Hallicrafters SX-117 Repair Manual
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Hallicrafters SX-117 Repair Manual

Communications receiver
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WDØGOF Walt Cates
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Summary of Contents for Hallicrafters SX-117

  • Page 1 WDØGOF Walt Cates...
  • Page 3 HALLICRAFTERS SX-117 REPAIR MANUAL THIS DOCUMENT IS DESIGNED TO BE A COMPANION DOCUMENT TO THE HALLICRAFTERS OPERATING AND SERVICE INSTRUCTIONS COMMUNICATION RECEIVER MODEL SX-117 MANUAL Walter Cates, WDØGOF...
  • Page 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks to Jim, K9AXN and Al, W8UT who loaned me SX-117’s for the 4 months it took to write this document...

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    TABLE OF CONTENTS 1, INTRODUCTION ..................................... 7 2, GETTING STARTED ..................................8 2-1, MANUAL STRUCTURE ..................................8 2-2, PRODUCTION RUN ..................................8 2-3, TEST EQUIPMENT.................................... 8 2-3-1, SIGNAL GENERATOR ................................8 2-3-2, AUDIO POWER METER ................................9 2-3-3, OSCILLOSCOPE ..................................10 2-3-4, FREQUENCY COUNTER ................................
  • Page 6 7-7, SECOND MIXER V5 SCHEMATIC & VOLTAGE CHART ........................28 7-8, 6-MEG IF AMP V4 SCHEMATIC & VOLTAGE CHART ........................29 7-9, FIRST MIXER V2A SCHEMATIC & VOLTAGE CHART ........................29 7-10, AUDIO AMP AND OUTPUT V12A & B SCHEMATIC AND VOLTAGE CHART ................... 30 8, PRODUCTION RUN DETERMINATION ............................

  • Page 7: 1, Introduction

    1, INTRODUCTION The SX-117 is an amateur radio receiver designed to operate on the HF bands from 80 meters through 10 meters with option for 10MHz WWV. Operation on LF band can be achieved with the companion accessory, the HA-10 converter. Its design was finalized in 1961 and was in production from 1962 through 1964.

  • Page 8: 2, Getting Started

    2, GETTING STARTED 2-1, MANUAL STRUCTURE The analysis and troubleshooting procedures are sequenced in a specific manner to minimize back tracking. Section 2-3, Test equipment requirements defined Section 3, Cleaning, recapping and visual inspection. Section 4, Verify the power source. Section 5, The oscillators tested and verified.

  • Page 9: 2-3-2, Audio Power Meter

    For my bench setup I have a standard ¼ inch phone plug which goes to a switch. The switch selects either a speaker or the audio power meter. Like the SX-117 most of the equipment I work on (Hallicrafters SR series) has a front panel phone jack that disconnects internal speakers. I have an adaptor phone jack with clip leads for working on various other radios.

  • Page 10: 2-3-3, Oscilloscope

    You need a range of 50KHz through 30MHz. 2-3-5, TEST METER Here you can save a little money. Nothing in the SX-117 (or most of the vintage receivers of the era) requires measurements of the four digit or better accuracy. The $4.00 on sale DVM at Harbor Freight is perfect.

  • Page 11: 2-3-6, Audio Oscillator

    2-3-6, AUDIO OSCILLATOR Be careful here. Most function generators will not work. Most function generators are 50-ohm output, you need 600 ohms. Most function generators are limited to 10 to 20vpp output. You need at least 50vpp. I used a WAVEFORMS 401B for the development of this document. The old HP 200 series are great and inexpensive.

  • Page 12: 3, Preliminary Inspection

    For details see: https://wd0gof.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/rig-cleaning.pdf. 3-2, RECAP There are two must replace capacitors in the SX-117. One is the three-section filter capacitor C117A, B &C. The other is the cathode bypass capacitor for V12B, C98, 25uf 25v. There are differing opinions about paper capacitors. If you are in the camp that always replaces paper caps, there are five of them, C107, C108, C109, C110 and C111.

  • Page 13: 4, Power Supply-Test And Evaluation

    4, POWER SUPPLY-TEST AND EVALUATION The power supply for the SX-117 was designed to operate on 105 to 125vac, 50/60Hz.The power consumption at 117vac is projected to be 70 watts. There are two secondary windings on the power transformer, the filament and the B+ windings. The center tapped B+ winding feeds a full wave rectifier that produces a raw 200vdc which is filtered to produce the nominal 168vdc primary B+ supply.
  • Page 14 Voltage patten seen on anodes of CR3 and CR4. Pattern is identical on both anodes.

