Page 2
You can obtain parts directly from DZ Company by writing us, emailing us or telephoning us. And we’ll pay shipping charges to get those parts to you—anywhere in the world.
Step-by-step Assembly ....14 Chassis Integration ......19 Adjustments and Tests....22 Final Assembly....... 23 HT-7 40M AM Handie-Talkie Using Your HT-7 ......27 Theory of Operation ....... 28 Specifications ......... 34 Schematics ........35 Troubleshooting......39 Component Locator......40 Notes ..........
Page 4 INTRODUCTION In the early days of amateur ra‐ transmit to receive took longer. dio, and continuing well into the 1960’s, amplitude modulation (AM) Now you can enjoy the fun of AM was the mode of choice for phone without spending an arm and a leg communications. Its wide band‐ with your new HT‐7 Handie‐Talkie. width (6kHz) and rich sound made Not ...
Page 5 AVAILABLE ACCESSORIES HTA‐3 Tuner. This is the HTA‐2 57” Extendable Whip. “Ducker I/L” made by Miracle Also made by Miracle Antenna Antenna of Canada. Adds about of Canada. Use with or with‐ 30dB of gain to your HT! out the HTA‐2 tuner. HTA‐1 Battery Pack. Includes built‐in overcharge, overdischarge, overdrain, ...
Page 6 General Assembly Notes 1. As you tighten a screw, it is poor soldering jobs. Please very important that you do take a moment to familiarize not strip the threads. All yourself with proper solder‐ screws should fasten smoothly ing technique. And do not, without resistance. If a under ANY circumstances, use screw appears to be hard to corrosive (“acid‐core”) sol‐ fasten, something else is der! That will void your war‐ probably wrong—a cable could ranty and render your kit in‐ be in the way, you are trying operative. Also be sure to to use the wrong size screw avoid the use of products or something else is wrong. that may be called solder but DO NOT FORCE SCREWS! Instead, are really glue. Soldering inspect the assembly care‐ should only be done in an fully and try to see why you area with good ventilation are having difficulty. Abbre‐ and with a properly heated viations: PH = panhead. FH = soldering iron. flathead. M/S = machine 5. Capacitors are identified by screw. their type — disk, polysty‐...
Page 7
Page 7 8. ICs have a notch, beveled side and/or a dot representing the side containing pin 1. When you hold an IC with the notch pointing up or the beveled side to your left, pin 1 is in the upper left corner. The silkscreened outlines on the board all have notches and pin 1 also has a square pad. It is CRITICAL that you mount po‐ larized parts correctly! Double Anode check your work to be sure that all such parts match the photos. Cathode Diode IC — pin 1 (through hole part) Electrolytic caps—negative terminal ...
Page 8
Page 8 KIT-BUILDING PROCEDURES The steps involved in building a kit are listed below. Be sure to fol‐ low them and you will have a lot of fun building, aligning, testing and using your kit. 1. Do a parts inventory. Check off each part in the parts list to be sure you are not missing anything. Our method of bagging parts is different from all other kit vendors and will make the task much faster and less error prone. But despite our valiant efforts, mis‐ takes can happen. If you are missing any parts, call or email us and we’ll rush replacements to you immediately. 2. Do not remove parts from the bags until called for, to avoid mixing parts up. 3. Pay attention to soldering techniques. Keep your soldering iron clean by using a wet sponge, use appropriate heat and maintain heat long enough to make good solder joints. Solder problems are the number one cause of problems when building electronic products (not just kits!), so try extra hard to do it right. 4. Take your time! We know you want to get it done and start using it, but doing it wrong will only delay that moment. Before you start, set up a ventilated, static‐free work area with enough room to build the kit. Prepare parts bins and get the tools you will need (needle‐nose pliers, wire‐cutter, wire stripper, Phillips head screw drivers, wrenches, soldering iron, solder, insulated tool, awl or other sharp‐ended tool, scissors, magnifying glass, etc.) If you’re tired, take a break. Enjoy building your kit! 5. Make sure that you are loading the part that’s called for in the right holes. Once loaded, it can be hard to find a misloaded part. Be especially careful to load polarized parts (ICs, transistors, diodes, electrolytic capacitors) the right direction. If you are not sure about any step, call, write or email us! 6. Once you’ve done a step, put a checkmark inside the parentheses. 7. After you have assembled a circuit board, take a moment (just one) to marvel at your handiwork, then spend a few more minutes critiqu‐ ing it! Check for solder bridges, unsoldered or insufficiently sol‐ dered connections, solder blobs (especially on insulated magnet wire used on toroids), loose screws and electronic parts, reversed polarized components, etc. Sometimes it helps to have a friend ...
