How NOT to restore vintage gear

[k4kyv]

In the August issue of Electric Radio the "Restoration Corner" feature describes how K4AEK "restored" an odd-ball frequency Bliley HF2 crystal, a pre-WW2 one with the round holder and prongs designed to fit into pins 2 and 4 of a standard 5-pin tube socket, to make it work on 3885 kHz.

He removed the guts from the holder, including the pressure plates and spring, then took a dremel tool and hollowed out the interior of the bakelite case enough to fit a 3885 kHz HC6/U inside, and soldered the wire leads to the prongs.

At least he didn't destroy a good ham band HF2 crystal, but it is a shame to destroy any of those old crystal holders, since that makes one less in existence, as they are no longer manufactured.

One of my homebrew transmitters uses those type crystals.  I have a drawer full of ham band crystals of that type made by Bliley, Valpey and other manufacturers.  I have never gutted the the insides of one to change it to a frequency I wanted; all you have to do is disassemble the crystal and replace the quartz plate with another one ground to the frequency of choice.  Several of my quartz plates originally came from FT-243  holders.  Most of the time you can remove the crystal plate from the FT-243 holder, drop it right into the old round holder, reassemble it, and it will work perfectly first time.  I would also reassemble the FT-243 holder without the quartz plate and save it in my parts storage area.

If you don't already have an FT-243 in your junk box and none of the crystal manufacturers will make up a bare quartz plate without holder, why not order one in the FT-243 package and then transplant the crystal, rather that ruining the original holder and soldering in an HC6/U?  Besides, I doubt that a little dinky HC6/U will tolerate for very long the high crystal current typically generated in the oscillator circuit of older transmitters of that era.

One note of caution; the old style holders for crystals 7 mHz and above is different from those for 80 and 160m, and the crystals that fit the two types are not always interchangeable.

[WBear2GCR]

Don,

suggest you write a letter or an article on the subject, and/or related subject matter and send it to Electric Radio!

I think that they and all who read what you say would appreciate it!!   

           _-_-WBear2GCR

[K9FH]

why not order one in the FT-243 package and then transplant the crystal,

I had heard a rumor a couple years ago, possibly originating from Peterson Radio, that the FT-243 holders were no longer available and not being manufactured.  Has anyone tried ordering new FT-243 xtals lately that can confirm or deny that rumor?

[N3DRB The Derb]

I did exactly that with a 3.885 ft 243 CW crystal - transplanted it into the big round holder that the 1939 Stancor transmitter used. worked perfectly first time and everytime.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

why not order one in the FT-243 package and then transplant the crystal,

I had heard a rumor a couple years ago, possibly originating from Peterson Radio, that the FT-243 holders were no longer available and not being manufactured.  Has anyone tried ordering new FT-243 xtals lately that can confirm or deny that rumor?

Don't know of any manufacturer making FT-243 holders from scratch. I believe most crystal manufacturers now use the HC17/U holder in place of the original FT-243.

Check out the International Crystal web site. They have a ham radio section including a mention of supplying crystals for boatanchors and also include a list of by-gone ham manufacturers.
http://www.icmfg.com/hamradio.html
There just a "1-800" call away.

[k4kyv]

If you can get a working xtal slab for the frequency, there are thousands, probably millions of FT-243  holders out there, military surplus as well as old ham crystals.  The holders can be refilled, so the lack of newly manufactured holders should not prevent new xtals from being manufactured and sold.

Kind of like after-market auto parts.  Sometimes you can tell by looking at a newly purchased part that the bakelite case or other plastic or metal pieces have been recycled.  That's why they often give you a "core" discount on a new part if you give them the crapped-out one in exchange.

[N3DRB The Derb]

nope, my holder was a round ceramic job with thick pins. vy buzzardly. Fit into a 5 pin ceramic tube socket.

[N3DRB The Derb]

ok, I give. stop. you win. 

[W1UJR]

Saw the same article, had the same thoughts Don.

Of course, when we go to our reward, I doubt many are going to be rooting about
for old xtal holders, if they even have amateur radio at that time.
Still, I agree with your sentiments.

Quite correct, I use the old style holders in the Gross rig, and the Ft-243 blanks generally work as well.
They seem a bit more temperamental than the larger blanks, but with some lighter loading on the osc, they work FB OM.

Probably a good time, or maybe confirm as I sure that some of you fellows would know for certain - The larger the xtal blank, the higher the "activity" or output which can be gotten from it?

Nice thing about the older holders, easy to take apart and clean, and the little thumb screw on top allows you to set the best pressure for xtal activity.

http://gallery.me.com/brucehowes#100210

[N0WEK]

Then there's this holder...



299 kc



Big rock and FAA approved! 

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I've got dozens of the old holders as well, many of the type pictured in ER and a lot of other sizes as well. Like you Don and probably others, I've used very few over the years but always kept them for the 'what if' possibilities. And also like you, I realize it's simple to change, clean, even grind a blank to achieve the desired result. But these little round Bliley holders are fairly common compared to other types, and demand for them certainly isn't growing from all I've seen. Ten, twenty years from now, who knows how many will still be using them? So if it gets or keeps another piece of old gear on the air, I'm all for it. After all, there are folks out there who 'restore' antique gear by powder coating it, adding pilot lights, and so on. Butchery by degrees?

At least the guy who adapted the crystal holder has a desire to be on the air. If he was just collecting original crystal holders, that would be different.

[W1UJR]

This is a good place to post this little gem on the Bliley Xtal Company and the "Secret X-Lap Process" -->>
http://www.bliley.net/XTAL/Story.html

If you would like to download and view the entire article, with photos, here is the PDF file -->> http://www.bliley.net/XTAL/docs/history-PDF/BEC_History-HR.pdf


Yes, Bliley Crystals was started by a ham...more than a few years ago.

[K1ZJH]

He removed the guts from the holder, including the pressure plates and spring, then took a dremel tool and hollowed out the interior of the bakelite case enough to fit a 3885 kHz HC6/U inside, and soldered the wire leads to the prongs.

 

If you don't already have an FT-243 in your junk box and none of the crystal manufacturers will make up a bare quartz plate without holder, why not order one in the FT-243 package and then transplant the crystal, rather that ruining the original holder and soldering in an HC6/U?  Besides, I doubt that a little dinky HC6/U will tolerate for very long the high crystal current typically generated in the oscillator circuit of older transmitters of that era.

One note of caution; the old style holders for crystals 7 mHz and above is different from those for 80 and 160m, and the crystals that fit the two types are not always interchangeable.

Hi Don!

There's at least one vendor selling ham FT-243 crystals that have hidden HC6/u xtals inside. He makes the claim that the modern crystals are less lossy, and less likely to fail when over excited in a tube transmitter. Being an old timer who's seen damaged wafers from a Tri-Tet oscillator I would tend to agree more with your assertions and experiences.

Pete