  • Page 15: 5, Oscillators-Test And Evaluation

    Power up the equipment and allow 30 minutes warm up. All the crystal oscillators will be tested first to allow maximum time for the VFO to stabilize. Set all SX-117 controls as follows: The following settings will be Standard for all oscillator testing.

  • Page 16: 5-2-1, Ssb Oscillator Test

    5-2-1, SSB OSCILLATOR TEST Power up in the configuration listed above. Connect the scope using a 10X probe to pin 7 of V8. You should see a minimum of 5.0 vpp. Move the probe from the scope to the frequency counter.

  • Page 17: Main Crystal Oscillator Test

    5-3, MAIN CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR TEST Each of the crystals in the oscillator has an adjustment. This adjustment affects both the amplitude and the frequency of the oscillator output. 1, With the controls set per paragraph 5, and the equipment warmed up, connect a cable from the scope to J4 (CRYSTAL OSC OUTPUT).

  • Page 18: Auxiliary Crystal Oscillator Test

    5-4, AUXILIARY CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR TEST The following assumes the normal configuration, that is without any axillary crystals installed. This procedure is an optional operation. The object is to prove the operation of the auxiliary even though it is most likely not in use. If the auxiliary sockets are populated select each installed crystal in order and perform steps c through g.

  • Page 19: Vfo Oscillator Test

    The following procedure is a substitute for the VFO alignment and adjustment found in sections 6-8 and 6-9 of the Hallicrafters OPERATING AND SERVICE INSTRUCTIONS manual. SETUP: Connect frequency counter to pin 8 of V6 or J5.

  • Page 20: Vfo Schematic & Voltage Chart

    5-5-1 VFO SCHEMATIC & VOLTAGE CHART VOLTAGE 6.3vac 24.6 ALL VOLTAGES ARE DC UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. You will need an RF blocking probe. It will be helpful if you switch on the CAL oscillator and tune for a good tone in the speaker. If your RF blocking probe is working correctly you may shift the frequency of the tone a little, but it will not kill the oscillator.

  • Page 21: Crystal Calibrator Test

    5-6, CRYSTAL CALIBRATOR TEST Power up and allow 10 to 15 minutes for stabilization. Set controls as follows RF GAIN – MIN. XTAL SELECTOR – NORMAL. PRESELECTOR – upper portion 80 meters. BAND SELECTOR – 80 meters. CAL RESET – ON INDEX MARK. TUNING -red scale 700.

  • Page 22: 6, Receiver Train Evaluation

    6, RECEIVER TRAIN EVALUATION If you have followed the procedure the power supply system and all the oscillators have been tested and are fully operational. Now when progressing through the receiver train these items can be eliminated as sources of faults. This will greatly narrow your focus while analyzing faults. 6-1 CONTROL SETUP FOR FAULT ANALYSIS Remove V10, ground the tie point of R65 and C82.

  • Page 23: 7, Subsystem Test And Evaluation

    7, SUBSYSTEM TEST AND EVALUATION BE AWARE: The voltage and signal levels in all of the subsystem charts apply to production run 3 and above radios. Unmodified run 1 and run 2 radios will vary greatly. 7-1, AVC FUNCTION TEST 7-1-1, AVC TRACKING BE AWARE: the AVC will track differently from radio to radio.

  • Page 24: 7-1-2, Avc Schematic & Voltage Chart

    7-1-2, AVC SCHEMATIC & VOLTAGE CHART RECHECK S-METER ZERO AND S9 SETTINGS. 1, Warm up 15 minutes. 2, Turn RF gain to zero. Adjust meter zero pot for 0 on the S-meter. 3, Turn RF gain to max. Set generator for 5 microvolts output. 4, On 80 meters tune up @ 3.900 MHz.

  • Page 25: S-Meter Evaluation

    7-2, S-METER EVALUATION The s-meter in the 117 is very basic. It is measuring the cathode current of V7, the 1650 IF amp. If V7 is good and the radio has no other faults and the alignment is correct, it just works. Turn the RF GAIN control to minimum and adjust the meter zero control for zero on the meter.

