HR 500 Build

[N1IG - Anthony]

Good morning all,

The HR500 was delivered yesterday, and I went right to work putting it together.  The first thing I did was to add a 3 pin header on the JP2 connection, as well as a jumper, so I could easily change the settings.  

I soldered in the RF tap, and then went to work on following the instructions.  This kit actually seems easier to put together than the HR50, mostly because there is a bit more space inside the case.   

That said I did make two mistakes that I need to address before I can complete the HR500.  I had a problem stripping the outer jacket of the white 25 ohm coax (Page 71, Step 8) used on T3 on the AN1819,  and ended up removing the braid at the same time.  

I also monkey handled the Threaded Spacer (Page 36, Step 5) on the top right of the rear panel, and it snapped inside of the #4-40x1/4, and need to replace those as well.

So even with those hiccups, I was able to get about 90% of the rest of the kit assembled and ready.

I do want to use Pure Signal at some point, and have a bulkhead SMA connector waiting to be installed, but I am not sure where would be a good place to drill the case and install it.  

If anyone has done something similar or has a suggestion on where to mount the bulkhead connector that will lead to the RF Tap (Page 15, Step 1), I'd like to hear it.

So incredibly excited about getting the HR500, putting it together, and getting it on the air!

Anthony - N1IG

[jcve...@gmail.com]

Hi Anthony,

It sounds like you are making good progress. I think the only open space on the rear panel is in the power supply section so you may need to route the PureSignal tap through one of the openings between the top and bottom of the amp. If you need any piece parts send me a direct email and I can send whatever you need.

When you first try it out please remember to be gentle, start at 0.5W drive and see how everything goes then slowing increase the power. Also when you are making the RG58 coax jumpers it's important to bend the center conductor around in a tight 'U' like the picture in the manual. I have fixed amps where the builder just used the single center conductor and the eventually come loose in the terminal blocks which is bad news!.

73,

Jim WA2EUJ

[N1IG - Anthony]

Good morning Jim,

It was just so easy to keep working on the kit, even with the two mistakes I made.   All of the boards are populated and in place, except for the AN1819.  Once I get the 25ohm coax (and hopefully not mess that up again), It will be put in place and ready to start testing.

I did make sure and put the bend in each of the center conductors, and it wasn't a problem at all.  What was a bit of a pain was trying to get the tinned braid into some of the connectors.   I found it much easier to remove the LPF board and put those in that way, instead of trying to get my fat hands into the case and do it.

I saw a previous post about starting off with lower power, and already have that burned in to my mind as a must do.  

I may need to rethink how I do the Pure Signal cabling.  I have a right angle connector facing the side panel, with a 20db attenuator right on the RF Tap.  That put the SMA male connector right up against the side panel, and not too good for the connector I think.  May end up putting the attenuator on the outside of the case, but I have time to figure it out.

I did send a contact email earlier about needing the replacement 25 ohm cable, as well as the stand off and nut.  Don't know if you see those or Curtis handles it.  

Before I forget, thank you for making the HR500 available to others.   It's not even running yet, and I'm already grinning :)

Anthony - N1IG

[N1IG - Anthony]

I received the 25ohm cable and installed it.   Went through the startup process and the ATU is not being recognized, and the radios (IC705 & SparkSDR) are not changing the band on the HR500.  Updated firmware and reset all of the cables, and still not working.  Tested both radios with my HR50, and the work perfectly.  At a loss on how to proceed.

Anthony - N1IG

[jcve...@gmail.com]

Hi Anthony,

As with any amplifier, I recommend removing the ATU completely until you have the amp working. That way we are working on one problem at a time. So for now, please remove the ATU and put a short #18 jumper between the RF pins of the ATU In and OUT on the rear panel.

For the IC-705 did you put the amp In IC705 mode with the ACC baudrate set to 9600 as specified in the instructions?

The HL2 can be set up different ways so go through the settings in the HR50 that work and use the same settings in the HR500.

Does that amp switch to TX mode if the key mode is PTT and you ground the center pin of the RCA jack?

Is the voltmeter on the HR500 reading 58V?

