#30 Kenwood TS 50 Part 3 troubleshoot transmitter and repair

Third and final episode.
In this video we are back on the old Kenwood TS-50. We do a bit of troubleshooting and find yet more interesting faults.
Some blown parts, broken parts, and parts not plugged in. Stay with me as we try and bring this rig back to life.
Peter from TRXBench repairs a TS-50
• #81 Radio repair: Kenw...
Link
gokarters.com/s...

[@pierrelataillade7564]

After watching the series on the TS50.... I realize that patients, stick to it attitude... Has a lot to do with your success. Obviously you have been at this for some time, this has hardened your resolve. Your work ethic has a lot to be admire. Great job .... 73s

[@TheRadioShop]

Thanks for that very nice comment. You have to have a lot of patients to do this type of work. Never give up.

[@TheDisorderly1]

Wow, this was a tough one. I'm glad you got her running again. Nice job.

[@TheRadioShop]

+TheDisorderly1 You got that right. But it is the tough ones that teaches us more. Remember, you do not fail you do not learn. I failed several times on this radio and took a step back and worked on other things. Came back this time and kicked it's butt :-) As always thanks for commenting. We will probably do some restores next.

[@Beretta96Dan]

Good job, Buddy! I think the saving grace of this repair is having that spare circuit board. Nice to have the two coils and the damaged resistor readily available. Thanks for the video! 73...Dan

[@TheRadioShop]

+Beretta96Dan Thanks Dan. And yes, having the extra boards really came in handy thanks to Grant. This radio was full of surprises. Glad it is done. Thanks for coming by.

[@ollisollis]

Thanks for sharing this nightmare repairing a radio. Heavily destroyed by a hobbyist. 73 and keep up the good work.

[@TheRadioShop]

Thanks for the kinds words. This was a tough one.

[@saturn5tony]

Awesome repair on this radio, thanks for sharing.

[@TheRadioShop]

+saturn5tony Thanks for watching. Glad to get the tough ones done and over with :)

[@fey4949]

Very good repair. It's always hard to do a repair when somebody else has been there already. So well done. Hope the spectrum analyzer stays alive. I use some times a receiver to listen for a signal. They are very sensitive. Looking forward to the TS940 an other great project. Take care.

[@TheRadioShop]

+FEY Thanks FEY. Some folks can leave all kinds of surprises for you. Hope to get back on the 940 soon. Need some time off work.

[@TRXLab]

Fantastic repair Buddy! As long a TS-50 is working it is a great radio but woe it fails it becomes a night mare:^) Take care my friend!

[@TheRadioShop]

+TRXBench Thanks very much Peter. It is a nice working radio. And I agree, it makes me have bad dreams when it is not working :) This has been a long head ache repair.Thanks for the reply my friend.

[@maninthevan53]

a couple of months ago I tried to get one of this radio for my mobile that would have bin my Christmas present ,I am so glad I was out bid lol ,I now see the pain in these radios.

[@TheRadioShop]

+danny blackhorse Big pain when they do not work for sure Danny. But when they do they are awesome radios. Think I am going to use this one on the other work bench as a test set radio. Thanks for commenting.

[@raccoonnyc]

some of the toughest repairs are un-screwing up someone else's work. nice job!

[@TheRadioShop]

+raccoonnyc ThAnk you very much. So true

[@daveleisman4441]

I only wish I could understand what he has forgotten. Exceptional video, parts 1, 2 and 3. Many thanks.

[@TheRadioShop]

Thanks Dave.

[@mnpd3]

I had one of those... everytime I turned it on there was something else wrong with it. Can't remember all the many problems, but one was all the panel lights were out; and it wasn't the bulbs/LED's. It wasn't on warranty, so I threw it in the trash. A couple days later I happened to mention the piece of junk's fate on one of the nets. Some guy couldn't believe I thrown it away and begged to have it. I didn't know if the trash had run but checked the can and the TS50 was still there. I sent it to him free of charge with the disclaimer that I wasn't doing him a favor. About a year later I emailed the guy if he'd had any luck. Nope... junk is junk. True story... I have the guy's callsign written in my log somewhere. Incidentally, most of the rigs I've owned in over 40-years have been Kenwoods. But, I wouldn't have one of these junkers again if you gave me a dozen free.

[@michaelcarey]

Great video! I really hate getting radios on my bench that have had other fingers in them... often inexperienced fingers touching things they shouldn't have. The moment anyone says that it's been looked at before... I check everything!! :-)

[@TheRadioShop]

+Michael Carey Thank you. It seems that is all I ever get here on my bench. Several shops around always drop their problem units off to me. I don't mind. :)Thanks for dropping by.

