No receive and High SWR on all bands:

[KN5EE]

Hey folks, I’m coming to the masters for some guidance. I’ve searched here, YouTube, Facebook etc.

So I built the low-bands version, I checked continuity on all my toroids (I believe they’re all wound correctly) and SMA. I managed to get the firmware on (using a Mac… put a lot of research into that) and I calibrated the frequency. I’ve tested with the 3x batteries as well as a 12v battery:

My issues are that on ALL bands I have an SWR of 9.99 and a power output of roughly 1 watt (using resonant ants). I also cannot hear any stations, for example can’t hear CW where known stations are.

Using my limited knowledge, I feel like these two things are related and this means I probably have something wrong that is common to all bands (T1 & T2 maybe?)

Would you all have ideas of what I might should check first?

Thank you!

72,
KN5EE

[KE0QQQ]

Still stuck ? Sorry for the moment there

my vague answer of an open circuit rings in my head.

Are you using something to determine there is a watt coming out ? or is that what the radio indicates ?

Do you have another radio to see if something is being transmitted?

As long as you tempted fate with big voltage. are any of the BS-170's hot to touch after attempting to transmit?

How do you remove the coating from the coil wire before soldering ? I scrap with a razor blade against cardboard

How much flux residue is there around the pin connector after your done soldering the line of pins?
I got all in a hurry solderiing the pin socket in and melted enough of it to wreck it
I learned to solder a pin or two , then let the board cool off before going down the line of pins

You have good solder?
You have pictures to share ?
i use a tiny 60w iron from the mighty river of consumption for 16 bucks >
Soldering Iron Kit - 60W Soldering Iron Adjustable Temperature, Solder Wire, Tweezers, Soldering Iron Stand, 5 pcs Solder Tips, Desoldering Pump, Solder Wick, Heatshrink Tubes [110 V, US Plug]

[KN5EE]

Thanks for the response. The wattage coming out, I’m getting that from the radio itself. It is transmitting as I’m seeing it on the waterfall of my G90.

I’ll have to check the temp of the BS-170s.

I removed the coating of the wire using a file (then checked continuity that I actually removed it).

I just attached a bunch of pictures. My solderer is cheap but probably better than my skills hihi. I don’t know if it matters but there’s a gap in that long line of pins, I can’t seem to close that gap though.

Thanks!

[KE0QQQ]

Hello,
Thank you for posting some pics. I'll stare at pictures like these and work up the courage to get the iron out, then realize just how small these things are. And they seem to be getting smaller. Maybe it's me

but onwards.. ready? I stared at how the torroids are wound. Not each one, but alot of them the wire. It should enter each hole in the board from each side of the torroid, up one side, down with the other.
It appears the wire routing makes an effort to go under and sneak in the hole. L11 is the clearest example. Does it make a difference, I don't know as fact, its just different

The SMA is kinda cold and blobby. I cheat and use a tiny spec of plumbing flux,, shh,,

The pin row is rough, it could be tighter and maybe one of them is saggy from the heat or some solder got down in a hole. The one I wrecked that way, I used a pliers and gave a final swish together to get thru the day and got another kit

[KN5EE]

Thanks for the input. I redid all the toroids so that the wire wasn’t traveling underneath. I resoldered (or touched up) just about everything. Still not working something major is wrong I just can’t figure out what it is.

[KE0QQQ]

Persistence is good. I have made 5 of these to get 3 good ones, one kit was counterfeit. I should have known better to trust an unknown source. The other was on me and it took a trip across the shop and against the wall to fix it

You have seen others talk about there plight with the pin row. From that I learned you can power the main board up. It will give that NANO error when you transmit.

Does the radio click the relays when you power up and change bands ?
Can you check voltages on each side of the pins ? << do that
Just use USB till you see the truth

I have one more kit I'd like to build but Im waiting for the ultimate winding count for the toroids from someone smarter than I

Lettuce know how it goes !

[KN5EE]

Yep the clicking is there. Thanks for the encouragement, I’ll keep tinkering!

[DL2MAN]

Measuring DC resistance through coils is misleading, as there are a lot of DC shorts on the Board.
Since RX and TX is affected, I suggest, injecting a Signal from RF source and track it down the RF Path, to see where it´s lost.

73 Manuel; DL2MAN

[KN5EE]

Ok cool. Thanks!