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Title: Building power and audio cables for JK500 Post by: n2len on March 11, 2021, 03:03:56 AM Hi all,
Building the audio and power cable set for the JK500. Any suggestions for a good quality single jacketed cable for the audio cable similar to the original? For the power cable I found a close in color 12’ 9 conductor 18awg cable on eBay for $20. I would like to keep the color to pin out the same as detailed in the schematic. https://www.ebay.com/itm/324136748568 Thanks, Len Title: Re: Building power and audio cables for JK500 Post by: W1RKW on March 11, 2021, 06:35:19 AM be sure the ebay cable has sufficient insulation resistance to carry high voltages.
Title: Re: Building power and audio cables for JK500 Post by: n2len on March 18, 2021, 02:56:34 AM Thanks for that suggestion.
I ended up choosing another type of high voltage 9/18 heavy rubber coated with cloth insulation cable. The colors of each wire ended up closely matching the original layout in the schematic. Title: Re: Building power and audio cables for JK500 Post by: MikeKE0ZUinkcmo on March 21, 2021, 10:02:11 AM Well done, Len. I recently built 3 sets of cables for EFJ 500s. One for my transmitter and two other sets for a customer. However I just used what wire I had on hand and encased them in some braided nylon sleeving for the L.V. cables and some RG-8 braided copper shield for the H.V. cables. Did you also construct a new HV cable?
(https://photos.smugmug.com/EF-JOHNSON/Johnson-500/i-z8F9ZpX/0/825bb7e6/L/P1010005a-L.jpg) (https://mikeharrison.smugmug.com/EF-JOHNSON/Johnson-500/i-8FnbwxT/A) (https://photos.smugmug.com/EF-JOHNSON/Johnson-500/i-KZgm683/0/162d5f94/L/P1010008-L.jpg) (https://mikeharrison.smugmug.com/EF-JOHNSON/Johnson-500/i-8FnbwxT/A) (https://photos.smugmug.com/EF-JOHNSON/Johnson-500/i-zqP4wRH/0/d641bf3f/L/HV%20CableCrop-L.jpg) (https://mikeharrison.smugmug.com/EF-JOHNSON/Johnson-500/i-8FnbwxT/A) Title: Re: Building power and audio cables for JK500 Post by: n2len on March 21, 2021, 01:08:19 PM Hi Mike,
Thank you for your kind words. Your pics of the cables built look fantastic! No, I didn’t need to build the HV cable. A gentleman who read my initial post donated a complete original HV cable and several of the octal connectors to build the audio cable. Another ham also donated the connectors needed to build the power cable. Both just for the cost of shipping. That saved me a bit and is greatly appreciated!😊 Regarding the “Pin” connectors... Another gentleman reached out, recommended: That the pin connectors can (and do) cause HV issues on the -500. I have restored many and always change the connectors to BNC for screen and HV and Millen HV connector for mod HV. I plan to make these updates after getting my 500 functioning and on the air. So I will probably end up building a new set of HV cables in the future. I just finished the female end of the power cable. Next week, I plan to start building the audio cable. I’m curious, what type of shielded pair audio cable did you end up using? Best, Len Title: Re: Building power and audio cables for JK500 Post by: MikeKE0ZUinkcmo on March 22, 2021, 11:23:36 PM I used some 22Ga Aircraft grade, Teflon jacketed, twisted shielded pair. AMfone - Dedicated to Amplitude Modulation on the Amateur Radio Bands
Commercial and military aircraft use the best quality wire made, and when modifications are made to an aircraft because of new avionics or whatever, the old cables and wires are removed along with the equipment, and the wires and cabling is usually pitched, replaced with the new cabling. I bought about 50 pounds or so of pulled surplus wire of various types/gauges from a surplus vendor on "The Bay". I usually buy 600+ Volt, Teflon insulated wire, and silver plated/flashed if its cheap enough. Pulled Aircraft wire is virtually new, and since surplus, usually pretty cheap. |