TRAM D201a ON SSB?

[222DBFL]

He is in PA, correct? I thought I saw somewhere it said that. Wasn't sure if it was the same person. Anyhow, seems like a pretty darn good tech.

 

[Sonar]

I just realized he's only about A 3 hour drive from me.

If you don't mind the drive go for it.
When I got back on the air after 28 years off I tried to find someone who could get some tube gear that sat for all those years back and running.
It took a while but someone suggested Mike and I've been sending him my stuff ever since.
A big plus is turn around time.
I send him items 2 day ground UPS. It's usually 1 week from the time I sent it to the time I receive it back (sometimes faster). I was very concerned about sending something to a person I didn't know but taking the chance worked out. He's as honest as they come. And I'm obviously happy with his work. Unfortunately not all of us who enjoy the hobby can work on equipment. 73

 

[Sonar]

He is in PA, correct? I thought I saw somewhere it said that. Wasn't sure if it was the same person. Anyhow, seems like a pretty darn good tech.

Yes. He is in Pennsylvania.

 

[MarkIV]

The channel selector issue is a concern because replacements are no longer available. If you end up with a 201A that has a bad selector it will require some creative engineering to devise a work around.

Most everyone who ever had a Tram opened up the VFO for transmit. Doing so took a lot of strain off of the channel selector as it was no longer necessary to change channels- unless you wanted to expand the range of the VFO.

They can and do sound excellent on SSB but there is a catch: The VFO is going to drift, and drift a lot. Mine has an issue with the TX and RX frequencies being about 100Hz out of sync. My personal tech is a retired broadcast engineer with a room full of test gear and he couldn't get it right. I sent it to Greg Barkett and HE couldn't get it right. I've spent over $500 in parts, labor and shipping (they are quite heavy and expensive to ship) and it's still not quite what it should be. Research on the Tram forums state that even when new the VFO wasn't all that good. A look inside any Tram confirms that it's quite obvious that the VFO was never designed for transmit.

Over on the crystal side of things they are much more stable but remember that these radios are 40 years old now and those crystals have likely wandered a bit themselves. There are trimmers inside that can bring them back to spec but it's a very touchy process.

Other issues include excessive heat- something to be expected in a tube radio. Tram, for whatever reason elected to put just a single tap on the output side of it's power transformer, requiring dropping resistors wherever lower voltage was necessary. All that unused voltage manifests itself as heat. The placement of some of the boards, particularly the BA board insures that over time they will become brittle and fail.

Many owners of these radios bypassed the dropping resistors on the PA final for more power. This produced more heat. A common cure was to install fans on the back of the unit but doing so aggravated the VFO drift problem.

To add to the previous posters- yes they do sound good. I love mine, but as a daily driver it's a bit impractical. It is for this reason that I have put mine into semi-retirement.

Radios of this caliber are a lot like a beautiful woman. They are rather demanding and high maintenance, but if you treat them right they will make you very happy.

If you choose to add one to your collection, buy the very best example that you can afford. Try to find one that has the original owner's manual and schematic. The manual has a complete parts list and alignment instructions- not to mention it's a hoot to read- whoever wrote it had a sense of humor!

Footnote: Although Greg Barkett is considered to be the guru of Trams and Brownings, I was less than satisfied with his work. On the plus side he did turn it around extremely quickly - less than a week. However he doesn't work cheap and although I sent him a detailed description of issues he did not not address all of them. When I called him about the VFO sync problem all he said was ' it's a tube oscillator, that's the way it is'. For what he charged I really wasn't expecting excuses. Not saying he isn't a good tech, i just expected more from him.

Good luck.

There is a way to make the VFO transmit and receive sync. Part of it is How the VFO was opened up to transmit. The mod I use is very complicated. But worth it. There is a sag in voltage when keying up that adds to the problem because of the slight change in voltage. People tell me mine is dead on frequency. I also install a custom 6 digit frequency counter for mine. I do all my own work and have completely restored 2 D201A's.

 

[Riverman]

View attachment 21635

That is one good-lookin' radio!

 

[tecnicoloco]

View attachment 21635

There is a way to make the VFO transmit and receive sync. Part of it is How the VFO was opened up to transmit. The mod I use is very complicated. But worth it. There is a sag in voltage when keying up that adds to the problem because of the slight change in voltage. People tell me mine is dead on frequency. I also install a custom 6 digit frequency counter for mine. I do all my own work and have completely restored 2 D201A's.

Nice looking radio

What is the TX/RX frequency bandwidth ?


Thank you

 

[Sonar]

I'd stay away from the Tram D201A's, but not because of the SSB audio. They have a channel selector issue in which the channel selector switch fails, common issue.... and they are made of "unobtainium" (meaning they are obsolete, can't get replacements), so you'd end up having a dead duck.

I have a Tram D201A WITH a working channel selector. It has other issues with it, but the SSB audio was good on it, just not a lot of power.


