B&B Tech: Full Monte TS-50/S

"FULL MONTY" TREATMENT FOR THE KENWOOD TS-50

The TS-50 is an extremely popular mobile rig and for good reason; it's small size and great performance guarantees it a place in the "HF Rig Hall of Fame"! But as with most rigs, the TS-50 can be plagued with a few problems; one is distortion on receive and/or transmit, or lack of receive and transmit on SSB/CW while FM and AM seem to work fine. These all have a common cause; the DDS units are intermittant. As part of our "full Monte" treatment for the TS-50, we r&r the DDS units and resolder the SMD resistor ladder packs that are used for D/A conversion in the DDS units. In addition, here's what else we do:

	DC-DC converter mod: The DC-DC converter in the TS-50 is known to cause problems with the ALC control as evidenced by "pumping" of transmitter output in any mode. You will be transmitting, and notice a periodic "dump" of TX power to 5-10 watts, then it slowly builds back up to rated power. This mod fixes that. By the way this is the same design (and same problem) as the DC-DC converter in the TS-850.
	Check and replace the surge arrestor tube at the antenna lead-in, if needed
	Repl C123, audio output capacitor

	Replace the memory battery
	Lube the main encoder (VFO) shaft
	Align RF and IF stages as needed
	Your option: adjust power output min and max; MIN goes from ten watts down to 4.5 watts; this makes you "legal" for the QRP contests and much easier to shoot for a QRP QSO, just go to the TEN WATT level, and you are under the accepted QRP limit. We also set the MEDIUM or 50W level to 25 watts. This gives you more even power steps of about 6db or so per step, or about one S unit. Again, this is at your option.
	60M transmit mod
	set final and driver bias per factory spec.
	clean controls as needed
	any other minor repairs needed
	on-air check, receive and transmit

All this for a Flat Rate of only $179 (major parts and shipping extra).

IMPORTANT NOTE: FOLLOW OUR SHIPPING ADVICE! It's not recommended to use the orginal box for the TS-50 to ship it. This can damage the box, and the rig can be damaged if the foam is a little loose and the rig slides around inside the box. See the SHIPPING PAGE for packing instructions. Use of the original box(es) for shipping is not recommended.