Johnson Viking II sending carrier with plate off

[KC3GMQ]

LOL  I pulled those chokes.  Yes I want to know what they did,  but I would rather have the transmitter original if possible.  Your thoughts?

Picture attached with where the choke wires go....

[KC3GMQ]

red and slate wire is grounded,  i will have to trace it out inch by inch,  may have to open wire bundle,  its deep lol

[N1BCG]

Actually, if the rig functions at this point, perhaps it's a good time to try it out for a bit. You'll need to key it with the Plate switch, but that's how it was done.

Antenna switching and receiver muting will be another item for the To Do list...

[KC3GMQ]

Ok I will warm it up.  Ill try 7285,  Might be ok this time of day.  Picture below is the red/slate wire. Goes up to a standoff next to the other relay,  turns green and goes to the plate relay, comes out of the plate relay and goes to the plate switch.

[N1BCG]

If I hear you I'll throw the Valiant on, although I hear SSB activity on 7285, here at least. 7295 seems clear...

[KC3GMQ]

Well I smoked something.  When I flipped the plate on,  looking for it now

[KC3GMQ]

The relay smoked when I turned on the plate.  Hope that is all I smoked.

[N1BCG]

Thinking this through... if that relay wasn't being purposely controlled, then it's possible that turning on the plate supply might not also activate the Oscillator. With no drive, the plate current can soar unless a clamper circuit is active (more on that later).

Here's a test: with the rig off, unplugged, and caps safely discharged, check the resistance from pin 7 (cathode) of the 6AU6 and ground. It will likely be an open circuit. Then turn the plate switch on. The resistance *should* drop, indicating that the oscillator is active.

[KC3GMQ]

I dont think that will work,  remember, that relay had the power wire to the plate going thru it,  not that it is fried lol, its open in the middle,  actually I guess I can jumper around it for the test.  New pictures, the green wire on each side of relay is the red/slate wire .

[N1BCG]

Sure, jumper around the relay as a test to make sure everything is ok. The constant oscillation will be back, but at least the transmitter will make power.

[KC3GMQ]

8.6Ω  both  readings the same

[KC3GMQ]

Ooops,  It was open in both positions,  Sorry, I still had it in CW

[N1BCG]

Yeah, that's it. That relay has to be energized on xmit if those terminals aren't shorted.

[KC3GMQ]

lol that relay is fried haha,  we should just get rid of it or I will have to order one

[N1BCG]

It's fried? Meaning the coil?  Does replacing the jumper get the rig working again?

[KC3GMQ]

I can get everything back to the point where you turn on the plate,  with the jumper that will only allow me to turn on the plate, the coil is gone on the relay.  It stinks lol,  my wife is not impressed either   So I am afraid what will happen if I turn on the play without those connections being made.

[N1BCG]

How in the world did the coil fry? So frustrating...

[KC3GMQ]

well i think I had bumped one of the dial settings,  when I flipped on the plate it was way to high and it smoked before I could turn things down.  I think thats what happened?  I should have started from scratch and loaded it like normal.

[N1BCG]

I get why the plate current would have slammed but I'm not seeing how that would toast the relay. Replacing the jumper should put everything back to the way it was, right?

[KC3GMQ]

I jumped the green wires,  that was the wire that came from the red/slate wire that turned green.  It goes in one side of the relay, the other side goes to the plate switch.  After it fried, nothing would pass thru it anymore

[N1BCG]

It looks like the green wires go to the coil of the relay. Jumping across those would be dangerous as it would short out whatever was supplying power to the coil. To bypass the relay, jumpers would have to be added across the switching contacts (same as what was on the right but also added to the left).

This project has been the talk of 3885 tonight. Someone familiar with the Viking II said they had one with an open relay coil.

[KC3GMQ]

I can barley hear it, Ill go off channel and try and turn up better.  So does that relay belong in there?  Should I get a new one?  Iv also looked for the assembly manual with no luck,  i just dont know these schematics well yet, The Heathkit ones a 5 year old can follow, and I am feeling about 5 right now haha.

[KC3GMQ]

LOL and that is NOT me tuning up on top of everyone on 3885 haha.

[N1BCG]

I'm going to toss out another guess here... I'm starting to think that relay was a factory install by how neat the wiring is. At some point in time, the coil opened up and the owner jumpered across the oscillator relay contacts. The plate circuit was handled by the Plate switch.

Removing that jumper today prevented drive to the finals which would have pinned the current meter. Restoring the jumper as it was should return the transmitter to how it was before, working fine but having the Oscillator always running.

Is that not the case,

[KC3GMQ]

I think your right.  The coil being factory, your right it does look good, but here is why it may be in question.  All of the wiring used one type of tie cord.  It was neat and uniform throughout.  When you get to that coil, its a different type of tie cord on the wiring harness.  Still looks excellent.  Maybe got sent back for the upgrade?  I dont know. So I need to order another coil?  Will that old one have numbers?