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Author Topic: Morrow MB 560, 565 modulation  (Read 3906 times)
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K6JEK
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RF in the shack


« on: March 05, 2009, 08:39:05 PM »

My buddy Jeff, K6JCA, has a Morrow MB 560 he's been using lately.  He can only squeeze about 50% modulation out if it.  Before he really tears into it, he's wondering if that's about par for the course for those little transmitters.

Anyone know anything about this transmitter?

Jon
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k6jca
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« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2009, 04:27:08 PM »

Thanks, Jon, for posting my problem to the forum -- as of today I'm now registered with AMfone, and I thought I'd add some more information...

Here's what happened...while transmitting on AM last weekend with my Morrow MB-565, I heard arcing and smelled smoke.  Afterwords, I put the radio on the workbench and discovered a burned-out resistor (the cathode-bias resistor in the modulator).  I repaired it and did some testing, and discovered that I could only get about 45% peak modulation (as verified both on a 'scope as well as with a peak-power meter (peak power was only two-times (roughly) carrier power).

This seems to be pretty light-weight modulation, but the problem is...I don't know if it's correct for the Morrow, or not. (I should have been paying more attention to my wattmeter before the smoke appeared.  Oh well!)  The manual states that the radio should give 100% modulation, but I wonder if this is really true, and given the small size of the modulation transformer, the 40-50% that I'm seeing may be more realistic -- but I just don't know.

Does anyone know how much modulation I should be able to get out of a Morrow transmitter?  Does 40 to 50%, max, sound about right?

Also -- does anyone know what the resistance readings should be for the modulation transformer?  I'm measuring (roughly) 110 ohms for both the primary and the secondary, implying that the turns ratio is 1:1.

Thanks for any help!

- Jeff, K6JCA

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K6IC
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« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2009, 08:00:45 PM »

Hi Jeff, (john),

Welcome to this great AM Forun,  Jeff.

The answer from me is,  "No".

But W6WUH has Morrow twins on the air.  He prob knows from experience,  and perhaps other data.

73  GL  SRI to hear of the ensmokement.   Vic
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k6jca
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« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2009, 08:19:33 PM »

Thanks for the information, Vic.  I've sent an email to Larry via his email address that's listed on QRZ.com (hopefully it's a valid one).

Best regards,

- Jeff, k6jca

http://k6jca.blogspot.com/
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w3kbs
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« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2022, 12:20:20 PM »

Can anyone tell me the difference between the 560 and 560 a.

Thanks

Bill
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Pete, WA2CWA
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« Reply #5 on: November 09, 2022, 01:49:59 PM »

Can anyone tell me the difference between the 560 and 560 a.

Thanks

Bill

Bill:
The MB-560 and 560A were only around for about 2 years. In that time the original MB-560 had at least three variations (from what I was told back in the 90’s by someone who was associated briefly with the company) with that last variation very close, if not identical, to the final MB-560A model. In the variations, there were some tube changes and some corresponding part and circuit changes. As far as I was able to find out, no schematic updates were issued for the earlier 560 variations or any other update information. Note that this was not uncommon for many of the amateur radio manufacturers during this time period.
So, the MB-560A schematic most likely covered most of any changes that were done to last variation to the MB-560, but unfortunately, there’s no way to tell for sure other than doing a part-by-part inspection of both models.
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Pete, WA2CWA - "A Cluttered Desk is a Sign of Genius"
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