The AM Forum

good day all,I have a ft-101e that has no recieve at all. I checked the lamp light on the rear panel bulb checked  good.need a few suggestions on what else i can  check.

Can you hear the calibrator signal when switched in? Does it transmit?

Lots of things could go wrong with the 101. Short of hoping you have a (or some) dirty edge card connections; it's time to get out the signal genny and do some troubleshooting. Pull the boards and gently clean the connections with a standard pencil eraser. One they're clean, use a little contact cleaner in the chassis connector and work the board in and out a couple times. Do all the boards.

I think the RF board, which is the smallest plug-in board in the rig located near the front right, is a known problem spot.

73, Phil

Seems like the whole 101 series is notorious for problems, and I think part of that problem is that they seemed to be a favorite rig of CBers, who usually beat the things to death, trying to run maximum carrier out of them AND heavy modulation at the same time. It would destroy the finals. I have a pair of them (one's an FT-101 and the other one's an FT-101EX) and neither of them transmit. I also have a non-functioning FT-901DM, which is basically a newer version of the 101 with real transmitting tubes (pair of 6146B's) for the final amp. Try the bandswitch, too. On my 101, I had a similar issue once that I traced back to a dirty bandswitch. Also, if I remember, somewhere in the receive antenna path, there is a really small bulb they used as a fuse, it could be burned out (that may be the bulb you are talking about).

thanks for all the info. when i get home today i'm going to start on it again,hopefully i will get it  up & going thanks for the help.

Pull out and clean RL1.
Same with the antenna changeover relay in the RF cage.

RL1 is the switching heart of the radio.

First of all, like Buddly said, carefully clean ALL of the relay contacts in all of the relays!

Next, pull out ALL of the boards from the main frame and clean the card edge connectors , make em shiney clean!

Are you adjusting the driver / preselector knob as you are changing bands? This has a very big effect on receiver sensitivity.

Next, does it transmit? ?  Does it get enough drive to the finals to pull down any plate current?? If not, go over all of the trim caps in the driver section, as some of them are also used in the pre selector for the receive. If it was once used as a chicken band radio, there is a real good chance all of them may be way off.

I have a 101EX and a 901D, both have had similar problems with crappy card edge connectors and oxidized switch contacts.

Doggone, glad you thought about that, Buddly! I forgot! Aren't those two relays the same... possibly swap them around? Or maybe I'm thinking of the FT-401B. Also, don't forget those rigs are chock full of near 40 year old electrolytic caps. 

Yea, like I said earlier, the chicken banders really abused those 101 series radios, probably the reason why most of them are in a serious need of repair by the time you get your hands on one. One of mine must've also been owned by a smoker previously, with all the cigarette smoke gunk that was on it and inside. I'm still working on that project, because I'd like to get at least one of my 101's running again to use as a driver for a big linear that I might build some day.

No, they are not the same. RL1 is a 6P2T relay that is made of unattainium. I did find one on ebay and cleaned it up ready for backup use. Expect to pay beyond $35 for a used one. If the radio does transmit on the proper frequency chances are good it is RL1 giving you the problem. Best method I found to cleaning them is with strips of print paper soaked with contact cleaner or 90% alcheehall. Be bery bery careful not to bend the contact arms on this relay. It's a pain to get them aligned again. Doable, but painful!

Good luck....... may the force be w/ u!

Is the jumper plug installed in the back?

If the relays do not fix the receive,  You may have one or more fets blown out in the front end.  These blow out for several reasons.  One is lightnight or static on the antenna, The second reason is if the PA is not neutralized, the tubes can go into oscilation.  When that happens, the Front end is overloaded and the fets blow. 

They are cheap and easy to get.  There are upgraded Fets you can isntall (they just plug in, no solder) for inscreased signal to noise ratio. 

http://foxtango.org/ft101/foxtangoft101module.htm

That jumper is for the tube filaments, which if they aren't on, then the tubes shouldn't oscillate. Which might be a good test, if it hasn't blown the FETs, pull that plug and see what happens. But, that won't work if a previous owner did to that one like what they did to mine, my 101 must have a jumper soldered in internally, because it works without the plug.

Hey Buddly, you mean you don't cut a sliver off the end of a dollar bill to do the job (a-hem!)?  I guess that's probably a bad idea.

