BC-610-E Question

[xe1yzy]

Guys

Someone here in Mexico wants to sell me a BC-610-E transmitter, without a doubt is a "desierable" item for any Boatanchor collector, but I have 2 question.

First,. Is this Transmitter a good performer?, he really produce a good AM signal, or needs a lot of mod to do so?, I have in my junkbox, some "tunning units", but I guess Im also need the coils for each band, maybe it is not a "cheap and easy" restoration, so I want to make sure

Second, any tip for calm my XYL when she see this little iron come to my home?

Regards to All!

[WA1GFZ]

BC610 runs off 120 volts. It can sound very good with a little work.
Coils can be made home brew. A tuning unit can be modified to work as a buffer with an external VFO or signal generator.

[W2INR]

Hi Pedro

For years I ran a BC 610 Model H as my main rig for 5 years . Then it became the back up transmitter for almost 10 more years.

The 610 is a great transmitter and will provide years of service if maintained well.

There are many Mods available for the rig and parts seem to be available.

Good luck on the aquisition

[WD8BIL]

Second, any tip for calm my XYL when she see this little iron come to my home?

VALLIUM

[Herb K2VH]

Pedro,

From 1960 to 1963 I ran a BC-610-I and it was a wonderful transmitter.  Then I got drafted ino the Army, so sold it.  But in 1996 I acquired a BC-610-E.  I have been running it ever since, and I love it.  BC-610s are great rigs, and just need a little bit of care.   They also need to learn who is boss.  Always let a BC-610 know that you're the boss--not the BC-610.  Then you'll both get along well.  Coils can be made, modified, or bought at flea markets or on the internet.  By all means, get that rig.  They are becoming scarce.

Regarding your wife, just tell her that other women's husbands are out drinking, womanizing, or finding other ways to get into trouble.  You, on the other had, are a well-behaved loving, sober, and loyal husband, innocently playing with vintage radio equipment.  What more could she ask for???

Good luck with that great old hero of World War II!

Herb
K2 Vintage Hallicrafters

[WA1GFZ]

Gee Herb I was boss of your BC610 once. I think I still have some power supply guts kicking around.

[Herb K2VH]

Actually Frank, you were only boss of the top deck.  The bottom part, with mod and Pow sup I got somewhere else.  They had a different boss.  The poor rig is very happy now to have only one boss, after having had two of them for so long {:>). What kind of power supply guts have you got?

The Boss

[WA1GFZ]

I think I have the fil transformer for the 3B28s, Plate DC choke and maybe the HV cap.  I know I gave some stuff away so would have to look.
more than one boss is a pain glad to hear both of you are happy!

[xe1yzy]

ok, ok...ok..Guys

DEAL!

(and pray for me!)

[wb1aij]

Guys
but I guess Im also need the coils for each band, maybe it is not a "cheap and easy" restoration, so I want to make sure


I have a BC-610 and I have 2 of every plate tank coil. If you are interested we can make a deal.

Bob Tomlin
114 Milwood rd.
East Hartford, Connecticut 06118
wb1ai@aol.com

[Herb K2VH]

There you go, Pedro.  No excuses now!

Nice offer, Bob.

K2VHerb

[xe1yzy]

Guys
but I guess Im also need the coils for each band, maybe it is not a "cheap and easy" restoration, so I want to make sure


I have a BC-610 and I have 2 of every plate tank coil. If you are interested we can make a deal.

Bob Tomlin
114 Milwood rd.
East Hartford, Connecticut 06118
wb1ai@aol.com

Thanks a lot for the offer Bob, well Im planning pick up the BC-610 next saturday, Im still dont see inside  the rig to see what is missing, but I'll be in touch, thanks a lot!

[xe1yzy]

There you go, Pedro.  No excuses now!

Nice offer, Bob.

K2VHerb

Yes Bob, sometimes is hard say no hehe.... now my only problem is make a "little" space in the shack!

Let's save that hero!

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

ok, ok...ok..Guys

DEAL!

(and pray for me!)

Pedro,
         Tell your xyl that I GAVE YOU the Beastly 610 GRATIS! Secondly, I have a BC-610-I and really love it! Yes, it groans, arcs over, and does all kinds of nasty stuff. Ignore it and keep on operating it. (much like making love to a beautiful but finicky woman)

One word of advice, Don't trust the bleeder resistor when changing the tank coil. turn it off, unplug it, and get a "Jesus stick" to short it out BEFORE you touch it. WWII' GI's nicknamed the BC-610 the "widow maker" since many were maimed by these things. Just use common sense, like you would any other rig.

I run my HT4-H/BC-610-I with the tuning units and have a 60 and 120 cycle hum. It's caused between the interaction of the tuning units and the plate suckply. If anyone tells you about a slight hum, just tell 'em it sounds the way a BC-610 is SUPPOSED to sound - au natural!

