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HobbyPCB HARDROCK-50 Assembly Instructions Manual

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HARDROCK-50 USA Version

Assembly Instructions

Jim Veatch
WA2EUJ
June 30, 2012

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Summary of Contents for HobbyPCB HARDROCK-50

  • Page 1: Assembly Instructions

    HARDROCK-50 USA Version Assembly Instructions Jim Veatch WA2EUJ June 30, 2012...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................. 1 SPECIFICATIONS ............................ 2 ASSEMBLY OVERVIEW ........................... 3 CONTROL PCB INVENTORY ........................4 REAR PANEL PCB INVENTORY ....................... 5 AMPLIFIER PCB INVENTORY ........................6 CHASSIS PACK INVENTORY ........................8 FRONT PANEL PCB ..........................10 BACK PANEL PCB ..........................14 INDUCTORS AND TRANSFORMERS .....................

  • Page 3: Introduction

    1. INTRODUCTION Congratulations on your purchase of a Hardrock-50 linear amplifier kit. The HR-50 is designed to provide 50W of RF power output with a drive level of 5 watts or less on the 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 17 and 15 meter Amateur Radio frequency bands.

  • Page 4: Specifications

    2. SPECIFICATIONS ITEM SPECIFICATION Frequency Range 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15 meter Amateur Radio Bands Input Power 5W maximum Output Power 50W nominal DC Power 12-14 Volts, 10 Amps typical, 12A maximum Keying Modes Stand-by, Carrier Operated, Push-to-Talk Input/Output Jacks UHF Connectors Size 4.25”...

  • Page 5: Assembly Overview

    3. ASSEMBLY OVERVIEW Assembling the Hardrock-50 amplifier kit should be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. If at any time you feel frustrated or are having difficulty, take a break, ask questions on the forum or email, remember that if you are having a problem with something there’s a good chance that someone else has had the same issue.

  • Page 6: Control Pcb Inventory

    4. CONTROL PCB INVENTORY PART ID DESCRIPTION PICTURE QUANTITY JP101 10 PIN DUAL ROW HEADER JP102 20 PIN DUAL ROW HEADER SOCKET R111 10K POTENTIOMETER S102, S102, PUSH BUTTON SWITCH S103 LCD101 2X16 CHARACTER LCD DISPLAY D105 BI-COLOR LED LCD101 16 PIN SINGLE ROW HEADER HEADER...

  • Page 7: Rear Panel Pcb Inventory

    1. REAR PANEL PCB INVENTORY PART ID DESCRIPTION PICTURE QUANTITY Y301 12MHZ CRYSTAL X301 DB9 ACCESSORY JACK JP302 10 PIN DUAL ROW HEADER X303 USB TYPE B VERTICAL PCB MOUNT CONNECTOR X104 RCA JACK METAL VERTICAL PTT IN FRONT/REAR PANEL CABLE 10 PIN IDC CABLE PCB MOUNTING SCREWS #4 5/8"...

  • Page 8: Amplifier Pcb Inventory

    2. AMPLIFIER PCB INVENTORY PART ID DESCRIPTION PICTURE QUANTITY 13.8VDC, GND TERMINAL, MALE DISCONNECT, 6.35MM 20 PIN DUAL ROW RIGHT ANGLE MALE HEADER AMP_IN 2 PIN HEADER 3 PIN HEADER L7,L6,L9,L8,L11,L10 T50-6 POWDERED IRON CORE L13,L12,L14,L15 T50-2 POWERED IRON CORE Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 RD16HHF1 RF_IN, RF_OUT...
  • Page 9 T-75-43 OUTPUT TRANSFORMER LM35 TEMPERATURE SENSOR VR1, VR2, VR3, VR4 1K 25 TURN POTENTIOMETER TOROID WIRE #22 ENAMELED WIRE 10’ DIRECTIONAL COUPLER WIRE #30 KYNAR WIRE 3’ DIRECTIONAL COUPLER AND T1 #22 TEFLON WIRE 12” WHITE, 6” 18” WIRE BLUE T2 and L5 WIRE #18 TEFLON WIRE 2’...

  • Page 10: Chassis Pack Inventory

    3. CHASSIS PACK INVENTORY PART ID DESCRIPTION PICTURE QUANTITY RF INPUT UHF PANEL CONNECTOR RF OUTPUT POWER SWITCH POWER ROCKER SWITCH FRONT PANEL MOUNTING M3 SELF TAPPING PANEL REAR PANEL MOUNTING MOUNTING SCREWS UHF CONNECTOR MOUNTING #4 3/8" MACHINE SCREWS POWERPOLE MOUNTING UHF CONNECTOR MOUNTING #4 MACHINE NUTS...