~Cheers~

I know this thread is old, but somebody obviously brought up some new issues or questions about the 201. I finally did manage to get my hands on a d201a. I wasn't impressed at all. It worked great. Mike did the restoration on it and he did a bang-up job. I just wasn't happy with the performance of the radio. There's more I didn't like about it then I did. Too much to list. If somebody needs to own one go for it. Especially if it's been restored by somebody who knows what they're doing, or you know how to repair these tube relics yourself. If I'm going to spend $600 or more on a good working transceiver, especially one that has AM. and SSB modes, I would expect it to work well on both. 4 that kind of money I can get a nice second hand 746. I quickly got over Wanting a tram d201 or the 201a. When I wrote this op I was using a Washington for SSB. I have since went to the Madison and I am happier than a pig in shit. I'm still using the sonar 2340 4 AM use and once again happier than a pig in shit. I did purchase an ft-950 about 8 months ago and never took it out of the box. I've heard quite a few of them after I purchased it and wasn't all that impressed. I only purchased it because of the price I got it for. I won't mention what I paid for it but I will say it was cheap cheap cheap. I'm back to considering and HF. One or more I've heard and was impressed with the SSB audio. I'm currently looking at a TS 590 or because of the currenly low asking prices the ftdx 1200. I understand that the 1200 has some issues on the receive satellite but there's no doubt in my mind it's going to operate heads above the Madison that I'm using. Even with its little quirks I'm willing to purchase one. I like the idea that it operates four kilohertz wide. Should sound nice with a studio microphone. As a matter of fact I know they sound nice. I've heard quite a few. most of them had one of the pr model Heil Microphones, and even heard one on an sm58 Shure microphone. It that sounded excellent. I just so happen to have an sm58 left over from my mid find CB wasted money dreams. A local is interested in the 950 and keeps asking me to sell it to him. I told him $650 thinking it would scare her away, but he wants it. I was thinking about giving it to my brother for a birthday gift on October 31st but might just give him money instead and use the 6:50 towards the purchase of the 590 or ftdx 1200.. Anyway, I did see the photograph on the next page of the tram d201 with the frequency counter mod and the owner stating he has some type of proprietary thing he does to stop it from drifting while using the vfo. I just woke up and read it quick I believe that's what he said. It looks like a really nice radio, but I am definitely over owning one. My first experience was enough and I was lucky to buy it from someone who was willing to take it back. Mike did the work on it and he did a great job but it just wasn't for me. I paid $450 for it used it for a day and a half and contacted the seller and explain to him why I was sending it back. He knew that I was an acquaintance and a customer of Mike's and said he had no problem taking it back. I did have to spring for the $40 shipping cost back to him. I guess for $40 I rented a d201a for almost 2 days and found out that the hype didn't live up to my expectations. For myself I truly believe but I will always have to separate stations. 1:40 AM operation and the other SSb. Using the Diwa makes going back and forth a cinch, and once I'm on a.m. Or SSB I usually stay there. I will occasionally use the Madison on a.m. When I'm a bit lazy. I do have each transceiver hooked up to two different amplifiers and if I don't want to bother warming up the one that runs the sonar I'll just switch the Madison into the AM. mode. It sounds very very good on AM but it's not a 2340.73

 

[Sonar]

View attachment 21635

There is a way to make the VFO transmit and receive sync. Part of it is How the VFO was opened up to transmit. The mod I use is very complicated. But worth it. There is a sag in voltage when keying up that adds to the problem because of the slight change in voltage. People tell me mine is dead on frequency. I also install a custom 6 digit frequency counter for mine. I do all my own work and have completely restored 2 D201A's.

Beautiful rig! Keep the vintage 11 meter equipment alive. They can be a bitch but if they worked well when first built and sold chances are they'll do the same when properly restored/refurbished.

 

[MarkIV]