  • Page 26: Rf Amp Schematic & Voltage Chart

    7-3, RF AMP SCHEMATIC & VOLTAGE CHART 7-4, 50.75 KHz IF AMP SCHEMATIC & VOLTAGE CHART REF: B+=172V, SECONDARY B+=149V AND AUXILIARY B+=146V MEASUREMENTS TAKEN WITH NO SIGNAL INPUT PIN 1 PIN 2 PIN 3 PIN 4 PIN 5 PIN 6 PIN 7 RF GAIN MAX 0.79...

  • Page 27: Product Detector And Bfo

    27.2 7-5-2 BFO TEST & EVALUATION As stated in the Hallicrafters manual paragraph 6-11 the BFO frequency is set by the factory at exactly 50.0KHz. The exact difference between the USB and LSB crystal frequency needs to be 100KHz for a perfect USB/LSB BFO beat note.

  • Page 28: 1650 If Amp Schematic & Voltage Chart

    7-6, 1650 IF AMP SCHEMATIC & VOLTAGE CHART REF: B+=172V, SECONDARY B+=149V AND AUXILIARY B+=146V MEASUREMENTS TAKEN WITH NO SIGNAL IN PIN 1 PIN 2 PIN 3 PIN 4 PIN 5 PIN 6 PIN 7 1.23 2.35 6.3vac 81.8 2.35 7-7, SECOND MIXER V5 SCHEMATIC &...

  • Page 29: 6-Meg If Amp V4 Schematic & Voltage Chart

    7-8, 6-MEG IF AMP V4 SCHEMATIC & VOLTAGE CHART REF: B+=172V, SECONDARY B+=149V AND AUXILIARY B+=146V MEASURMENTS TAKEN WITH NO SIGNAL IN AND RF-GAIN SET TO MIN. PIN 1 PIN 2 PIN 3 PIN 4 PIN 5 PIN 6 PIN 7 1.76 6.3 vac 1.76...

  • Page 30: Audio Amp And Output V12A & B Schematic And Voltage Chart

    7-10, AUDIO AMP AND OUTPUT V12A & B SCHEMATIC AND VOLTAGE CHART REF: B+=172V, SECONDARY B+=149V AND AUXILIARY B+=146V MEASURMENTS TAKEN WITH AF GAIN AT MIN PIN 1 PIN 2 PIN 3 PIN 4 PIN 5 PIN 6 PIN 7 PIN 8 PIN 9 -0.287...

  • Page 31: 8, Production Run Determination

    This production run change is quite extensive. Refer to section 9-5 for detailed instructions. At the very minimum all first and second run SX-117 radios should be upgraded to this level. First run radios also need R29 changed from 10K to 22K.

  • Page 32: 9, Appendix

    9, APPENDIX 9-1 BULLETIN 1964-4...

  • Page 33: Engineering Change C15E

    9-2 ENGINEERING CHANGE C15E...

  • Page 34: Test Specification

    9-3 TEST SPECIFICATION HALLICRAFTERS AMATEUR RADIO BAND RECEIVER SX-117 TEST SPECIFICATION The following is the mid-production test specification. does reflect improvements in performance that occurred over the lifetime of SX-117 production. Latest update 1963 halfway through production life.

  • Page 46: Service Bulletin Run-5 Change

    9-4, SERVICE BULLETIN RUN-5 CHANGE...

  • Page 47: Engineering Change #C -169

    9-5, ENGINEERING CHANGE #C -169 NOTE: C level units will have the serial # 117002 XXXXXX.

  • Page 50: Alternate If Alignment

    9-6, ALTERNATE IF ALIGNMENT Control setup: BAND SELECTOR: As noted in chart. RF & AF GAIN: Maximum. SELECTIVITY: As noted on chart. FUNCTION: As noted NOTCH: off OFF/ANL/CAL: OFF BFO: 0 (center point) Band Audio Signal Generator Generator Step & Output Selectivity Connections...

  • Page 51: Alternate Preselector Alignment Procedure

    9-7, ALTERNATE PRESELECTOR ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE This procedure was developed to eliminate the need for the two auxiliary crystals. It is critical that the frequency of the signal generator be very precisely set. If your generator does not have an accurately “calibrated” digital display, then use a frequency counter to set the generator frequency.

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