I have been a big fan of Drake amateur radios for years, long before I could to actually own a Drake.\u00a0 Over the years I have had serveral Drake radios and my favorite has been the Drake 2B receiver.\u00a0 Well, there is another very good Drake receiver, the Drake 2C.\u00a0 The 2C is a more modern version of the 2B, it has a different dial scheme, and the addition of some solid state electronics in 2C radio.<\/p>\n
Well, I picked up a vintage Drake 2C at the Huntsville Hamfest this past August.\u00a0 It seemed to be fairly complete and not in too bad a shape.\u00a0 So I layed out some cash for the Drake and brought it home.<\/p>\n
A bit of cleaning, some new tubes, and a tune up was all I figured it needed.\u00a0\u00a0 I was close….but there was\u00a0 little detour in my plan.\u00a0 I started by cleaning up the radio and it cleaned up pretty well.\u00a0 I had been in a smokers shack, but the smoke residue was not to thick!\u00a0 In checking out the radio, it seemed to be basically working but it had a “lazy” AGC which is a common problem on 2B receiver.\u00a0 The second mixer develops secondary emissions on the grid and that loads down the very high impedance AGC line on the receiver.\u00a0 I ordered a set of tubes, and a new crystal for the 10\/15 meter slot.\u00a0 Apparently the former owner wanted to be able to cover the 28.0 to 28.5 mhz portion of the 10 meter band.\u00a0 So they changed the crystal.\u00a0 That changed the 15 meter band to 21.5 to 22.0 mhz, making pretty well useless.\u00a0 So I ordered a new 25 mhz “stock” crystal for 10\/15 and can use the 24.5 mhz crystal in the “aux” socket to cover 28.0 to 28.5.\u00a0 Problem solved.\u00a0 A slight tweek up on the tuning and the receiver was working ok.<\/p>\n
The new tubes arrived.\u00a0 I plugged them in one evening and the AGC problem was gone, but the receiver was now numb as a post!\u00a0 It could hardly hear any signals on 75 meters on a 75 meter dipole.\u00a0 I put is on the generator and a -45 DBM signal was about S3 on the receiver!\u00a0 Very poor sensitivity.\u00a0 My initial thought was one of the new tubes was bad.\u00a0 I started swapping back the original tubes one by one.\u00a0 The first one I swapped, the 12BZ6 RF Amp brought the receiver to life!\u00a0 Trying to figure out what was going on, I saw the stencil on the chassis indicated that tube was supposed to be a 6BZ6.\u00a0 The kit of tubes and all the documentation with the radio indicated it was a 12BZ6.\u00a0 I checked the filament voltage on the socket and sure enough it was 6 volts!<\/p>\n
Looking on the internet I found some specs on the 2C that indicated Drake changed from a 12BZ6 to a 6BZ6 tube.\u00a0 Oh well, even with the old tube in it, the 2C is working well!\u00a0 Very hot receiver!<\/p>\n
The only thing I don’t like about the 2C is no passband tuner!\u00a0 WTH?\u00a0 A Drake radio without a passband tuner!\u00a0 What’s wrong with this picture!<\/p>\n
So here is a little video, the 2C on SouthCARS, 40 meters, at about 11:00 AM in the morning.\u00a0 The band is starting to go away now, but the Drake is crystal clear!<\/p>\n