[@mikesradiorepair]

Nothing quite like finishing a good basket case job. You mentioned a old solder sucking machine. Got to love the good old ones. My daily driver is a old Pace from back in the late 70's. God only knows how many hundreds of thousands of connections it has desoldered over the decades and it just keeps chugging along. Hope you get your IFR fixed up. Thats the only thing I hate about combination units, repairing them. They pack the circuit boards in there like sardines. You might consider a new stand alone SA. I recently picked up a new Rigol unit and they are rather impressive for the price. If you get one like that I highly recommend getting the tracking generator option. Its a indispensable option for checking things like band pass filter units. Mike

[@Ronnie9710]

ok.I see you have the ts 50 working now.Great trouble shooting.I love my TS 50.I ran one for years in my big rig.I retired in 2012 and now I run it in my jetta dsl .Its been recapped once about 8 yrs ago.I guess it about time to check it again..Great video.73 fron Ronnie kn4u.

[@TheRadioShop]

Thanks Ronnie, These are great radios when they are working. Good you have some spare parts.

[@bopodopo5853]

Getting ready to pull mine apart...Thanks!!!

[@DoRC]

phew thats a lot of problems. good job!

[@TheRadioShop]

Took quite a while too.

[@OrbiterElectronics]

Awesome diagnostics and repair again my friend, another enjoyable video. Although not an easy repair this time :( But as always you achieved the end goal. I hope your spectrum analyser keeps working well Buddy, but if not I look forward to seeing what's going on with it :) Cheers friend John

[@TheRadioShop]

+orbiter8 (John) Thanks John. Yes this was has been a thorn in my side. Do not know how many hours of footage I have on this rig. Quite a bit. Those hard ones are good for us at times :) I have a good idea on the SA. I think there is power supply issues. Not a lot of service information out there on these IFR units. When I get rich from YT maybe I can buy another hehe. Thanks for stopping by my friend.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Hey Buddy, great job! Nice to watch while having my morning coffee and getting ready for the day. At 22:05 I was thinking, all would have worked if you put that RCA tube back in.... :^) This was a very enjoyable troubleshoot video! Take care.

[@TheRadioShop]

+Mr Carlson's Lab Thanks Paul. Very pleased you enjoyed it. Oh, the 12AU7 tube. For a moment I was like?? Then I saw it there and remembered :) Yes, that is a tube I set aside for another project. A low voltage regenerative receiver I want to build. Was planning a complete video build of the unit.  looks like I have to put that on hold for now with all the vintage stuff I received. Take care my friend

[@IamDerick]

Persistence pays off. Nice work. Cool little radio I will have to see if I can lay my hands on one. :)

[@TheRadioShop]

Thanks, they are not bad at all.

[@supyrow]

Thank You for this! what a gem! 73!

[@TheRadioShop]

+su pyrow Thank you. Enjoyed every head bashing moment lol.Thanks for commenting my friend.

[@supyrow]

+The Radio Shop Thanks once again! my neighbor does not seem to want to give back my new camera... might be a while till I can take some photos of that scope i just acquired... time will tell... -Bobby 73

[@TheRadioShop]

+su pyrow Yes would like to see that scope. Thanks for sharing that :)

[@jimkodysz5404]

I recently subscribed to your channel, and I found this to be a great troubleshooting and repair video! I had a TS-50 and it was an awesome radio and I didn't have a bit of problem with it. It looks like that one has had a pretty hard life:)

[@TheRadioShop]

+Jim Kodysz Hi Jim and thanks for subscribing. When these radios work they are great. The bad thing is when they are in need of repair and the wrong person gets a hold on it. This is where the trouble starts. Thanks for your kind words and glad you enjoyed the video.

[@gilrand6224]

I take it you did not bother to do the extensive repairs required to fix the missing traces and just replaced the board from the other video. I saw that and thought 'he's got his work cut out for him'. I was kind of looking forward to what procedure you were going to use and see how it compares to mine but that was a huge job. I think your explanation of ESR for electrolytic caps is backwards in that the ESR increases as the cap dries out. From your video it sounds like it decreases. I know my esr meter says the cap is no good when the resistance goes above the acceptable value. All in all great videos on troubleshooting! I have 2 TS-50s on the bench right now to go through and no idea IF there is anything wrong or not. So far I have replaced the backlight bulbs with LEDs and the receiver works every Mhz from end to end. 73 for now.

[@PercivalFakeman]

I noticed that my TS-50s board is a bit different in the area of the K1 relay. Perhaps the factory made a change to prevent the failure of the resistor that you encountered.

[@maninthevan53]

awesome job

[@TheRadioShop]

+danny blackhorse Thanks. looks like someone did not like the video though LOL.

[@maninthevan53]

lol maybe this one negative person was searching for something else , the radio was repaired that's the goal and not trashed again well done .

[@TheRadioShop]

+danny blackhorse He He, you may be right mate. Don't bother me though :)

[@fabriziofamelici1043]

great job

[@adriancressy8363]

WOW that was a beat TS50 with all of those leaky caps. You are a patient guy . USB camera is great. I have a TS 50 that squealed when first turned on. Sig meter reads full scale in RX. No antenna connected. Transmits into dummy load. Any thoughts? Radio was in its original box for many years in my shack. Never left outside or in the cold.

