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Vectronics VEC-1012K Owner's Manual

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VEC-1012K Owner's Manual
INTRODUCTION
If you like prowling the airwaves to gather news first-hand, the VEC-1012K is
the perfect kit for you! Tune in local fire, police, ambulance, public service,
commercial business, and marine traffic as you search for real-life on-air drama.
Before you know it, you'll master 2-way radio lingo, special operating
procedures, and police 10-codes as you ferret out the "real story" behind the
news! You'll also master hands-on electronic construction skills. Detailed step-
by-step assembly instructions guide you through each stage, and clearly-
presented alignment procedures ensure top performance without need for
expensive test equipment. Your receiver is built around a Motorola IC designed
especially for narrow-band FM communication radios, so it's guaranteed to pull
in weak signals--just like the best commercially-built scanners and two-way
transceivers.
Electronic tuning lets you scan the band quickly for activity
without need for entering complex strings of microprocessor commands. And,
once you've found the action, your radio's fully adjustable "tail-free" squelch
eliminates annoying background noise between transmissions. The VEC-1012K
uses minimal energy, and can run for many hours from its self-contained 9-volt
flat-pack alkaline battery. Plug in a 8-ohm speaker or use headphones for loud-
and-clear reception. All circuitry is self-contained on a rugged 3" x 3.2" pc
board.
TOOLS AND SUPPLIES
Construction Area: Kit construction requires a clean, smooth, and well-lighted
area where you can easily organize and handle small parts without losing them.
An inexpensive sheet of white poster board makes an excellent construction
surface, while providing protection for the underlying table or desk. Well-
diffused overhead lighting is a plus, and a supplemental high-intensity desk lamp
will prove especially helpful for close-up work.
Safety is an important
consideration.
Be sure to use a suitable high-temperature stand for your
soldering iron, and keep the work area free of combustible clutter.
Universal Kit-building Tools:
Although your particular kit may require
additional items to complete, virtually all construction projects require a work
area outfitted with the following tools and supplies:
! Soldering Iron (grounded-tip and temperature-controlled preferred)
! High-temperature Iron Holder with Cleaning Sponge
! Rosin-core Solder (thin wire-size preferred)
! Needle Nose Pliers or Surgical Hemostats
! Diagonal Cutters or "Nippy Cutters"
1

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  • Page 1 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual INTRODUCTION If you like prowling the airwaves to gather news first-hand, the VEC-1012K is the perfect kit for you! Tune in local fire, police, ambulance, public service, commercial business, and marine traffic as you search for real-life on-air drama.
  • Page 2 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual ! Solder Sucker, Vacuum Pump, or Desoldering Braid ! Bright Desk Lamp ! Magnifying Glass Special Tools for This Kit: ! 6-32 screw, at least 3/4" long, for winding coils. ! Insulated hex-head tuning wand. ! Small flat-blade screwdriver or tuning wand.
  • Page 3 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual Soldering Tips: Cleanliness and good heat distribution are the two secrets of professional soldering. Before you install and solder each part, inspect leads or pins for oxidation. If the metal surface is dull, sand with fine emery paper until shiny.
  • Page 4 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual a value between 100 and 999 ohms. Red indicates a value from 1000 to 9999 ohms, which is also expressed as 1.0K to 9.9K. An orange multiplier band designates 10K to 99K, etc. To sort and inventory resistors, first separate them into groups by multiplier band (make a pile of 10s, 100s, Ks, 10Ks, etc.).

  • Page 5: Parts List

    VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual Cathode (shorter Lead) Diode Transistors: If transistors are installed incorrectly, damage may result when power is applied. Transistors in metal cases have a small tab near the emitter lead to identify correct positioning. Semiconductors housed in small plastic cases (TO-92) have an easily-identified flat side to identify mounting orientation.
  • Page 6 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual Resistors: " Part Description Designation 22 ohm (red-red-black) 270 ohm (red-violet-brown) 470 ohm (yellow-violet-brown) 2.2K (red-red-red) R11,R14 4.7K (yellow-violet-red) R7,R17 10K (brown-black-orange) R5,R18 39K (orange-white-orange) R12,R15 47K (yellow-violet-orange) 100K (brown-black-yellow) R1,R9,R13,R19 10K potentiometer R6,R16 100K potentiometer Capacitors: "...
  • Page 7 " Part Description Designation DPDT push-button power switch RCA phono jack, pc-mounted 3.5mm stereo jack (mini-jack) 8-pin IC socket (for U2) 24-pin IC socket (for U1) 9-volt battery snap clip plastic cable tie PC board for VEC-1012K VEC-1012K Owner's Manual...