I believe I WAS thinking about the 401B on the relays. One is on the main board up top, and one is chassis mounted socket underneath. They're basically like a 101, being it's predecessor.

You're right on the comment of abuse, Shelby. Most of the CB guys will tell you, "Thars a bilt-in leenyar in that thar radio!" They expect 100w of carrier out of it. I bought 3 at one time several years back, and none of them had a 10m crystal installed... all from different sellers and different avenues of procurement.

---Phil
                 

thanks for all the help i'm getting ready to start on it in a little bit.(no one hear but me no noise).i'll check the rf board first. i've  owned four or five of the 101 series only problems i have ever had is replacing a light or putting in new finals other than that, thats about all i ever had to do to one, but always willing to learn something new.it will be slow going but i'll get it may have to ask a few more questions but thats life

Good luck and let us know. I have been through a bunch of them and have one here in front of me. 

C

If you can at least hear something of the calibrator signal, you're in fine shape.

---Phil

i have two questions can anyone tell me where i can find an 3sk40  fet, & what would be a good contact cleaner.   ;D

Nte222. Or order some on ebay. The 3sk40 is old. Get a modern upgrade.

DeOxit is a great contact cleaner when used properly. If you're cleaning relay contacts, I'd suggest spraying a strip of thick paper and pulling it through a few times. Just don't spray DeOxit directly onto or into stuff as it can create more problems than it solves. Probably true of other cleaners too.

For cleaning other items like tube pins, just spray some into the cap, dip the pins, and insert into/remove from the socket a few times. As with above, less is more, or mo'bettah.

I have a FT-101FX that does dead on receive at times.

For this radio the problem turned out to be a dirty LSB/USB/Tune/CW/AM switch on the front panel.

Chuck

Good point.  Even mine does that sometimes.  I rock the mode switch back and forth and she comes to life.

C

well put  the new fet in the 101 still nothing coming from the receiver. at one point it had output but when i tried it this past weekend no output. tubes  wouldn't even cherry up when keyed.think i'm going to put this thing in a box & store it somewhere till i find a good home for it. i am not a tech.best part about the whole deal is the radio was free.thanks for all the info hopefully i'll run up on one that hadn't been screwed with such as this was.

had said i was gonna put this rig in a box but the more i look at it the more i want to get it up and going just hate to see it sit there.just have a couple more questions where do i find rl-1 & what is a good contact cleaner,had someone tell me to use wd-40 couldn't get a grip on that one. might work but it just didn't sound right.thanks for reading & any help i can get. :) :)

WD-40 will probably make things worst. not better. The real purpose of WD-40 is a rust protector and works for loosening and lubricating metal, but I doubt it will be good on the contacts since it is an oily substance.

Yep, don't use anything that will leave residue. Bad news. If there isn't an electronics store close to you that sells a non-residual type contact cleaner, (for electronics, not electrical things like motors and such) then use the high content rubbing alcohol; I think it's 91% or something like that.

Phil

Deoxit is good but u can get a bottle of techron and at autoparts store or wally world. Dip thin cardboard in techron and slid through contacts to clean them.

Oh and you can see the relays with the top cover off. One is in the RF compartment and one is to the left of center.  They unplug.  You can remove the dust cover and then clean the contacts.

C

thanks for all the help, hopefully i can get back on it by the weekend.maybe i'll find a donor at Huntsville next weekend.

Another issue is  the Kokusai filters in the FT-101 series have a known failure mode. The internal foam gets gummy after a few years, and the filters stop working. The cure is to open up the filters, remove the gunk,  add  new foam, and you're good to go.

Here is  a link to  a web page that describes this problem:
http://jlkolb.cts.com/site/koku.htm

Nice. Thank you for the link!  I have some dead filters in the junk pile.

C

PWEd,

I didn't know the FT-101 had a 455 khz I.F.

Its 3180.  I know because I have my SDR reciever plugged in and tuned there.

It's  3180 Khz, but that article is generic to all Kokusai filters.

But aren't the ones in the 101 crystal filters?

I'm reasonably sure (as Dave mentions) the repair of the filters you mention, Ed, is not for the crystal FT101 filters. 

Sounds like the Collins mechanical filters and their clones...