  • Page 11: Powerpole Mounting

    HEAT SINK COMPOUND PAPER SACHET HEAT SINK DRILLING FOR SELF #41 DRILL BIT TAPPING SCREWS DRIVER MOUNTING SCREWS #4 5/8" MACHINE SCREWS CHASSIS FEET ½” DIAMETER x ¼” HIGH ROUND RUBBER FEET POWERPOLE MOUNTING ALUMINUM M-SHAPED BRACKET...

  • Page 12: Front Panel Pcb

    4. FRONT PANEL PCB This section covers the assembly of the front panel and control PCB. Required tools and supplies are; soldering iron, diagonal cutters, Philips screwdriver and long-nose pliers. From the kit you will need the front panel PCB: FRONT SIDE BACK SIDE You'll also need the “Front Panel Pack”...
  • Page 13 The remaining components are mounted on the back side side of the Front Panel Board Step 3: Find the 1x16 header. Count the pins and ensure there are 16. If there are extra, carefully snap the excess off. The 1X16 header has a long side and a short side it is important to insert the short side into the PCB and have the long side sticking up.
  • Page 14 Step 6: Insert the 3 push button switches, S101, S102 and S103 into their holes. DO NOT SOLDER Step 7: Insert the bi-color LED, D5, into its holes. Note the flat side of the LCD and align with the markings on the silk screen. The 2nd to the longest lead should be facing the “R” on the silkscreen. DO NOT SOLDER Step 8: Align the front panel with the LCD, pushbuttons and LED.
  • Page 15 Step 10: Tighten the all 7 mounting screws so that they are snug. For the screws that hold the LCD module to the Front Panel PCB use a long-nose plier to hold the head of the screw and turn the nut with a nut driver or second pair of pliers.

  • Page 16: Back Panel Pcb

    5. BACK PANEL PCB This section covers the assembly of the rear panel and back panel PCB. Required tools and supplies are; soldering iron, diagonal cutters, Philips screwdriver and long-nose pliers. From the kit you will need the Back Panel PCB: Front: Rear: You'll also need the "Rear Panel Pack"...
  • Page 17 Step 6: Using three #4 5/8" screws, 0.25" spacers, and #4 nuts and four #4 lock washers and one nylon washer, attach the Rear Panel PCB to the Rear Panel as shown. One of the lock washers is used to make up the difference caused by the DB9 (X302) connector as shown. Step 7: Tighten all hardware and solder the 9 pins of the DB9.

  • Page 18: Inductors And Transformers

    6. INDUCTORS AND TRANSFORMERS This section describes the construction of the inductors and transformers that will be installed on the Amplifier PCB in the next section. The Amplifier pack consists 2 bags of parts. The parts needed for the inductors and transformers are in one of the bags, look for a bag with toroid and balun cores in it. Tips for Winding Toroidal Inductors: 1.
  • Page 19 L9 - 7 Turns (6") of #22 enameled wire on a T50-6 Core (yellow), tinned L12, L13 - 12 Turns (9") of #22 enameled wire on a T50-2 Core (red), tinned L14 - 17 Turns (12") of #22 enameled wire on a T50-2 Core (red), tinned L15 - 24 Turns (16") of #22 enameled wire on a T50-2 Core (red), tinned [17]...
  • Page 20 T1 - two windings each with 2 turns of #22 teflon wire. One winding uses white wire, the other uses blue wire for easy identification. Cut two pieces of Teflon wire, one white, one blue each 4 1/2” long. Wrap each wire 2 turns on a BN43-202 binocular core, that is up one hole down the other, up the first one again and down the second for each wire.
  • Page 21 Notice the solder flowing all the way around the copper tubes and up onto the ends of the tubes. NOT THIS WAY: with the solder only on the PCB ends and not on the tubes. There needs to be excellent electrical contact with very low resistance between the ends and the tubes! If you send me your amplifier to fix and T2 isn’t tinned correctly I will be very disappointed.
  • Page 22 Wind 2 windings each using 18" of #30 Kynar wire, 10 turns, one winding through each hole in a BN43-202 core, like this: You should be able to count 10 white wires in each hole in the core. [20]...

