In need of opinions on Viking II's

[WA2ROC]

Yep, I know the old sayings...

I'm going to a local hams house to look at some equipment he has for sale.  It's the stuff I listed elsewhere here that's posted on CraigsList.

I am interested in the Viking II's he has.  There are 3 of them, each with  a 122 VFO.  One hasn't been used in 5 years, the other 2 are condition unknown.
 
I need to know what to look for to decide and make a reasonable offer on one or 2 of these rigs.  I don't think he wants to power them up for me, so it'll have to be Caveat Emptor all the way.

Asking price is $200.00 for each Viking/VFO combo.

[WQ9E]

Dick,

The Viking 1 and 2 are probably the most reliable transmitters produced by Johnson.  The HV filter cap is oil filled but you should replace the B+ and bias filter caps along with the electrolytic audio bypass caps.

Also check the 5R4 sockets and tube bases carefully for any signs of dust buildup or carbon tracking and clean carefully if this is present.   

[W3GMS]

Dick,
I think the Viking II's are a great transmitter.  They are very easy to work on and sound good on the air with some minor mod's if you choose.   I would tend to look for the one that is in best cosmetic condition although that can get you sometimes!  In any event, pull them apart and look inside and make sure all major components are there.  Look around the bases of the transformers and chokes for any tar marks which generally is an indicator that the component has been over-heated and may be bad.  Look at the tube socket mountings.  If it has rivets, its a factory wired unit.  If it has screws its kit built.  I would tend to go for the one that is factory built although, some kit ones actually look better than what the factory did.  

The 122 VFO is a nice match to the transmitter.  

If they are in good shape the price seems fair to me.  

If you do need any parts for yours, let me know and I may have the part to help you out.  

Have fun!
Joe, W3GMS    

[WA2ROC]

OK, here it is.  Not the best looking of the three he had, but it does power up.

Caps will be replaced when they get here, maybe a bit of cleaning up tomorrow, and then it'll be on the air.

[WD8BIL]

Gary hit on one of the few minor weak spots in the V1&2s. The roller inductor!
It needs a good PM schedule. Keeping it clean is essential otherwise it'll arc causing a dead spot that is very dificult to polish out. One of the V2s I had a few years ago came with a deadspot on 75M. Try as I may it was never realiable. I ended up using it on 75 by switching in the 160M coil and winding the roller coil to the other end.

[KB2WIG]

yeah, like whatt they say.


Make sure you have a fuse in both the LV and HV side 'o things. The one fuse will not protect the transformers( i think the lv one will burn up--  i haven't do it yet, but I did power it down when things started to smell funky.)

These things are built like a brick repository of fecal material.


klc

[WQ9E]

One other V1/V2 item is to lube the shaft of the switch that switches the 160 meter components into the final tank.  I have repaired a couple of Vikings where the dial cord driven pulley had sheared loose from its mounting collar due to a frozen switch.  A bit of synthetic oil should do the trick.

[WA1GFZ]

I ripped out the 6al5 and mounted a fuse holder to protect the LV transformer. I solid stated the power supplies and took the two 5 volt windings and tied them in series with the LV primary to get 6.3 down where it belonged. Transformer runs nice and cool. LV is now choke input to get voltage back in the right spot.

[John Holotko]

Gary hit on one of the few minor weak spots in the V1&2s. The roller inductor!
It needs a good PM schedule. Keeping it clean is essential otherwise it'll arc causing a dead spot that is very dificult to polish out. One of the V2s I had a few years ago came with a deadspot on 75M. Try as I may it was never realiable. I ended up using it on 75 by switching in the 160M coil and winding the roller coil to the other end.

I have the same problem with my Viking 2.  When I tune up on 75 I'll hit a couple of spots on threroller inductor where it will arc over. But I still seem to manage to be able to get it tuned okay. I tried cleaning it a couple of times and it helped for a while but then the problem came back.  I might end up yanking out the roller inductor and giving it a thorough cleaning/polishing.  I think I also have a spare V2 roller inductor laying around somewhere.  I might use it to replace the one thats in there now.

Otherwise the Viking 2 is probably one of the most reliable boatanchors that I've ever owned.

[WA2ROC]

I got it home yesterday and replaced the 4 sections of the LV filter caps.  Started with the Variac and the HV lamp lit up no matter what position the HV switch was in, or the main power switch either.  Turns out 2 of the 3 ceramic caps from the RFI coils to ground (on the AC line and antenna relay socket) measured about 150 ohms.  I guess I got dual purpose components, capacitance and resistance, all in one package.

After clipping them out, I took a chance and tried tuning it up.  I got about 105 watts of hum-free RF into my dummy load, and once the mike connector actually made contact with the mile plug, I got good sounding audio.

I now have to make up a plug for the antenna relay (old crystal) so I can get the RF out there where it can do some good.

See y'all on the radio....

[WA1GFZ]

I ripped all that TVI crap out and mounted a terminal strip where I tied in the 5 volt windings in series with the LV primary. Also replaced the line cord with a HD 3 wire cord. The drive level pot is another weak link. There are a number of modifications out there to reduce power

[KM1H]

All those paper caps have to go, especially in the audio section.  My V-II CDC built in 61 had all A-B resistors that were perfect. OTOH the V-1 used lesser quality and a lot were replaced.

In 1998 ER had 3 issues with mods to improve the crappy audio and some other things. Well worth reading and doing.
R-13 is the biggest problem as they like to open.

Carl

[WA2ROC]

This is what was left of the PL-259/SO-239 when we tried to unscrew it.  Looks like the socket was made from pot metal. or it just aged too much in almost 60 years.

Another question:  Will an FT-243 crystal minus its guts be OK for an antenna relay plug into the back of the TX?

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Some serious corrosion in the union, Dick. Looks like it got damp at some point and fused together over time.

If you want to try it out on the air later, give a yell here or drop me email. I've got to finish mowing the north forty before Irene arrives this weekend, but should be free to give it a go this afternoon if you get it ready.

[WA2ROC]

Thanks, but it'll be no earlier than tomorrow afternoon.  Got some things to do after work today and tonight.

BTW, the TR relay socket is for an HC6-U crystal.  I hope I have one of them in the parts bin somewhere

[K9PNP]

This is what was left of the PL-259/SO-239 when we tried to unscrew it.  Looks like the socket was made from pot metal. or it just aged too much in almost 60 years.

That is one of the few things I have never seen.  My VII has an Amphenol SO-239 which looks like it is new.  Could have been storage conditions;  that's what degraded part of mine.

I think about everything has been touched on about the VII here.  A good old almost-MIL-SPECS [mostly] built rig.  Also, there has been a lot written on the forum about it.  If you search this site,  you can probably find an answer to any issue that will come up.

[WA2ROC]

OK, got good audio reports this past few days.  Time to make some other upgrades.

RFI coils and caps to be replaced by a terminal strip and a NEW heavier 3 wire power cord.  It already has one but it's #18 wire.

Replacing the 10uf caps in cathodes of 1st 2 audio stages with new electrolytics.  Coupling caps to be changed to 0.05uf orange drops.  That'll be all for now.

Several folks suggested adding a fuse to the LV power supply.  There's a like fuse (5 amp) but none in the HV transformer primary.

Exactly how does one wire up these 2 fuses?  One in each primary?

Thanks and East coasters, batten down the hatches!