[@robertisselhard8957]

Nice video. I have a TS-50S that I had to replace a bunch of the little silver electrolytics on the TX/RX board. What a chore! It now transmits and receives everywhere (it has been 'opened up, not by me') except 1.8 to 1.999 Mhz. If I go to 2.000 it transmits and transmits everywhere else i dial up !!! I have been looking at the service manual (again) to try to figure out where the problem could lie. I do have another TS-50 "organ donor" that i robbed the board that has the microprocessor and backup battery out of. No help. Backup battery is 3.1 volts. Any ideas as to why this radio doesn't want to transmit on 160 meters? I'm stumped at present. And oh yes, MY IFR-1200 S has problems too !!! I'm in the process of replacing the dummy load/power divider (yep too much power in). Please give me any ideas you might have. I'm now fresh out. Thanks in advance. Bob

[@radiobigman47]

i loved the video keep it up buddy i got a 940 parts rig if you need anything

[@TheRadioShop]

+kc9kuh Thank you. Glad you like them. Will be a lot more coming very soon. Probably could put out 2 a week now.

[@markcummins6571]

Just saw this video. I enjoy your work. One thing bothers me about that 470 ohm blown resistor. It looks like that is a part for a circuit that kills any drive signal during receive. I did not see the circuit driving this input . I know the unit is probably not available for additional now, but one way to blow this resistor could be DC voltage from the drive board... maybe another leaky cap?

[@TheRadioShop]

You could be right, anyway all caps were changed on the radio and no further issues have been noted. My first thought was DC got through it and blew the heck out of it. Thanks Mark for your comments.

[@scheetz69]

nice work as allways sir keep the vids comeing. peace 68 ohio

[@TheRadioShop]

+oHIo VooDoo Thanks Ohio. Plenty more to come. thanks for stopping in. I know this was a long one.

[@gilrand6224]

I have 2 TS50s both of which have the same problem, low output on low frequencies. Neither radio will put out 100w until you get to 14Mhz. 10.1Mhz maximum output is about 95w and by the time you get to 1.83Mhz the radio is down to 6.5w max. Above 14Mhz I can get in excess of 100W output without issue. My drive level is reasonably consistent for all bands. I get the same results, with some variation if I drive the PA deck directly and measure the output power directly before the filter deck. I'm about ready to write these radios off to experience and sell them for parts if I don't get some more positive results. I'm leaning toward bad RF power transistors but I don't quite understand how they can be good for some frequencies and not others. Any Ideas I can chase appreciated. Testing done with HP e6380. Thanks.

[@iw0hex]

Thanks, great video. 73s Pasquale IW0HEX

[@TheRadioShop]

Thank you.

[@Darryl603]

If the guy that sent you that board took a little more care while preparing to ship it to you, that probably never would have happened.

[@TheRadioShop]

+Darryl Landry The broken coils? I not complaining. They were giving to me. Think they may have already been broken.. Reason I think this is because the plastic ear was not in the box. Now if this was something I paid for, trust me, I may have complained lol.

[@paul.alarner6410]

nice radios when they work,can crank the output upto 150watts no probs with an easy mod, great untill the caps piss there pants!

[@mikeybinsd]

First time viewer. Are you taking in work? I also have a TS 50 that just went partially bad on me and a reset did'nt clear it Thanks

[@TheRadioShop]

Hi Mike and thanks for watching. Yes I do take in work but on a limited basis. I work a full time job so cannot take much at a time. Perhaps in a month I could get to it.

[@mikeybinsd]

I'll look around here in Southern Cal, but I was impressed with your three vids I watched Thanks

[@PapasDino]

Good job Buddy! I haven't watched all your early videos so I'm not sure what kind of microscope you're using? Santa brought me a inexpensive one and it's ok for static work but the latency is not good enough for real time work. Hope you find the issue with your IFR, I always cross my fingers when I turn on my IFR1500 just in case! 73 - Dino KL0S

[@TheRadioShop]

+Dino Papas Thanks Dino. The microscope is a Dino-lite premier. This is a USB cam. Works pretty good for what it is. You can get about 4-5 inches under it. Like any USB cam it has it's limitations. I really want a trinocular scope that I can look under and still record the view. Maybe one day. Money is not that easy to spend. My IFR 1200 is getting old. Most likely bad caps in the supply I hope. The spectrum was working good until lately. I hate working on that thing.That 1500 is a nice piece of gear. Thanks my friend.

[@salvoognibene8054]

Hello. I've trouble removing VFO Knob. Any hint? Thanks.

[@TheRadioShop]

Remove the rubber band, then you can see the set screws

[@salvoognibene8054]

@@TheRadioShop Screw removed: the knob runs for 4-5mm then stuck. Why?

[@XPFTP]

ooo so wish it was a 60.. never find them puppies grrrrr

[@PedroMendoza-ws3xr]

Necesito ts 50 ya modeficado