Page 9
Page 9 Safety First! Your safety is of utmost importance to us. Please read this informa‐ tion before you get started, and remember these rules as you continue building and testing your kit. 1. Always have a healthy respect for electricity. Use a power supply with overcurrent foldback or crowbar protection so that in case of high currents the supply will shut down. Set the output current only as high as necessary for a given step. 2. When measuring voltages inside electronic equipment, it is gener‐ ally a good idea to use only one hand, wear rubber‐soled shoes and avoid areas with standing water. However, remember that slightly humid environments can prevent static electricity that could damage the electronic parts! Use a humidifier in dry climates. 3. Do not work on powered electronics by yourself if at all possible. Have a parent, spouse or friend nearby. If you must work alone, keep a telephone handy in the event you run into problems. 4. Soldering irons are hot. They can burn your skin and cause damage to workbenches and carpets. We recommend you use one with an auto‐ matic shutoff in case you forget to turn it off when you are done. 5. Do not work on electronic projects when you are tired. We know you want to finish it, but accidents are more likely when you are tired. Take breaks! Be careful! 6. Use proper ventilation in your work area. Solder contains tin and lead (or tin and silver), and solder fumes should not be allowed to “hover” near your work. Open a door or window, use a fan, and be cognizant of the potential dangers. 7. When clipping leads, use eye protection and/or be sure to direct the flying leads down into a nearby trash can. As you gain experi‐ ence clipping component leads, you will learn how to clip them so that they fall harmlessly away from the board. 8. Be careful not to cut yourself when handling sharp objects such as connectors and sheet metal. Keep some tissues, bandages and antibi‐ otic ointment nearby in the event of an injury. 9. This may sound obvious, but do not insert any parts in any portion of your body. ...
Page 10
Page 10 SOLDERING INSTRUCTIONS Poor soldering accounts for almost 90% of all kit building problems. The photographs below show examples of the most common types of bad solder connections and a good one. If you locate any of these bad sol‐ der connections in your kit, correct them as described. Study this section carefully before you start building your kit. ...
Page 11
Page 11 STATIC PRECAUTIONS Many of the components in your static‐producing material in your kit can be damaged by exposure to clothing. static electricity. Please read this page to familiarize yourself If your work area floor is car‐ with the causes of and solutions peted, spray fabric softener on to this problem. it using a hand spray bottle. ...
Page 13 Chassis Parts Item Description HT-7-1, -3 mic preamp/mixer boards (assembled) Bottom chassis Top chassis End chassis DC power jack - 5.5x2.5mm chassis mount DC power plug Hex key, .05” PN41 switch button, gray Speaker S/N sticker Snap rivet Screw - 6-32 x 1/4"...
Page 14 STEP-BY-STEP ASSEMBLY - HT-7-2 Board Refer to Pictorial 1 for the fol‐ length. lowing steps. ( ) Load and solder T1, the 6‐pin ( ) Load and solder the two mono DIP transformer. The pin minijacks, J1 and J2, where marked with a dot must go shown. Be sure they lie flat into the square pad. against the board. Be careful not to damage the plastic ( ) Load and solder the seven bodies with the soldering crystals, Y1‐Y7. Be sure they iron. Note that two of the lie flat against the board. tabs extending into the holes It does not matter which side in the board are plastic, so the lettering goes on, but do not apply solder to these. most builders prefer to line them up so that the text ( ) Load and solder RV1, the vol‐ reads the same on all crys‐ ume control. Be sure that it tals. Clip excess lead lies flat against the board. ...
