Testing Equipment For Radio Repair

[Raccoon]

Hi everyone, I've been in the radio hobby for most of my life (40 plus years), both CB & Ham radio ... and finding a good repair service these days is becoming harder & harder to find . That is, without shipping my stuff out , and I am definitely not a fan of trusting any of my equipment to any of our delivery services . They haven't been doing the best job at making sure our radios get to us undamaged .

Which has influenced me in deciding to start getting my own test equipment so I can work on my radios myself when they need it . I'm not looking to spend a lot of money on anything since I'm just starting out and only working on my own equipment . I was looking at RF Signal Generators , and I noticed that there are a lot of older ones out there . Which got me wondering , how well would something like an Eico 324, or a Heathkit IG-102 work for working on some of the newer radios (70s, 80s, 90s) ?

Any help would be appreciated .

 

[SuperLid]

I wouldn't go that route. Synthesized RF SG is the way to go now.

 

[Raccoon]

Looking at those , they aren't looking very affordable to the "Average Guy" . I'm looking for something around $100 for working on my own personal equipment , which is usually older . So do you have any affordable examples to offer ?

 

[BC Coyote]

I'm looking for something around $100

With all due respect, it's very unlikely you'll find anything suitable for use at that price. Older equipment is usually going cheap for a reason........it either doesn't work, barely works, or needs to be recapped, calibrated, etc. etc.

Accuracy in test equipment is paramount, so if you are serious about working on your own gear, start saving up your dollars and buy a synthesized signal generator as SuperLid advised....
Same goes for other gear you will need too. You will enjoy working on radios and will have much more satisfactory results using new instruments. Forget about used.

 

[sp5it]

For a start as signal generator another radio do well.
I used a long time DDS generator I built by myself.
You need a oscilloscope, DMM and freq counter.
Not possible in your budget.
Now, if would start again I would buy all in one Rohde & Schwarz CMT42 or similar. Expensive, but pays itself quickly.
Mike

 

[Pez]

For a start as signal generator another radio do well.
I used a long time DDS generator I built by myself.
You need a oscilloscope, DMM and freq counter.
Not possible in your budget.
Now, if would start again I would buy all in one Rohde & Schwarz CMT42 or similar. Expensive, but pays itself quickly.
Mike

I agree 100%.

FWIW, below is as an example of some "cheap" but brand-new equipment you could buy, which could get you going. But even this cheap brand-new stuff, will still cost much more than your budget - and is absolutely NOT what I would recommend if you are really serious. (You would end up replacing all of this with better stuff eventually, even though all of these items do a reasonably good job for what they cost).

- Feeltech/FeelElec FY6900 signal generator (add some external RF attenuators and use for RF generation, as well as AF / tone generation)
- TinySA Ultra Spec An (includes a basic DDS sig gen)
- FNIRSI DPOX180H or Hantek DSO2D10/15 Oscilloscopes
- OWON XDM1041 / XDM2041 bench multimeter
- Freq counter? Second hand is your best bet, as good ones are $$$

Second hand equipment is a different story of course, bargains can be found.
There are a thousand other ways to get similar entry-level results, but that list is just one way. I have the good stuff in my lab these days, but I really enjoy playing with the cheaper test equipment to see how good, or bad it is... It's a hobby within the hobby for me! (Hence the list above).

As Mike said, saving for something like a CMT42 or HP 8920/21A or IFR/Marconi test set will pay for itself quickly if you are really serious.

73

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

Here is a way to make a service monitor from an old cobra 29.

The homemade service monitor

The homemade service monitor

gokarters.com

 

[Raccoon]

Thank you Pez for the list that you gave me . Thanks to your list I've been able to get an idea as to what I should be looking for , and I've been finding some pretty nice equipment at affordable prices .

All of you have been a great help in one way or another , and I greatly appreciate all of the information that you shared with me . As I said before , I've been in the radio hobby for years. But I've never been one to screwdriver radios , I'd just send them to a repair tech . But I don't think it will be too much longer before my tech retires , and I don't like shipping my equipment because the delivery services don't treat it good . So I decided to start investing in test equipment so I can work on my own equipment the right way . But since I am new to this I don't want to invest a ton of money into the equipment , at least not until I get comfortable with doing it and the equipment .

Shadetree , I checked out your link , and from what I read they said that project was left incomplete .