  • Page 23: Amplifier Pcb

    7. AMPLIFIER PCB This section covers the assembly of the Amplifier PCB. Required tools and supplies are; soldering iron, diagonal cutters, tweezers and long-nose pliers. From the kit you will need the Amplifier PCB: FRONT: REAR: [21]...
  • Page 24 You'll also need the "Amplifier Pack" which is the pack with the 14 orange relays in it. Check to make sure that all of the required parts are present using the "Amplifier Inventory" which can be found Section 3. Step 1: Solder four ¼” brass stand-offs to the back side of the amplifier PCB at each of the four corners.
  • Page 25 on the relay matched the notch on the silk screen), adjust if necessary. Then turn the PCB over and solder the other 9 pins on each relay. Step 5: Insert a 2 PIN Header at location AMP_IN and a 3 PIN Header at location DRV. Both headers have an orientation tab with is indicated silk screen.
  • Page 26 Step 10: Install the inductors constructed in section 7 is indicated: • L6, L7 Not Used in this version of the Hardrock-50 • L9 T50-6 core, 7 turns #22 enameled wire • L8, L10, L11 T50-6 core, 9 turns #22 enameled wire •...
  • Page 27 Wind 4 turns through the core then solder the other end to the PCB. That’s up and back 4 times which makes four passes on the L5 side and 3 passes on the PCB edge side. I’ve seen two units come back wound with 5 turns which really messes with the output power.
  • Page 28 Step 14: Cut 2 each, 1.5” pieces of white #22 Teflon wire, Strip the ends so that the insulation remaining is 7/8” long, the length of the bare wires is not important just so it’s long enough to go through the PCB. Tin the ends: Step 15: Solder the 2 prepared #22 wires in to the holes in the T2 footprint as shown.
  • Page 29 Step 16: Bend the core over, parallel to the PCB, insert the remaining #22 and #30 wires in their corresponding holes, and solder all unsoldered connections. Step 17: Cut a 6" piece of RG-174 and prepare the ends as described below. [27]...
  • Page 30 Step 18: Using pliers squeeze a header receptacle contact onto the shield and center conductors of one end of the prepared coax. IMPORTANT: the contacts must face the correct way to go into the housing so that the shield and center conductor are on the correct side of the housing. The contacts must also be close to the same extension: [28]...

  • Page 31: Final Assembly

    8. FINAL ASSEMBLY Step 1: Attach the front panel to the heatsink portion of the enclosure using 2 of the M3 self- tapping panel screws. Step 2: Bend the leads of the RD16HHF1 MOSFETs upwards so that when the leads are inserted through the amplifier PCB the hole in the mounting tab aligns with the access hole in the amplifier PCB.
  • Page 32 Step 4: When everything lines up nicely and the amplifier PCB is centered on the heatsink, solder the corner pins of the dual row header. Adjust the height of the LM35 so it is almost in contact with the heatsink solder and trim the leads. Then remove the amplifier PCB and solder all pins of the the dual row header on the back side of the amplifier PCB.
  • Page 33 Step 9: Attach the front panel to the heatsink making certain the 20 pin header properly engages the 20 pin housing. Tighten the 2 M3 front panel screws and connect the power switch cable to the header on the amplifier PCB at the PWRSW location. Step 10: Mount the Powerpole on the power cable assembly to the rear panel using the small E shaped Powerpole bracket, a #4 3/8"...
  • Page 34 Step 14: Attach the rear panel to the heatsink with two M3 screws. Attach the power cable to the amplifier PCB, black wire to the 1/4 spade terminal labeled GND, red wire to the spade terminal labeled 13VDC. Connect the INPUT RCA plug to the RCA jack at location RF_IN and the OUTPUT RCA plug to the RCA jack at location RF_OUT.

  • Page 35: Alignment Procedure

    9. ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE TEST EQUIPMENT REQUIRED FOR ALIGNING A HARDROCK-50 AMPLIFIER • A 13.8V (nominal), 15A (minimum) power supply, meters are convenient but not required: • A digital multimeter with a DC current range that has a resolution of 1 mA or better.
  • Page 36 circuit is designed so that no damage will occur to the MOSFETs with any setting of VR1-VR4 but the bias voltage needs to be 0V (fully CCW) to properly adjust the amplifier. Set R111 on the control PCB about 1/2 way through it's range. It controls the contrast of the LCD. Ohmmeter test: Test 1: Set the DMM to read resistance.
  • Page 37 Step 5: Carefully connect test lead #4 between the positive terminal of the power supply and one of the terminals on the power switch. If the Hardrock-50 does not power up, connect test lead #4 to the other terminal of the switch. The Hardrock-50 amplifier should be powered on, the DMM should read 0 mA and the power switch should be 'off'.
  • Page 38 Step 12: Remove the test lead from the PTT line to unkey the amplifier and the DC current should return to 0 mA. Step 13: Install the bottom cover and your Hardrock-50 is ready to operate. [36]...

  • Page 39: Chassis Wiring Diagram

    10. Chassis Wiring Diagram POWER INPUT OUTPUT REAR PANEL POWER POLE JACK JACK DB-9 JACK REAR PANEL PCB 10 PIN IDC CABLE 20 PIN HEADER M/F REAR PANEL PK DIRECT CONNECTION PLUG PLUG JACK JACK RF_OUT RF_IN 50W AMP PCB CONTROL PCB 13 VDC 2 PIN...

  • Page 40: Amplifier Pcb Schematic

    11. AMPLIFIER PCB SCHEMATIC Amplifier PCB Schematic Page 1 [38]...
  • Page 41 Amplifier PCB Schematic Page 2: [39]...

  • Page 42: Control Pcb Schematic

    12. CONTROL PCB SCHEMATIC [40]...

  • Page 43: Rear Panel Pcb Schematic

    13. REAR PANEL PCB SCHEMATIC [41]...

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