Page 16
Page 16 pacitor (C6) in the same man‐ pass a wire through the cen‐ ner as the previous capaci‐ ter of the core counts as one tor. turn. Spread the turns out evenly, covering about 2/3 of ( ) Load and solder the 10uF/25V the toroid. Cut the excess electrolytic (C2) in the same lead off, leaving 2” outside manner as the previous two so that the two leads have capacitors. This capacitor the same length. Save the re‐ has a smaller radius. maining wire for use with T3. Wrap the 3‐turn secondary us‐ ( ) Load and solder the 22uF non‐ ing green magnet wire around polarized capacitor (C26). the toroid, overlapping the The orientation of this ca‐ primary as shown in Detail 1. pacitor does not matter even though one lead is longer. ( ) Load and solder U2, the 14‐ Green pin dual‐inline package (DIP) IC. Be sure that pin 1 is ...
Page 17
Page 17 4‐40 x 1/4” panhead machine screw heatsink 0.4” 4‐40 x 3/8” spacer Transistor Thermalsil insulator (apply sticky side to heatsink and remove material covering the hole) Pictorial 2. Q3 preparation Thermalsil is a trademark of Aavid Thermalloy, Inc. Detail 2. Coaxial cable preparation...
Page 18
Page 18 off, then remove the whole of the transistor and attach part from the board and tin the spacer to the board using the leads, removing the a 4‐40 x 3/8” plastic panhead enamel from the wire. machine screw and a #6 Nylon washer placed between toroid ( ) Re‐insert T2 into the board T3 and the board as shown in and solder all four wires in Detail 3. their respective holes. ( ) Load and solder 4‐pole double throw momentary switch S1. Make sure it lies flat against the board. Do not at‐ tach the plastic button to the end at this time. ( ) Wind toroid T3 in the same manner as T2, but use only three turns of red magnet wire for the primary and five turns of green wire for the secondary. Prepare its leads as with T2, and then solder Detail 3. Q3 installation it in place on the BOTTOM of the board, allowing 1/16” clearance between the toroid and the board. The red pri‐ ( ) Cut two lengths of RG‐178B/U mary leads go into the holes ...
Page 19 STEP-BY-STEP ASSEMBLY - Chassis Integration Refer to Pictorial 3 for the fol‐ HT‐7‐1 board), one 6‐32 KEPS lowing steps. nut, one hex nut and one #6 solder lug. The solder lug Cut the stranded colored wires to must be positioned facing the the lengths shown below, strip speaker on the same side as the leads to 1/8”, tin them and the speaker’s terminals. Be solder them as follows to the top very careful not to damage of the HT‐7‐2 board: the trimpots when tightening the nuts. See detail 4. Note: ( ) SPKR+ 5” [ White] (strip/tin the screws will be removed the loose end to 1/4”) after testing, when the speaker and mic boards are ( ) SPKR– 5” [ Black ] (strip/tin permanently installed in the the loose end to 1/4”) chassis. ( ) Twist the white and black speaker wires together, about ...
Page 20
Page 20 ( ) Strip and tin the center con‐ the crystal to the braid, ductor to 1/8” and the braid then cut the bare wire near to 1/2” on each end of the 8” the point where it attaches RG‐178B/U coaxial cable. Sol‐ to the crystal. Slide the der the center conductor to tubing over the braid and ap‐ “RF in” and the braid to ply heat until it shrinks “GND”. See Detail 2. over the connection. Re‐ solder the bare wire to the ( ) Cut a 2” length of black crystal. stranded wire, strip the ends to 1/4” and tin the ends. ( ) Rotate the volume control Solder one end to the solder counterclockwise until it lug. Attach the other end clicks (off). around the lug on the speaker marked with a “‐” but do not ( ) If you will be operating the solder it. HT‐7 from an internal bat‐ tery, attach the battery ( ) Find the twisted white/black wires to the provided 2‐pin wires going to SPKR+/‐ on the cable (CA1), which consists HT‐7‐2 board and solder the ...