 

[Hurricane145]

Looking at those , they aren't looking very affordable to the "Average Guy" . I'm looking for something around $100 for working on my own personal equipment , which is usually older . So do you have any affordable examples to offer ?

I see older Cushmans for under $200 at hamfests.
HP 8640B signal generators for around that too or less.
Scope? Tektronix 465B or 475 can be had for around $150 with a probe or two.
Industry standard stuff for many years!
Check Craigslist for something local.

The old cheap stuff from the 50s won't do you much good with recent radio gear repair.

I would start out with a good analog multimeter and also a good but not crazy expensive digital multimeter and go from there. Sometimes with older tube gear a VTVM is also handy. Maybe add gear as you come across it at a reasonable price and/or as you find you need it.

 

[Raccoon]

I see older Cushmans for under $200 at hamfests.
HP 8640B signal generators for around that too or less.
Scope? Tektronix 465B or 475 can be had for around $150 with a probe or two.
Industry standard stuff for many years!
Check Craigslist for something local.

The old cheap stuff from the 50s won't do you much good with recent radio gear repair.

I would start out with a good analog multimeter and also a good but not crazy expensive digital multimeter and go from there. Sometimes with older tube gear a VTVM is also handy. Maybe add gear as you come across it at a reasonable price and/or as you find you need it.

Thank you Hurricane, that's a lot of help too.

 

[Woody-202]

Thank you Hurricane, that's a lot of help too.

Check craigslist often and fast. I've missed more than one great deal on test gear because I skipped a day.

 

[nomadradio]

I see older Cushmans for under $200 at hamfests.

Just run, don't walk the other way from the model "CE-2".

It was a breakthrough design 60 years ago, but they have both breakdown issues and rare-part issues. Not a good combination.

The higher the model number, the newer the item. Oughta come up with a calendar, showing the production year for their "CE" series communications monitors.

Just as soon as I track one down.

73

 

[Hurricane145]

Just run, don't walk the other way from the model "CE-2".

It was a breakthrough design 60 years ago, but they have both breakdown issues and rare-part issues. Not a good combination.

The higher the model number, the newer the item. Oughta come up with a calendar, showing the production year for their "CE" series communications monitors.

Just as soon as I track one down.

73

Yeah I know but when you can get them that cheap and they are working you an get some use out of them. If it quits on after a couple years you just look for another one.
A lot depends on how much use you will get from test gear. If you are just keeping it in case your own rig goes bonkers someday it isn't worth the investment.
It can take a lot of time just to learn how to troubleshoot CB radios and such. Just having the test gear won't save you if you don't know how to use it. Probably a lot of radio problems can be fixed with a good multimeter and the knowledge of how they work.

 

[Raccoon]

Yeah I know but when you can get them that cheap and they are working you an get some use out of them. If it quits on after a couple years you just look for another one.
A lot depends on how much use you will get from test gear. If you are just keeping it in case your own rig goes bonkers someday it isn't worth the investment.
It can take a lot of time just to learn how to troubleshoot CB radios and such. Just having the test gear won't save you if you don't know how to use it. Probably a lot of radio problems can be fixed with a good multimeter and the knowledge of how they work.

I definitely have a radio here that would make for a great test subject ... lol. I bought a Galaxy 979 a few years ago at one of the local thrift stores ... and it's been modified so much that it's way out in left field someplace . I can hear it through channel bleed over , but I can't locate where it's at . Trying to bring it back to operational condition would give any test equipment that I'd buy a good workout .... lol.

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

I definitely have a radio here that would make for a great test subject ... lol. I bought a Galaxy 979 a few years ago at one of the local thrift stores ... and it's been modified so much that it's way out in left field someplace . I can hear it through channel bleed over , but I can't locate where it's at . Trying to bring it back to operational condition would give any test equipment that I'd buy a good workout .... lol.

This will turn your computer into an SDR receiver, you would be able to see where it is transmitting and dial it back to where it belongs.

Nooelec RTL-SDR v5 SDR - NESDR Smart HF/VHF/UHF (100kHz-1.75GHz) Software Defined Radio. Premium RTLSDR w/ 0.5PPM TCXO, SMA Input & Aluminum Enclosure. RTL2832U & R820T2 (R860)-Based Radio

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HA642SW?tag=worradfor-20