  • Page 8: Parts Placement Diagram

    VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual PARTS PLACEMENT DIAGRAM STEP-BY-STEP CONSTRUCTION In these instructions, when you see the term install, this means to locate, identify, and insert the part into its mounting holes on the PC board. This includes pre- bending or straightening leads as needed so force is not required to seat the part.
  • Page 9 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual Your kit has 16 fixed-value resistors. We'll begin by mounting these now-- starting with the smallest value and moving to the largest. Before mounting each one, carefully bend both leads close to the resistor body to form right-angles, as shown below: .4"...
  • Page 10 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual This completes installation of the 16 fixed-value resistors (the three variable resistors will be installed later). Next, we'll install the kit's 17 disc ceramic capacitors. All capacitors should be seated as close to the board as possible.
  • Page 11 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual reason, never use force to seat a multilayer cap into the PC board. If the spacing isn't right, pre-form the leads to the correct spacing before installation. Locate two (2) 15 pF multilayer capacitors (marked 15 or 150).
  • Page 12 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual ! ! Install 100 uF at C9 and solder. This completes installation of all capacitors. Before moving on to the next phase of construction, check the polarity of each electrolytic one more time to confirm all six are installed correctly.
  • Page 13 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual ! ! Locate the 455 kHz ceramic filter. This is a small black cube with three pins marked 55D or 55F. Note that it will fit only one way on the PC board. Install at FL2 and solder.
  • Page 14 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual The last three coils in your radio are hand-wound from the #24 wire supplied. In addition to the #24 wire, you'll also need a 6-32 screw at least 1/2" long to use as a winding form. Before starting, carefully straighten the coil wire by drawing it over a plastic rounded surface such as a screwdriver handle.
  • Page 15 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual ! ! Install the 9-volt battery snap clip. The red lead is installed at (+ 9V), and the black at GND. Solder in place. ! ! Stress relief is provided to prevent battery leads from flexing and eventually breaking at their connection point.
  • Page 16 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual This concludes the construction phase of your receiver. You deserve a break! When you come back, be ready to give your work a thorough "QC" quality control check before moving on to the testing and alignment section.

  • Page 17: Testing And Alignment

    VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual TESTING AnD ALIGNMENT PC Board Inspection: Even the most experienced builders make mistakes! Before applying power to your kit, give it a thorough QC (quality control) inspection. This will help you find inadvertent assembly errors that might prevent the radio from working or cause damage to sensitive parts.
  • Page 18 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual If your radio didn't pass the turn-on test, don't despair. Odds are, you've overlooked something minor that's easy to correct. Take a break, come back fresh, and carefully repeat the QC inspection. If no undiscovered errors turn up during your second inspection, proceed to the "In Case of Difficulty"...
  • Page 19 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual red (+) voltmeter lead to pin #17. Using a small screwdriver, adjust L5 for a reading of 2.3 volts. No further adjustment will be required. Final Alignment--Oscillator Coil L4: If possible, your kit should be mounted in its VEC-1012KC metal cabinet (or other enclosure) before adjusting L4.
  • Page 20 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual U1, MC13135 Test Point Connect Counter Here 1. Connect the frequency-counter ground lead to a ground point (case or PC board). 2. Set the TUNE to 154 MHz (fully counter-clockwise) and apply power. 3. Touch counter probe to pin-3 and adjust L4 for a counter reading of 143.3 MHz.
  • Page 21 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual 2. Apply power and set the VOLUME pot for a comfortable background-noise level. 3. Adjust the TUNE knob to correspond with the station's assigned operating frequency. 4. Slowly tune L4 until you receive the station's signal at the correct spot on the dial.
  • Page 22 7-8 volts in order to work properly. Antennas: The VEC-1012K requires an external antenna. For local reception, a 17" length of wire may work reasonably well. However, for longer-range reception, a low- cost ground-plane or VHF scanner antenna mounted out-of-doors and fed with coaxial cable provides much better performance.

  • Page 23: In Case Of Difficulty

    VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual Brass Welding Rod (threaded on one end) 6-7 Turns RG-58 Mast Clamp 1-1/2" PVC Pipe 34" 12" TV Mast IN CASE OF DIFFICULTY Your kit's design has been thoroughly field tested, and is known to be both reliable and "forgiving"...
  • Page 24 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual Squelch won't open when control is fully counter-clockwise: Check the value of the squelch potentiometer. It must be 100K. If a 10K pot is installed at R10, the squelch won't open. Poor sensitivity: Look for antenna problems. Also, check condition of L1, L2, and L3.
  • Page 25 If, despite your best effort, you cannot solve a problem with your radio, kit repair services are available through Vectronics. See the warranty on the inside front cover for complete instructions.
  • Page 26 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual Sensitivity......... .5 uV typical for usable signal Selectivity......... 20 kHz message-channel bandwidth AF Output......... 60 mW into 8-ohm load Current Drain........15 mA squelched, 40 mA on voice peaks Power Source........9V flatpack battery...
  • Page 27 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual SCHEMATIC...
  • Page 28 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual ENCLOSURE...
  • Page 29 VEC-1012K Owner’s Manual...

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