On Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 1:39:07 AM UTC-5, Irv Finkleman wrote:
There is an official Kenwood Mod for the MC-50, and it applies in
case you have troubles using the mic on VOX. It's easily found by
Googling 'Modifications for the Kenwood MC-50' but unless you are
a good tech, it involves modifications to one of the boards in the
rig itself, so unless you run into VOX problems, I'd leave that
problem to another day. I ran the MC-50 on a TS-520 and a TS-820
and never had any problems.


I hate to sound like an appliance operator but to me if it works don't fix it...
if it sounds good and has communication quality audio I say leave it be. The only reason I want to hook the MC50 up to my rig is because I was getting grief from a guy in Nevada saturday morning on 28.4** about my audio and suggested I try another mic so I have this MC 50 laying around and figured what tha heck rewire it and give it a go.



I just finished refurbishing an old
TS-930 and have an MC-60 for it. It's a lovely rig, but absolute
hell to have to work on. Normally the Kenwood manuals are good, but
for the TS-930 the Service Manual is pretty much rubbish. It was
only good fortune that I was able to effect the necessary repairs.
It's a dream rig, but the next time it requires any servicing I'm
going to junk it and go to a new rig -- even back to a 520, 820,
or an 830.
There's really nothing that these older rigs won't do if you tune and
operate them properly. I do have a Yaesu FT-857D which has almost
every bell and whistle you could ask for, but is largely
microprocessor controlled and every time you want to make a small
change such as Mic Gain and Carrier Gain you have to revert to
the manual and change a bunch of settings by which time you have
probably missed that rare piece of DX you have spent years searching
for. I'm no dummy with digital stuff, but it's still nice to
be able to twist a knob or two for quick adjustments.

Irv VE6BP
RADIATE OR DIE TRYING!

I dread having to dig inside my 520 if things ever go haywire but with the guidance of the group and some elmerly encouragement ya never know I might just get 'er done

On Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 4:33:12 PM UTC-6, BillyBobMarley wrote:

I dread having to dig inside my 520 if things ever go haywire but with the guidance of the group and some elmerly encouragement ya never know I might just get 'er done

They are pretty easy to work on. I used to rebuild basket case 520's for me
and others. Pretty straight forward, and you don't really need too much test
gear to work on one. It's been a while, but if I remember right, I can do
almost everything in the alignment with just a good meter, and a freq
counter, along with the calibrator in the rig.

I dread having to dig inside my 520 if things ever go haywire but with the guidance of the group and some elmerly encouragement ya never know I might just get 'er done

I don't think you'll have much trouble working on the 520 -- of all
the rigs, it is probably the most serviceable. If you run into any
problems there are probably a few hams locally who will help you
out.

If the rig is in nice condition, consider finding a DG-5 which
serves as a digital display as well as a nice frequency counter.
And keep an eye open for a set of 6146s and a 12BY7 for spares.
There are some nice 520s on e-bay as well as the DG5. I had so
much fun with mine in the past that I almost feel like buying
another one for my self. I also had the SM-220 Monitor scope
which I still have and use with the TS-930. You can also get
a DS-1 (I think it was called) for 12V mobile operation!!! There
are more accessories -- remote VFO, VHF Transverter, and of
course the CW filters. You can have a lot of fun with a
TS520!

Go for it, and have fun! The more I think about it, the more
I feel like finding another one to fix up. It's just like
having a classic car!

Irv VE6BP