Do you have a dummy load or antenna with less than 1.5:1 VSWR to test the amp?

73,

Jim WA2EUJ

[N1IG - Anthony]

I removed the ATU board, and put the jumper in the ATU IN/OUT RF positions.

The HR500 defaults to 19200, but I have changed it to 9600 and tried all of the other rates, none of which works.  As a note, the HR500 is not retaining the last ACC rate set, and always revers to 19200.

Yes, in PTT mode the HR500 indicates TX if I ground the RCA jack, and the IC705 will also in to TX.  It doesn't not go in to TX if the mode is "Off".

VDD is around 58V.

My swr is about 1.2:1 on 15M.  

Total Bias 480mA

At 1W drive I see:

FWD 0W 

RFL.  0W

DRV.  1W

VDD.  58W

IDD.  1A

SWR No indication

Temp 81F

I have tried resetting all of the cable connections, with no change in operation.

Anthony - N1IG

[AC1KM]

If it was me, I would start without the IC-705 interface (Disconnected).

IC-705 Send/ALC (Tip of TRS plug is PTT) connected to the PTT RCA Jack on the Hardrock 500..

If you have a PC, download the Hardrock 500 control Panel and connect it to the Hardrock 500 USB. That will simply band changes, as well as show all pertinent data.

PTT set to On on the IC-705/HF and the Hardrock 500.

Key the amp (press the PTT on your mic). Did you hear relays click? PTT indicator changes from Green to Red? If this is the case, you should have output.

Patrick AC1I (Hardrock 500, Hardplace 705+ interface).

[jcve...@gmail.com]

I'm interested in the 'not retaining settings. 

More info please:

You change the ACC Baud to 9600 rate and select OK.

After you hit OK does it stay at 9600?

If so change the menu item then change it back to ACC Baud; is it still 9600? or did it change?

get out of the menu and go back in; did it change back? or is it still 9600?

Cycle the power, wait for reboot, go back in did it change?

This doesn't seem like something that a physical problem could produce and it's not a FW issue or everyone would have it (even me). 

This is exactly why we are discontinuing the HR500; there is probably something very basic wrong but if we can't resolve it in email, two way shipping is $60-$70 and there is a serious potential for shipping damage.

That and a pair of VRF2933's is almost $300.

[N1IG - Anthony]

Hi Patrick,

I disconnected the interface and installed the HR500 control panel.  HR500CP does show info, but the IC705 does not make the HR500 go in to TX without the interface.  With the interface Mic PTT will make the HR500 go in to TX, and I can see the indications on the HR500CP.  HR500CP also works to change mode, antenna, F-C, and band.

On Monday, May 6, 2024 at 9:32:50 PM UTC-4 AC1I wrote:

[N1IG - Anthony]

Hi Jim,

I should have been more clear.  While the HR500 is powered on it will stay at 9600.  If I cycle the power off/on, it will revert to 19200.

I didn't know that it was being discontinued until two weeks after placing the order, when that was posted on the order page.

I'd be worried about shipping the HR500 with how wonderfully the USPS works in our area.  If need be I would ask if I could drop it off instead, as there drive isn't that bad.

Anthony - N1IG

[jcve...@gmail.com]

Hi Anthony,

So I don't think I'll be able to work on it before Dayton but I go right through Hagerstown on my way back so I can pick it up as I go through if you are available. It would be in the afternoon/evening 5/19.

Jim.

[AC1I]

With an antenna connected and with the PTT off, can you receive and transmit through the amp? SWR look Ok?

Patrick AC1I

[jcve...@gmail.com]

Hi Patrick,

The relays that form the bypass path are all 10A relays so you should be able to pass as much power as you want if the amp is off or in STBY. At some point you might damage the input power detector but I regularly put 100W thru it. The SWR is definitely good to 30 MHz maybe usable to 50 MHz probably not at 144 MHz.

73,

Jim WA2EUJ

[AC1I]

Good to know, Is that also true of the ATU?