Page 21
Page 21 Pictorial 3. Chassis Wiring ( ) Position the boards away from Set the voltage to +11.1VDC. each other to avoid short If you have a current limit circuits during testing. control, set it to 1A. ( ) If you will be operating the ( ) Connect a 50 ohm dummy load HT‐7 from an external DC or an antenna to the BNC power supply, plug it into jack. the connector on top of the unit using a 5.5mm plug ( ) Rotate the power switch/ (center pin positive). One volume control to the middle such connector with a lock of its range. ring is provided in the kit. ...
If the gain is too high, you peaks and audio sounds good may start picking up short‐ when the receiver is set for wave stations or strong local exactly 7.290MHz. Board Transmit/Receive Measurement point Voltage (DCV) Important: When HT-7-2 D3 cathode 11.1 measuring volt‐ HT-7-2 Q1 base ages in transmit HT-7-2 Q1 emitter mode (PTT switch HT-7-2 Q1 collector pushed in), keep HT-7-2 U3 pin 1 6.1 to 7.2* transmissions ...
Page 23 STEP-BY-STEP ASSEMBLY - Final Assembly Refer to Photos 1 and 2 for the go into the opening in the following steps. HT‐7‐2 board with the termi‐ nals facing to the right and ( ) Turn the volume control to the speaker cone facing you. the off position. ( ) Insert the HT‐7‐2 board into ( ) Disconnect the battery or ex‐ the top chassis. As you do ternal power supply. so, place the electret mic board (HT‐7‐3) onto the two ( ) Remove the two 6‐32 x 3/8” bottom speaker mounting studs screws, Nylon washers and and push down until the mi‐ KEPS nuts holding the mic crophone locks into the open‐ boards to the speaker. ing. Then press the speaker onto all four mounting studs. ( ) Remove and save the locknuts Be careful not to tear the from the BNC connector and speaker cone on the studs as volume control pot, leaving you position it. ...
Page 24
Page 24 ( ) Attach the HT‐7‐2 board to ets to the top using two 6‐32 the top chassis using two hex KEPS nuts. Align the side nuts, one on the on/off/ with the non‐threaded opening volume control and one on the with the mounting studs. Ex‐ BNC connector. Be careful not ert pressure with one finger to scratch the chassis. Dress to keep the brackets from the wires neatly and position turning as they are tight‐ them away from the heat sink. ened. Sand or file the paint off around the stud if neces‐ ( ) Insert the DC power jack into sary to help keep the bracket the top chassis opening la‐ from turning. beled 10‐12VDC IN. Attach the washer and nut on the outside ( ) Bend the speaker leads in so and tighten the nut, being they do not protrude beyond careful not to scratch the the side of the HT‐7‐1 board. chassis. ( ) Connect the battery (if pre‐ ( ) Place a 1/16” Nylon washer sent) to the 2‐pin connector over the two remaining longer (J4). It will be necessary to studs. ...
Page 25
Page 25 ( ) Push the PTT switch button control shaft, aligning the onto the switch until it white line on the knob with locks into place. If the but‐ the “Off” label. Tighten the ton sticks, the board is too set screws using the pro‐ high; check to make sure the vided .05” Allen wrench. lockwashers on the BNC con‐ nector and the washer on the ( ) Affix the serial number volume control pot are on the sticker wherever desired. inside of the chassis. This completes assembly of your ( ) Attach the knob to the volume HT‐7 handie‐talkie. Pictorial 4. Final assembly...
