COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVER TYPE RA. 17
The Repair and restoration of an early Racal RA17
Inspired by Peter Holtham’s detailed account of the complete restoration of an RA117 (here) I decided to perform the same ‘operation on an RA17. The task was nowhere near as difficult as I had expected. What I found when examining the resistors and capacitors that I replaced only confirmed that this was a worthwhile task. I hope that this article inspires others as much as Peter’s inspired me.
First switch-on and initial tests.
The damaged 3rd IF tag-board.
Horrors within the 2nd VFO.
Anyone for a barbeque? . . . The PSU and Audio circuits.
The Front-End, 1st VFO and 1st Mixer . . . Etc.
3rd IF, 100KHz amplifier, AGC, Limiter, Detector, BFO etc.
Xtal Oscillator and Harmonic Amplifier
Conclusions and various RA17-related links
Post Script . . . A failure in the PSU and thoughts on SSB reception.
Woops! Just fill it in and try again!
Someone fitted the wrong valves . . . again.
PSU and Crystal Calibrator.
Crystal Oscillator and Harmonic Amplifier.
The Wadley Loop Explained.