(Actually, I was trying to make some sense of Anthony's issue. Almost seems like the RF is not finding its way to the amp)

Patrick AC1I

[jcve...@gmail.com]

Hi Patrick,

The ATU can handle even more power bypassed because it has 16A relays. It's coax in and out so it should have low SWR as well. You can use the ATU even if you aren't using the amp. Just leave the amp off and you can still tune and it will recall solutions when you change bands or antennas. he Max power for tuning is 10-15W but it's protected and will drop-off line if you try to tune with too much power. I think it'll tell you 'Too Much Power'

Not sure about what's up with Anthony's amp, I'll find out though.

Jim.

[N1IG - Anthony]

Yes I can, but the only indication of SWR is on the radio.  The SWR on the left display shows nothing.  But I haven't gone above 0.5W in TX.

And when I swap to ANT-2 with no antenna connected, the radio goes quiet.

Anthony - N1IG

On Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 1:22:48 PM UTC-4 AC1I wrote:

[N1IG - Anthony]

The ATU isn't being recognized for some reason.  I went back and forth checking coax and wiring to see if I had them correct, and have not seen anything out of place.  All of the wiring and soldering looked good to me, except for T3 on the amplifier board.  It really looks hideous, but the connections seem electronically good, albeit very ugly.  

But I needed to walk away and not drive myself crazy. Much better that someone who actually knows what they are doing takes a look.  I wouldn't be surprised if it's something simple that I've overlooked.

Anthony - N1IG

[jcve...@gmail.com]

 Hi Anthony,

The coax jumpers have nothing to do with the Arduino communicating with the ATU. Even if the jumpers were removed the control software should communicate with the ATU. The small ribbon cable that goes between the control board and the ATU is the only thing that needs to by in place for power and communication with the ATU.

The amp cannot calculate the SWR until at least 50W of power is present so since your amp isn't making any output power the calculation for the SWR cannot take place. 

Since the amp biased up OK that means that the MOSFETs are good. Until we figure out where the RF is getting lost it really isn't safe to apply more power. 

Just sit tight, let's see if we can get it going without dispatching the MOSFETs!

73,

Jim WA2EJ

[Geert Jan PE1HZG]

Anthony, does your tuner still not work? I had to re-program the PIC controller on the ATU and know of two other builders who did same.

Perhaps this tip can save you a repair trip especially if you have the tools to do the programming (PICKIT3 will do fine).

I have been distracted working on my HR500, there have been direct questions sent to me but personal reasons kept me from responding, I am sorry.

I am mortified to learn the HR500 is no longer available. Being in the Netherlands I'd never considered shipping it, but I was able to solve the issues I encountered and the HR500 has been the top kit project for me. I am really sorry that the community won't grow any further.

73, Geert Jan PE1HZG

[N1IG - Anthony]

Hi Gert, and thank you for the email. 

Thankfully i live not far from Jim, and took it to him to go over and see what was wrong. 

Within a week he had it all working, and dropped it off on his way to Dayton.   He really went out of his way to get this done before his trip, and I can't express just how appreciative I am that he did that for me.

The pic controller needed to be replaced which he took care of.  As well as some other component on the control board.  I forgot to trim the header pins, which caused a short to ground, which he also corrected.  He also redid the 25ohm winding on T3 on the amplifier board. 

The HR500 works and now tracks either my IC705 or Square SDR 100%.  The bias is only set to 430, so I think it’s running a bit lower than mentioned in the manual.  But i am ok running it at a lower power for awhile, or even forever. I did get the RF-Tap installed to be able to run pure signal, and it seems to work pretty well 

I would like to do something to increase the cooling / heat dissipation, as my operating position is a bit confined. I had placed an external fan on my HR50, so I may do something similar with the HR500.  I think I remember seeing where someone changed or modified the top cover, and I may consider doing that too.

I was sorry to ready that the HR500 is discontinued, but i understand why he made that choice.  It is too bulky and delicate to ship back and forth, and it didn't have enough of a demand to justify keeping it available with the shipping issues.  Im just glad that i was able to get one of the last two that were still for sale. 

I am looking forward to seeing his new amplifier design, and will probably buy one if the premade versions when it becomes available. 

Anthony - N1IG