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Exciter identification
Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 8:44 pm
by intermod
Hi, can anyone identify this exciter for me? I'm after the DIP switch settings
IMG_20200504_211418.jpg
Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 9:11 pm
by Bton-FM
That is the Dawson exciter .The divider is 4049 N counter look up the datasheet and it will explain.
Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 10:15 pm
by RF-Head
Correct it is a Dawson driverboard and it use a 74hc4059
There were many of them 10-20 years ago search the forum for more info
http://electronics-diy.com/1-watt-pll-f ... mitter.php
Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Wed May 06, 2020 3:19 pm
by teckniqs
They can be a pain to tune, thankfully it's been many years since I used one of those.
Sometimes you have to change one of the capacitors to get it to lock depending on which part of the band you're using and what cap was already in there.
....And as far as I am aware no one has actually written down all the settings for each frequency and you have to work them all out.
p1.jpg
Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Wed May 06, 2020 3:22 pm
by teckniqs
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Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 3:42 am
by Albert H
A slightly later version of the board had NPO capacitors in the oscillator, and came with two slugs for the VFO coil - a ferrite one for the lower part of the band, and an aluminium one for the upper part. A further refinement to the board gave a doubler driving a bandpass filter, so that none of the ½f got through at all. The final versions had an option for an MRF237 to give around 4 Watts.
Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 7:16 am
by Bton-FM
Hmmm Albert it’s a bit strange it uses BSX20s ......

Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 9:31 am
by teckniqs
Or 2n2369a
....Plus the final BSX20 stage can get quite hot and cause the power to drop, so I used to solder a little solder-tag onto the top of it to keep it cool or fit it with a little TO18 heatsink.
Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 10:37 am
by Electronically
Dawson driver
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Re: RE: Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 10:38 am
by Electronically
Electronically wrote:Dawson driver
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...

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Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 10:42 am
by Electronically
Electronically wrote:Electronically wrote:Dawson driver
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I remember looking at this when jugglingpirate.net had this Dawson board was a good write up about it.
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Re: RE: Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 11:00 am
by teckniqs
Electronically wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 10:38 am
Electronically wrote:Dawson driver
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That one looks like it's got a couple of ZTX313s instead of the BSX20's, makes a lot more sense.
Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 11:07 am
by Electronically
teckniqs wrote:Electronically wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 10:38 am
Electronically wrote:Dawson driver
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...

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That one looks like it's got a couple of ZTX313s instead of the BSX20's, makes a lot more sense.
Yup teckniqs your spot on
Q1 – BSX20
Q2 – BSX20
Q3 – BSX20 (or ztx313 on older boards)
Q4 – BSX20 (or ztx313 on older boards)
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Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 11:12 am
by teckniqs
You could also use ZTX327 but they did a bit less power, which was ideal if you needed less than 1w and I used to usually get about 1.3w out of these which was a bit too much sometimes.
Re: RE: Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 11:16 am
by Electronically
teckniqs wrote:You could also use ZTX327 but they did a bit less power, which was ideal if you needed less than 1w and I used to usually get about 1.3w out of these which was a bit too much sometimes.
Could do as it seems output works from 500mw to 1.2 Watts. But with your idea possibly 1.3 Watts.
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Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 12:08 pm
by teckniqs
I put a Motorola 2n4427 in one of these once and got about 1.8w out of the thing.
Re: RE: Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 12:21 pm
by Electronically
teckniqs wrote:I put a Motorola 2n4427 in one of these once and got about 1.8w out of the thing.
Yea from the read up it mentioned it had 2n4427 Motorola which gives it more power. If you got 1.8 out of it then that's good.
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Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 12:52 pm
by teckniqs
Best to use a better heatsink for them though, like the TO39 one that's twice as long.
Re: RE: Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 12:58 pm
by Electronically
teckniqs wrote:Best to use a better heatsink for them though, like the TO39 one that's twice as long.
Yea longer the heatsink is should keep it cooler. This driver was running a 150watt amp with 28volt 10 amp supply 300va toroidal was used to run it all in one box pretty tidy it was.
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Re: Exciter identification
Posted: Fri May 08, 2020 3:25 am
by Albert H
It's funny that these were called the "Dawson Driver" as it was actually "Kenny Myers" of RFL who designed them. I believe that the first PCBs for these were done by a guy who used to live down in Shirley (near Dawson's old place) and who ran "SLR".