Page 27 USING YOUR HT-7 Connect your HT‐7 to an antenna, 7. Internal protection circuitry either the HTA‐2 optional whip inside the battery pack will pro‐ antenna (with or without the HTA‐ tect it from many improper volt‐ 3 antenna tuner) or an external age and current conditions. An 40M antenna such as an Alpha‐ external power supply can be used Delta DX‐40. Always transmit into to power the HT‐7 for home use either an antenna or a 50 ohm even while the battery pack is dummy load. The output transistor installed, keeping it charged and can be damaged by transmitting ready to go for portable use. into a poorly matched antenna or an open circuit. Connect an SWR‐ If you want to use an external meter such as the DZKit HM‐17 be‐ microphone instead of using the tween the transmitter and the an‐ internal electret, plug it into tenna to make sure your antenna the jack on the top of the unit is properly tuned. This can be a labeled “Mic”. This shorting help even using the HTA‐2 and style jack will disconnect the HTA‐3, so that you can see the internal electret and remove DC effect of different tuner set‐...
Page 28 THEORY OF OPERATION Refer to the schematics on pages 35‐38. Transmitter operation tor consisting of Q1, Y1 and re‐ lated parts. The balance is upset When the PTT switch, S1, is in by pot RV1, which allows the car‐ the transmit position, supply rier to pass through the mixer power is routed to the transmit‐ along with the double sideband ter circuits and not to the re‐ signal. The output of the mixer ceiver circuits (HT‐7‐2 board, is fed to the main board. sheet 2 of schematics; 11.1V ‐> TXV). On the HT‐7‐2 board, the AM sig‐ nal is fed into PTT switch S1 at Built‐in electret mic M1 receives W9 (Sheet 2 of the schematic for power from the 5V regulator U3 the HT‐7‐2). When the PTT switch and is then fed to the main board is pushed, the signal is routed where it is routed to the exter‐ to FIN (Filter Input) on Sheet 1. nal microphone input via a short‐ Q1 amplifies the signal to over‐ ing connector so that if no ex‐ come the loss of the following ternal microphone is plugged in, crystal filter. The filter has an the internal electret microphone ...
Page 29
Page 29 The output of this part, AOUT, is ground. T2 has a 9:3 turns ratio, routed to the transmit amplifiers which causes an impedance step by PTT switch S1. down to the next stage. The 2SC2166 final amplifier has a The transmit signal is amplified very low input impedance of about from about 20mW to about 200mW by five ohms due to the grounded transistor Q2. Resistors R24 and emitter configuration and the R25 bias the base of this tran‐ feedback network. That five ohms sistor to 3.0V, which puts the is reflected back to the collec‐ emitter at 2.3V. The emitter re‐ tor by a factor of the square of sistors R28 and R29 cause about the turns ratio, or 9, yielding a 45mA of collector current to flow collector impedance of about 45 (2.3V/51.7 ohms). Because of lim‐ ohms. The gain of this stage is iting resistor R27, the collector thus 45/4.7, or almost 10. A voltage is 11.1V—(.045*47) = voltage gain of 10 is equivalent 9.0V. R26 and C32 provide a lot to a power gain of 20dB of negative feedback to keep the (10logE*E). In reality, the tran‐ part from oscillating and to sistor operates at its maximum lower the input impedance. Nor‐ possible gain of about 11dB. This mally, the input impedance of Q2 ...
Page 30
Page 30 of 18 ohms, and remembering that frequency was chosen to get as power is P = I * R, the carrier close to 7.29MHz as possible so power is thus 0.273* 0.273 * 18 = as to eliminate harmonics while 1.34W. The voltage that must be allowing for component tolerances developed to support this current so that the inductors and capaci‐ is given by P = E * I, or 1.34 = tors do not have to be adjusted. E * 0.273, and thus E = 4.9Vrms, or 14Vp‐p, well within the volt‐ Receiver operation age available (twice the supply or 22.2Vp‐p). This 14Vp‐p is then When the PTT switch, S1, is in transformed by T3 to 23Vp‐p driv‐ the receive position, supply ing the 50 ohm filter load, or power is routed to the receiver 8.2Vrms. Ignoring the small power circuits and not to the transmit‐ loss in the transformer, the ter circuits (HT‐7‐2 board, sheet available power is 8.2 /50 = 2 of schematics; 11.1V ‐> RXV). 1.34W. Assuming Q3 has a gain of The antenna, after passing about 10, a 14Vp‐p output re‐ through the same low pass filter quires a 1.4Vp‐p input. That sig‐ as the transmitter, is fed nal comes from the 2N5109 output ...
