RCI69 base. Has RCI finally jumped the shark?

[Enterprise312ok]

Well I have my 69vhp up and running, No more oscilation issue on ssb. I think a mismatch in the factory rt1s is what caused the issue.

I really like the performance and features of this board when all the parts
are working properly and instead of complaining I am going to thank Ranger for continuing to make this type of radio with channel selectors, plls and through hole componets.

 

[Enterprise312ok]

Well I would like to report the 69vhp Is holding up great and also we got a Rci 69 base in on thursday and I have been putting it to the test before it goes to it's new home.

This 69 base has been trouble free. No issues with the rt1 final section. These rt1s are strong and these radios run cooler than you would think because of the factory rwob, no maxmod needed to protect finals from battery voltage. Unfortunatly the power supply only turns up to 13.4 and does have an internal fan that will come on during idle.
Stability is very good , both variations of this radio perform good on ssb and the factory frequency alignments were spot on.
I think both the 69 base and 69vhp are good choices for operators with a local tech that can service after the sale.

 

[357]

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So here's a question. Has RCI finally jumped the shark?

Here's what the latest "Black Radio" from RCI looks like on the outside. Yeah, a poorly-posed pic. Had more important stuff on the plate that day.

Didn't get a lot of other shots before it had to go back together and go home.

I did get this one. Leads me to the subject of my discontent. This radio sounds like poo on sideband transmit.

Here's why, best I can tell. Too much gain packed too tightly together.

The nasty sound of sideband transmit comes from RF feedback between the final stage and the low-power stages. Until this model, RCI radios had a tiny transistor buffer, followed by a small pre-driver (no heat sink) feeding the actual driver transistor, feeding into two parallel driver transistors.

This thing has a driver transistor feeding into the driver transistor.

In effect.

Took me almost two months to get this posted. I'm curious what experience other folks have had with this new model.

My idiot light is still glowing from when I realized I didn't write down or get a pic of the circuit-board's "EPT" type number.

Was a busy week at the end of December.

For now I'm not recommending this radio for sideband until I see a convincing way to make them stable.

Yeah, that's kinda presumptive, based on experience with exactly one specimen.

And if I never see another one again, that could be a clue all by itself.

73

can I sub the rt1 with the fqp13n10?