PC says it can be done better...not always true.
I'm referring to the "hand work" done in all the layout traces and thought process to make this radio what it is - that another company simply took over and never even turned around and said "Thanks".
You own a one of a kind one of the originals that RCI has claimed to be their own - only it was made by hand - all those bugs worked out - layout and power routes, signal runs, function traces - all done by hand - it's art. Plain and Simple. Look for Ranger AR-3500 and RCI 2900 - you'll see what I mean.
Something like this is what I'd like to see more often...
But anyways, my ramblings isn't why I'm posting this.
I wanted to let you know - some of the tricks techs used to do, is use a color code for their work. In this radio, it was Violet or purple - it's everywhere. So the Purple wires represent the work done to the radio to handle the issue of the speech processor that was put in. The ground traces, power supply feed - even extra work - all done in purple to help the tech "remove" or undo the work - back to stock if the customer chose not to keep it in or transfer it to another radio - the tech could use the layout as a template to solve, simplify the install into another radio - he can see his handi-work.
You also have another issue with age, these things are solid state - but even that has limits. Including the Electrolytic caps - these can fail and prevent the radio from even powering up. If you're not careful, even the caps at this age, can explode and leave tiny bits and pieces of themselves throughout the circuit boards, providing potentially damaging short circuits from their internal foil shorting out leads on other components mounted nearby.
You say it powers up, good - be careful with it until you've had a more competent tech look over this radio. There is nothing like experience here - I see date codes on these that look like 1986. Which would correlate to the time this radio was made. An experienced tech would know the level of platform and technology used during the time and although archaic - would understand the functional block the device provided versus the integrated units that are so prevalent with unknown and not truly tested - platforms of technology.
It's nice to see something like this, and many of the younger sect of techs, were not even born the day this radio got shipped from the factory - right off the assembly line.
Above all, enjoy the radio - it is a keeper.
:+> Andy <+:
I know this is an old post. But, I have a 3500 with an agc problem and no S meter. Receive is so hot is easily overloads at 1/3 of the rf gain Control. I’ve looked at the pin diodes and IC-2 and the early stages in the IF. All I have is a poor quality print schematic. So any information would be helpful. The agc issue is on both am and ssb. Thanks in advance! Jerry aka bonez
BJ radionut
Supporting Member and 6m addict
Would any kind person happen to have the schematic for the back 100w amplifier on this radio. I would like to confirm the value of the two large discolored resistors that go from the input to output transformer over the 2sc2290 transistors. I have them reading at 15 ohms but burnt.
https://cbtricks.com/radios/clear_channel_corp/ar3300/graphics/clear_channel_ranger_ar3300_sm.pdf
Page 24 of 25 has the schematic for the amplifier on back. The 3300 and 3500 used the same amp if it was the high power model.
Page 24 of 25 has the schematic for the amplifier on back. The 3300 and 3500 used the same amp if it was the high power model.
Interesting situation I ran into here. I have the amp pulled apart and I have 51 ohm resistors ready to install however the current resistors R4 and R5 look to be 15 ohm 5%. The parts list off the 3300 amp section says R4 and R5 are 51 ohm 2 watts. Could this be a typo? any feedback would be welcome.
Thanks.
Attachments
I just noticed that there is an error in the schematic. These are the Negative Feedback Loop components, that limits the gain of the circuit. They SHOULD be from Collector to Base, not as originally drawn (Collector to Collector ?? ).
Here is a corrected version. 15 Ohms seems a tad bit low, and probably why they are "smoked".
In a Texas Star 250 or 350, they use 39 Ohm Flame Proof, I forget the wattage.
Physically correct, but schematic was incorrect.
After some social media posts on bbi group i was informed they made at least 2 different revisions of this amp and pics were posted. The resistors installed on both photos reflected 51 ohms. I have installed the 51 ohm resistors back into the unit. The radio is working fine and power is good and clean. Thanks for everyone's help and feedback.
Is there anyone that can post the correct alignment points and correct the D77 error?
Yahoo is obviously long gone and I haven't found the info anywhere.
Thanks
Panic Attack
Yeah I get out there and slobber in my mic quite a bit lol. You need to holler back. If I hear a 28 I shout it back!
I hope everyone gets to hear alot more of me, I'm about to be installing a 16 pill Toshiba box in my mobile. I'm tired of being a duck.
73 Panic Attack
I tried multiple occasions, just a pair of 2290’s in my mobile radio, so I do struggle…….
567 on the west side