Nrg

[kevycorsa]

Hi
Does anyone know Where could I find the nrg pro 3 pcb

[kevycorsa]

And going along the lines of nrg I have a 40w nrg amp 1w input type and can't get no output at all
I've changed the 2sc1947
Any ideas where to start ?

[nrgkits.nz]

I did have some pro4 boards but have just recently run out of stock, I'm considering if I get some more of the pro done, if I do they will be double sided and I'll be more inclined to go SMD. Have you got access to an analyser and scope? It could be that the BLW60 output device is faulty or some other components. I have the pro5 out now, it uses a pll ic and a pic and delivers a minimum of 5 watts across the band, this design uses an at frequency oscillator with screening, spectral purity and phase noise is very good.

[yellowbeard]

Those PCB's turn up on fleabay occasionally, a couple of years ago some guy in Slough was selling them on there for £12 or £15 - might be worth seeing if he still has them, according to the entry he only sold 1 of the three he had.

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/222018596438

I have seen knock offs from Romania and Indonesia, but I don't know if the boards or the vendors would be kosher.

[nrgkits.nz]

Just be careful buying full kitsets from various vendors, some of the components in the pro3/4 are quite critical - I've had a few boards sent here for repair because the vendors had no idea. Albert has provided a lot of valuable information on these forums. One example of a board I had for repair was the oscillator coils not wound properly and the BF199 transistors not HFE matched causing a real imbalance and a lot of half freq to break through. The enamel wire used to wind RFC1 wasn't the correct gauge (was too thin) causing unwanted resistance and heat, hence reduced output power. Some of the ceramic disc capacitors were not the NPO 5% or better tolerance types so caused further issues.

[shorty]

If you want to have a go at making your own board, this is a scan of an original pcb.

[nrgkits.nz]

Here are the manuals and some more scans I did some time back. I'll upload some sprint-layout and gbr files there later.

http://www.gareth.net.nz/nrgdocs/

[nrgkits.nz]

Here are the gbr files http://www.gareth.net.nz/nrgdocs/nrg/

I would recommend doing this double sided with through hole plating and additional vias connecting the ground planes, better stability and slightly more power out. Remember to take note of the most critical components and make sure they're done properly. The oscillator is balanced and needs to be symmetrical as much as possible, the oscillator coils are 5mm inside diameter and need to be aligned, if they are out of alignment you will get more half freq breaking through to the output.

RFC1 is 15 turns of 0.3mm copper enamel wire, around a 2k2 1/2w carbon film resistor with a ferrite bead on either side.

TR2 and TR3 must be HFE matched to within +/-1, BF199 or MPSH10 will do.

The ceramic disc capacitors (especially around the oscillator) need to be 5% or better, if 5% is not possible you can use other's but they will need to be individually tested to get a values as close as possible, with matched pairs in the oscillator.

[kevycorsa]

There's a lot of good info here.
I only asked about a pcb as the one I've got the 1947 has been replaced a few times over the years and the trace is starting to go.
But I've repaired it and got it working.
About the 40w amp I've now got an output of around 14w max with 1w input an amp at 12v.
Trimmers adjusted till highest output am I doing somthing wrong ?

[teckniqs]

Yes, not putting in enough drive. 14w sounds about right for 1w in, but you need at least 4 to 8w for 40w

[MiXiN]

Those PCB's turn up on fleabay occasionally, a couple of years ago some guy in Slough was selling them on there for £12 or £15 - might be worth seeing if he still has them, according to the entry he only sold 1 of the three he had.

Code: Select all

https://www.ebay.com/itm/222018596438

I have seen knock offs from Romania and Indonesia, but I don't know if the boards or the vendors would be kosher.

Those boards off AndrewKits were really good.

I had a couple a while ago & found them much better quality & easier to solder than the legit' boards.

[nrgkits.nz]

Those PCB's turn up on fleabay occasionally, a couple of years ago some guy in Slough was selling them on there for £12 or £15 - might be worth seeing if he still has them, according to the entry he only sold 1 of the three he had.

Code: Select all

https://www.ebay.com/itm/222018596438

I have seen knock offs from Romania and Indonesia, but I don't know if the boards or the vendors would be kosher.