Operating a big Beastly is a rewanding experience and downright fun. It's a real "man's transmitter"!

Best Regards,
                   Joe Cro N3IBX

[xe1yzy]

ok, ok...ok..Guys

DEAL!

(and pray for me!)

Pedro,
         Tell your xyl that I GAVE YOU the Beastly 610 GRATIS! Secondly, I have a BC-610-I and really love it! Yes, it groans, arcs over, and does all kinds of nasty stuff. Ignore it and keep on operating it. (much like making love to a beautiful but finicky woman)

One word of advice, Don't trust the bleeder resistor when changing the tank coil. turn it off, unplug it, and get a "Jesus stick" to short it out BEFORE you touch it. WWII' GI's nicknamed the BC-610 the "widow maker" since many were maimed by these things. Just use common sense, like you would any other rig.

I run my HT4-H/BC-610-I with the tuning units and have a 60 and 120 cycle hum. It's caused between the interaction of the tuning units and the plate suckply. If anyone tells you about a slight hum, just tell 'em it sounds the way a BC-610 is SUPPOSED to sound - au natural!

Operating a big Beastly is a rewanding experience and downright fun. It's a real "man's transmitter"!

Best Regards,
                   Joe Cro N3IBX

Hi Joe!

Tnx for the advice and the tips!, and also for gift me the BC-610 ;-) , as you can see Im following also your advice regarding about the "Better antennas by Eimac" Im sure its going to be a lot of fun using this WWII transmitter ( Im a WWII's Green radios Fan).

About XYL she says to me, "Im going to put over your head the next radio that you bring  home"  but I guess this time its simply imposible he he

Have a nice weekend Joe, and again thanks for answer

[xe1yzy]

Well...

The Hero arrives, but I found 2 units! some rust in the cabinets but inside looks well, the 2 250Th are intact! a lot of fun and work to come, I have enough parts for finish at least  one BC-610. men this irons are Heavy!!

I NEED YOU GUYS!!!!

following you will find the pictures;

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2/xe1yzy/32g/index.album?i=0

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

Pedro,
         Congradulations on getting them! I liked the pics. I hope you can get both of them up and running.

It would be nice to have two of them, each set up on a different band. It would be a lot easier to QSY, change bands, etc. Regardless, the best of luck in getting on the air with at least one of them in the not too distant future.

What rx are you planning to use with the BC-610?

[xe1yzy]

What rx are you planning to use with the BC-610?

Hi Joe!

Thanks a lot for your comments, well Im planning use the R-390 as receiver with the BC-610, Im also have a SX-28A Super skyrider.

Im Guess Im going to start with the power supply, BTW it is advisable go solid state in the P.S.?

Joe, any tip for the  restoration is highly appreciated, thanks a  lot!

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

Pedro,
        What bands do you plan on operating with it? Did they come with any tank coils?

Regarding the restoration of one or both units, you may want to post your queries under the technical forum. I'm limited in my technical abilities (still learning a lot), but will be more than happy to help you with what I can. We have a few people that I know of; and probably many more I don't, that have BC-610's or knowledge of them, who'd be more than happy to help you out.

I forgot to ask, did you get the BC-614 speech amplifier with your units? It would come in handy, but not absolutely necessary to use when running them on AM. If you don't have one, you could use a pre-amp, or other suitable type of speech amplifier connected to the grids of your 2A3's.

FBOM on your receivers. Both the R-390, and SX-28A have unique characteristics that make them both great receivers. I really think you'll enjoy the experience of using the SX-28-A in particular. Besides keeping your station all "Hallicrafters" and period, they have terrific sounding audio. I use a Hallicrafters SX-17 (1938) with mine and love the "aura" it creates when operating the vintage station.

In my opinion, operating a BC-610 is a fun and rewarding experience. Besides using a real piece of history on the air, it'll put out roughly 300W from the 250TH for a commanding signal.

Regarding going solid state with the power supply, I believe it's a matter of personal preference. The 866A receifiers can be a little finicky until they're warmed up, and can flash over, especially in a cold and damp environment (being in Mexico, you probably won't have that problem), and can develop "rectifier hash", an annoying noise sometimes made by mercury vapor tubes that one can hear in your receiver.
I use "xeon" rectifiers in mine,  3B28's. It's a drop in replacement and a bit more stable.
Going to solid state rectifiers would be fine also, but remember, you'll increase your voltages a little bit. Places like "Nebraska Sales" has them for about US $66 each, but you should be able to find them for a more reasonable price elsewhere.

Let us know how you make out with getting them operational.