I know this thread is old, but somebody obviously brought up some new issues or questions about the 201. I finally did manage to get my hands on a d201a. I wasn't impressed at all. It worked great. Mike did the restoration on it and he did a bang-up job. I just wasn't happy with the performance of the radio. There's more I didn't like about it then I did. Too much to list. If somebody needs to own one go for it. Especially if it's been restored by somebody who knows what they're doing, or you know how to repair these tube relics yourself. If I'm going to spend $600 or more on a good working transceiver, especially one that has AM. and SSB modes, I would expect it to work well on both. 4 that kind of money I can get a nice second hand 746. I quickly got over Wanting a tram d201 or the 201a. When I wrote this op I was using a Washington for SSB. I have since went to the Madison and I am happier than a pig in shit. I'm still using the sonar 2340 4 AM use and once again happier than a pig in shit. I did purchase an ft-950 about 8 months ago and never took it out of the box. I've heard quite a few of them after I purchased it and wasn't all that impressed. I only purchased it because of the price I got it for. I won't mention what I paid for it but I will say it was cheap cheap cheap. I'm back to considering and HF. One or more I've heard and was impressed with the SSB audio. I'm currently looking at a TS 590 or because of the currenly low asking prices the ftdx 1200. I understand that the 1200 has some issues on the receive satellite but there's no doubt in my mind it's going to operate heads above the Madison that I'm using. Even with its little quirks I'm willing to purchase one. I like the idea that it operates four kilohertz wide. Should sound nice with a studio microphone. As a matter of fact I know they sound nice. I've heard quite a few. most of them had one of the pr model Heil Microphones, and even heard one on an sm58 Shure microphone. It that sounded excellent. I just so happen to have an sm58 left over from my mid find CB wasted money dreams. A local is interested in the 950 and keeps asking me to sell it to him. I told him $650 thinking it would scare her away, but he wants it. I was thinking about giving it to my brother for a birthday gift on October 31st but might just give him money instead and use the 6:50 towards the purchase of the 590 or ftdx 1200.. Anyway, I did see the photograph on the next page of the tram d201 with the frequency counter mod and the owner stating he has some type of proprietary thing he does to stop it from drifting while using the vfo. I just woke up and read it quick I believe that's what he said. It looks like a really nice radio, but I am definitely over owning one. My first experience was enough and I was lucky to buy it from someone who was willing to take it back. Mike did the work on it and he did a great job but it just wasn't for me. I paid $450 for it used it for a day and a half and contacted the seller and explain to him why I was sending it back. He knew that I was an acquaintance and a customer of Mike's and said he had no problem taking it back. I did have to spring for the $40 shipping cost back to him. I guess for $40 I rented a d201a for almost 2 days and found out that the hype didn't live up to my expectations. For myself I truly believe but I will always have to separate stations. 1:40 AM operation and the other SSb. Using the Diwa makes going back and forth a cinch, and once I'm on a.m. Or SSB I usually stay there. I will occasionally use the Madison on a.m. When I'm a bit lazy. I do have each transceiver hooked up to two different amplifiers and if I don't want to bother warming up the one that runs the sonar I'll just switch the Madison into the AM. mode. It sounds very very good on AM but it's not a 2340.73

To each there own. I have owned the same radios you mentioned. A good Tram will obliterate a Madison on AM with clean full audio. I get great audio reports from my ham buddies on SSB. But if I'm going to do some serious SSB I would use my Icom. My Trams have the cleanest fullest audio both on transmit and receive. Best mic for them unmodulated D104. The radio posted didn't look anything like it when I purchased it from a local a few months ago. Then I completely restored it.
Not bad for $100 bucks. Another mint Tram D201A I restored again purchased from a local I paid $50.00. I'll take A Tram on AM over any of those rigs listed. And I Icom on AM no thanks. Some of my ham friends from time to time run their 7100's, etc on AM. Just doesn't cut it. I save those rigs for where they really shine.

 

[w9cll]

A good Tram will obliterate a Madison on AM with clean full audio

They were the cleanest sounding rigs on AM

 

[Sonar]

To each there own. I have owned the same radios you mentioned. A good Tram will obliterate a Madison on AM with clean full audio. I get great audio reports from my ham buddies on SSB. But if I'm going to do some serious SSB I would use my Icom. My Trams have the cleanest fullest audio both on transmit and receive. Best mic for them unmodulated D104. The radio posted didn't look anything like it when I purchased it from a local a few months ago. Then I completely restored it.
Not bad for $100 bucks. Another mint Tram D201A I restored again purchased from a local I paid $50.00. I'll take A Tram on AM over any of those rigs listed. And I Icom on AM no thanks. Some of my ham friends from time to time run their 7100's, etc on AM. Just doesn't cut it. I save those rigs for where they really shine.

I agree that a tram will obliviate a Madison on AM. I didn't suggest a Madison is in the same ballpark for AM use.
I rarely use my madison on AM.
That's what my sonar 2340 and Demco modulator are for. I know that single (large) audio tube in the 201 series should and probably does a terrific job.
The two 6bq5's in my 2340 do a great job. And the Demco defeneyly adds to the clean, loud punch these Sonar's are known for.
From my research and my own experience with Sonars, especially the FS 2340 they don't suffer from the issues that trams are known for.
Sonar's hold a special place for me being they were built in the neighborhood in which I grew up, and it was my first tube transceiver. Everyone seems to have there special radios, and many different reasons that made them special to that particular person. Sonar radios will always be tops in my book. IMO the best AM tube rig ever built.
That statement is based on a few factors. No. 1 is of course the unique 2 push pull 6bq5's audio tubes. No.2 point to point hand wired in the good old USA (never sourced out to a Mexican company for assembly) No. 3 once their restored and in prober working order they rarely break down. No 4 ease of repair if their is a problem (everything in that radio is readily available for replacement.) And last but not least the unique look and feel of the transceiver. It has that simple utilitarian look and for a CB radio that's very rare. It looks more like a well-built ham radio of 60's even though the 2340 was built in the late 70s. It's just personal preference. I wouldn't mind owning a tram d201, but their a transceiver suited more to a person that is knowledgeable enough to do their own repairs, and usually do them often. . 73