Page 31
Page 31 by Rob Schenck, W2CU, on an that node will be zero. Since online AM forum. virtually no current flows into the inverting input (‐) of the From Rob’s description: op‐amp itself, any current coming in through the input resistor R1 “This circuit is a variation of will be met by an equal and oppo‐ the classic "Precision Half Wave site current coming through ei‐ Rectifier" as described in many ther of the two paths of R2+D1 or op‐amp application notes as shown D2. below [in Figure 1]: “The I.F. input signal will pro‐ duce an input current of: Iin = Vin/R1 “During the negative half of the input AC waveform, the op‐amp output will drive positive such Figure 1. Half wave AM detector that the current through R2+D1 will be equal and opposite the “Its operation is based upon ba‐ input current, or: sic principles of operational am‐ plifier circuits. An ideal op‐amp Iin = Vin/R1 = ‐ID1 = ‐IR2 has extremely high input imped‐ ance, extremely low output imped‐ “The voltage developed across R2, ance, and extremely high gain. and hence the output voltage as ...
Page 32
Page 32 diodes is not relevant as the across the diodes are not rele‐ output is derived from the feed‐ vant. The two rectified half back resistor only. waves are combined in the next two op‐amp stages. The two out‐ “A full wave detector was desired puts of the rectifier on R811 and for a 50 kHz IF application so R813, are connected directly to that the ripple frequency out of the non‐inverting inputs of the the detector would be 100 kHz, op‐amp stages so that there will and more easily filtered. In the be minimal loading to these out‐ full wave detector version of the puts. U6A provides a gain of two circuit, a second feedback resis‐ to the signal voltage on R813. tor is added to the D2 diode path U6B provides a gain of two to the to produce a voltage of the other voltage on R811, and inverts and half of the input waveform. A adds the output of U6A. The re‐ virtual ground at +6 Volts was sult is a full wave rectified created with R814/R815/C812, so signal at the output of U6B. Sim‐ that the circuit could operate ple low pass filtering will re‐ from a single supply. Again, any move the carrier energy which is nonlinear voltages developed at twice the ripple frequency.” Figure 2. Full‐wave detector described by K2CU...
Page 33
Page 33 The HT‐7‐2 board schematic, sheet information. Demodulation pro‐ 3 (page 36), shows how we have duces a signal that must be fil‐ implemented Rob’s design. While tered to remove the carrier, his design was meant for 50kHz RF leaving only the audio. R10 and signals, today it is possible to C52 are used for this purpose. R7 use very high bandwidth op‐amps provides a DC load for the AD826. to implement a full‐wave detector directly at the operating fre‐ C50 couples the audio to the au‐ quency. The op‐amps chosen for dio amplifier consisting of U2 this are the Analog Devices and surrounding parts. RV1 is the AD8045, with a 1GHz gain‐ volume control, which also has bandwidth product (GBW), and the the on/off switch integrated with AD826, a dual op‐amp with a GBW it. of 50MHz. Audio amplifiers require a great The AD8045 needs a high GBW be‐ deal of current to handle instan‐ cause it is used with a gain of taneous voice peaks. For this 11 (the 470 ohm feedback divided reason, a large 330uF electro‐ by the 47 ohm input resistor, lytic capacitor is placed across plus 1), so at 7MHz, almost 80MHz ...
Can't measure 11.1V RV1, PTT switch Check soldering D3 reversed Remove and reinstall D3 Receiving AM broad- U3 pin 1 on HT-7-2 board out of Adjust RV2 so that voltage is 5.5 to casts range 7.5VDC Weak (or no) transmit...
Need help?
Do you have a question about the HT-7 and is the answer not in the manual?
Questions and answers