Very Best Regards,
                           Joe Cro N3IBX

[xe1yzy]

Hi Joe

Well no, Im not have the speech amplifier, any ways Im working also in a good audio procesor system for the shack, Im planing use a mixer in order to feed the audio to several transmitters with the same audio procesor chain.

I have some coils, I dont identify yet for wich bands, and several tunnig units, as a matter of fact, Im buy some NOS tunning units several years ago just for the parts, but now I can use them, Im sure that I can put the BC-610 in 40 and 80 meters, Im also found an article in internet about how to make the coil for 160 meters.

Maybe I modified the TX in order to have a VFO, a good pi Network, with less hassle to change bands.

Im start today to disassembling one transmitter, and I realize that the L4 modulator reactor, or RF choke are lost in both units, the power supply transformer are huge and heavy! Im planning make a good sand blasting to the cabinet and the 3 chassis,paint all the panels and reasamble the unit, the layout is not so complicated, besides the manual are excellent.

Im also want to fabricate some support with wheels, once I put back all the stuff its difficult to move, 400 pounds of pure Iron!.

Of course Im planning to post here in the forum my progress with the TX, I don't know how many time going to take put the BC610 on the air again, but restoration is part of the joy!

thanks a lot Joe, and my very best regards to you too,

[Burt]

Pedro,

From 1960 to 1963 I ran a BC-610-I and it was a wonderful transmitter.  Then I got drafted ino the Army, so sold it.  But in 1996 I acquired a BC-610-E.  I have been running it ever since, and I love it.  BC-610s are great rigs, and just need a little bit of care.   They also need to learn who is boss.  Always let a BC-610 know that you're the boss--not the BC-610.  Then you'll both get along well.  Coils can be made, modified, or bought at flea markets or on the internet.  By all means, get that rig.  They are becoming scarce.

Regarding your wife, just tell her that other women's husbands are out drinking, womanizing, or finding other ways to get into trouble.  You, on the other had, are a well-behaved loving, sober, and loyal husband, innocently playing with vintage radio equipment.  What more could she ask for???

Good luck with that great old hero of World War II!

Herb
K2 Vintage Hallicrafters

She could ask for sex.

[w3jn]

 

Why necro this thread?  The discussion's been done with for over 3 years.

[k4kyv]

Use crystal control or an external VFO and the famous hum will go away.  It appears to be a result of frequency/phase modulation of the master oscillator stage.  It's probably stable enough for 160, and I suspect you could get by on 75/80 but I wouldn't recommend it for 40 or 20.  The built-in M.O. not only has hum; it drifts, and it is very difficult to precisely set to frequency.  The transmitter was designed for xtal control, and the M.O. was included as an afterthought, for emergency use under battlefield conditions.

I once had a RTTY converter unit, which was a very stable VFO designed to go with the 610 with built-in FSK capability, but it was almost half the size of the 610 itself and weighed over 100 lbs.  A ham up in MI wanted it, but shipping would have been too difficult and costly, so I ended up parting it out.  That was before I acquired my outdoor shack and my tons of radio stuff in the loft was about to cause my dining room ceiling to collapse.

To make the 610 work properly with an external VFO, you need to disable the feedback circuit in the first oscillator stage to convert it to a buffer stage.  IIRC, it involves shorting out one rf choke.  I have a schematic and some Army technical data out in the shack.  I'll try to find it and see exactly what is in the osc. stage. 

I put a couple of BC-610E's on the air for friends decades ago, but I never used one myself.  I did pick up a couple of E's back in the early 70's for $25 each, but re-sold them for the same price because I had no dry place to put them. I have regretted that ever since, particularly since they were never heard from again.

As I said in a previous thread, I suspect there is more than one AM transmitter sitting round somewhere in Mexico waiting to be found.  I wonder what happened to all the transmitters in the low-power medium wave and short wave XE broadcast stations listed in White's Radio Log in the 50's and 60's that I used to be able to hear here, that have now apparently gone dark because I can no longer pick them up.

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

Use crystal control or an external VFO and the famous hum will go away.  It appears to be a result of frequency/phase modulation of the master oscillator stage. 

Pedro,
        I don't know if you're old enough, but if you remember what Radio Moscow sounded like during the 1960's, that's what a stock BC-610 sounds like when run on it's MO "tuning units". To me, it gives them some character in their signal. My BC-610-I produces about 10 % 60 and 120 cycle AC hum in the audio when run with the stock tuning units.

Whats a few different modulated pitched hums on your carrier signal between friends?

BTW, how are you making out with your BC-610? Let me know if you need any advice or help. They will do yeoman duty on both 160 and 75 Merters, as well as some of the higher bands.

Mod-U-later,
                Joe Cro N3IBX

 

[w3jn]

Guys, this whole discussion was from March 2005.