PeKo Radio
The radio equipment we target covers a wide field from amateur radio equipment to car radios used in vintage cars to marine communication radio equipment and so on. Often these solutions enable vintage or surplus equipment to be operational again or to convert it to other use, e.g. surplus military equipment used for amateur radio purposes. |
| Vintage and Surplus Radio Support Products |
Currently we are offering the RVB-2 solid state radio vibrator as a solution for radios and other mobile tube equipment containing the now aging mechanical vibrators as used in the power supplies. These mechanical vibrators often fail and that is even true for replacement NOS (new old stock) units. We offer a range of product variations that accommodates different equipment, not just for standard battery voltage ranges, but also equipment that uses vibrators with unusual input voltages, e.g. for: General Electric model 250 We offer models that can be used at 2V battery voltages as is used in radios like the GE model 250. R-174/GRR-5 We recently added a model that can handle very high voltages. Some radios like the R-174/GRR-5 have a vibrator that runs on a much higher voltage (100V in the case of the R-174). This vibrator can be replaced by an RVB-2ASHV. For clarification please note that this radio also has another vibrator that can be replaced by a standard voltage RVB-2A.
RVB-2 Solid-State Radio Vibrator OVERVIEW shows an overview of what this product is for and how to select the right version. Start here if you quickly want to figure out what you need and how to get it.
more details on the RVB-2 solution.
solution The RVB-2 SOLUTION goes into more detail on the specifics of the RVB-2 and the wide range of vibrators and equipment it covers The following pages explain in detail how to connect the RVB-2 and provides a method to assemble the unit properly in the old vibrator housing.
RVB-2 ASSEMBLY tips & tricks shows you how to install the RVB-2 READY TO ORDER? Go to our ordering page to order your RVB-2 |
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NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: Retrofit/Upgrade Kit for Collins MP1 Power Supply We are announcing a new product, designated RVB-MP1. This is an upgrade kit that allows you to overhaul/repair your vintage Collins MP1 mobile power supply. The kit replaces the old (corroded) PCB board containing the leaky capacitors, and the obsolete DA3F3 germanium transistors. The new power semiconductors are located on the RVB-MP1 board itself, so with the RVB-MP1 kit, there is no need to install external transistors any more. The RVB-MP1 board also replaces all the old electrolytic capacitors as well as the obsolete diodes for new components having much higher reliability. The upgraded MP1 will be based on power MOSFETs that are microprocessor controlled, running at a higher frequency (1600 Hz instead of 900Hz) improving the over-all efficiency from about 65% to over 80%. The new RVB-MP1 will offer a sophisticated inrush current regime controlled by firmware. This puts much less load on your DC power supply during startup, and will also protect the connected transceiver against sudden voltage steps. The new RVB-MP1 board has the same dimensions and mounting hole locations as the original Collins board and can easily be exchanged. Only one extra wire has been introduced. This is to supply the microprocessor on the new board. It is important that you don't forget to connect this wire, otherwise the new board will not work. See the note below the installation video (second video below) for more details. We prepared a video that demonstrates this upgrade product and can be seen here:
At 20:34, 22:16, 28:27 and 36:54 you can see which wire in the existing MP-1 configuration can be re-used and should be retained for supplying the microprocessor. At 49:41 and 1:04:00 you can see where to attach this wire on the new board (the solder point is designated on the board with JP106). The original Collins MP1 transformer allows for an optional +130V DC output, as shown by Collins in the original schematic diagram. However, the original Collins MP1 board has no provisions to facilitate the additional components needed for this feature (depicted as dotted in the Collins diagram). The RVB-MP1 DOES facilitate this option. We provide a version where the components for this option are mounted on the board. This version is sold as a RVB-MP1MV. There are LETHAL voltages present inside the MP1 while in operation and right after switch-off when the HT capacitors on the board have not had a chance to bleed-off yet. You should therefore always disconnect the MP1 from the DC input and wait one minute to let capacitors bleed off before opening the MP1 enclosure!
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| A GENERAL WARNING: |