Those boards off AndrewKits were really good.

I had a couple a while ago & found them much better quality & easier to solder than the legit' boards.

He copied a few minor upgrades I did to the pro3 back in 2013 - then Andrew started selling copies of my pro4 pcb shortly after. I'm assuming you mean "legit boards" being the original pro3 boards - the pro4 boards I had done were of a high standard from circuitlabs.co.nz. Funny that he still has boards left though and I have sold all of mine.

Here is the new pro5 - this uses a PIC and some proprietary components so will be more difficult to copy
http://nrgkits.co.nz/product_info.php?p ... d0on0naa46

[kevycorsa]

Yes, not putting in enough drive. 14w sounds about right for 1w in, but you need at least 4 to 8w for 40w

It's the 1w input version ?

[MiXiN]

Those PCB's turn up on fleabay occasionally, a couple of years ago some guy in Slough was selling them on there for £12 or £15 - might be worth seeing if he still has them, according to the entry he only sold 1 of the three he had.

Code: Select all

https://www.ebay.com/itm/222018596438

I have seen knock offs from Romania and Indonesia, but I don't know if the boards or the vendors would be kosher.

Those boards off AndrewKits were really good.

I had a couple a while ago & found them much better quality & easier to solder than the legit' boards.

He copied a few minor upgrades I did to the pro3 back in 2013 - then Andrew started selling copies of my pro4 pcb shortly after. I'm assuming you mean "legit boards" being the original pro3 boards - the pro4 boards I had done were of a high standard from circuitlabs.co.nz. Funny that he still has boards left though and I have sold all of mine.

Here is the new pro5 - this uses a PIC and some proprietary components so will be more difficult to copy
http://nrgkits.co.nz/product_info.php?p ... d0on0naa46

I only had the Pro 4 board from AndrewKits & never actually got my hands on the original Pro 4 board, so my apologies about what I wrote above.

What I meant is - the Pro 4 knockoff board is much easier to solder & of higher quality than the original Pro 3.

That Pro 5 you sell looks pretty smart.

[yellowbeard]

I found this, is it the amp you are on about? He seems to have used Gareth's pictures , but he has the parts list and PCB photomask too.

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http://mkmbroadcasting.blogspot.com/search/label/nrg%20kit%20Blw%20amp%2045watt

[kevycorsa]

https://www.mediafire.com/view/1a6z7921 ... 151007.jpg

That's a picture of the amp.
At 1w drive and 13.8v to amp I can get around 14w max

[sinus trouble]

Hello Mr Corsa
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, You have very little chance of finding the fault without test equipment!
However I do have original NRG gear here that I purchased from Stephen over 10 years ago and have never had a transistor fail! Even when I cocked up big time!! lol
Infact the only fault ive had was a 10v electrolytic fail in the lock delay circuit on a PLL PRO 3! Any ceramic caps in circuit are pretty much bullet proof!
Electrolytics can degrade and could possibly be the route to your fault?
I see you have a SMPSU which raises alarm bells for me! Those things can trick you into thinking everything is fine! But once they try to pull current, voltage slumps!
My suggestion would be to power each section via a bench power supply if you have one available?

[nrgkits.nz]

I found this, is it the amp you are on about? He seems to have used Gareth's pictures , but he has the parts list and PCB photomask too.

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http://mkmbroadcasting.blogspot.com/search/label/nrg%20kit%20Blw%20amp%2045watt

Yup those are my pictures, I still have the amp. I redesigned the pcb for this and added better low pass filtering on the output, with 5watts input I'm getting about 45w out at 13.8v supply.

I had a BLW60 I hadn't bolted down to the heatsink properly once, only realised when I started seeing a tiny bit of smoke starting to drift upwards, I turned it off immediately and bolted it down properly although it never gave full power out after that, I could only ever get about 35w out after cold power on and it would die back to about 20w and settle there after a few minutes.

I've also found with the 1w input version the 1947 will get quite hot, if you haven't got access to test equipment, I would be looking at the heat given off by the 1947 for an indication - if it's only warm to the touch then it's obviously not driving the BLW60 properly, or there's not sufficient drive to the 1947. If it is quite hot then you need to look at the LC matching networks.