- 2024
- Nov
- 3
A PACO G-30 RF Signal Generator
As with a lot of other things, I picked this signal generator up a few years ago at the Cuyahoga Falls hamfest. I seem to remember the person telling me they were using it up until it was sold, as they were trying to clean out some of the redundant equipment.
(Yes, it’s on. I had already opened it at this point to check on things.}
The device itself looks to consist of an oscillator and an amplifier tube. I assume the amp is on top, and the osc is on the bottom (w/shield) but I won’t know until I check the schematics.
Note the selenium stack. It looks like this device has been rebuilt somewhat recently. I don’t think I would have done the capacitors up like that, but it works well enough.
The person didn’t replace two of the most important things, however:
The first being the power cord, which is just as hard as can be. The second is that little disc thing with three legs. This is a safety capacitor, and is two .01µF capacitors back to back. These tend to blow open, as they physically separate, but it’s still a potential problem. Not sure why this didn’t get replaced, but I have two .01µF film caps @ 630V that would work here. If I decide to put it in service, that is. The output isn’t really pretty.
Before you go “That ain’t right” - it may be. In fact, it is. This device uses harmonics to generate it’s output, so you don’t get a signal like you would with a modern, synthesized unit. This is probably fine for an old AA5 radio. I did note that the frequency per the scope is dead on, so that’s a good start.
Stay tuned, this will probably show up again later as a fix it or forget it post.
Next part of this series: https://wereboar.com … r-part-2-revisiting/