HobbyPCB HARDROCK-50 User manual
HARDROCK-50 USA Version
Assembly Instructions
Jim Veatch
WA2EUJ
June 30, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 1
2. SPECI ICATIONS .................................................................................................................................... 2
3. ASSEMBLY OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................... 3
4. CONTROL PCB INVENTORY .................................................................................................................... 4
1. REAR PANEL PCB INVENTORY ............................................................................................................... 5
2. AMPLI IER PCB INVENTORY .................................................................................................................. 6
3. CHASSIS PACK INVENTORY .................................................................................................................... 8
4. RONT PANEL PCB ............................................................................................................................... 10
5. BACK PANEL PCB ................................................................................................................................. 14
6. INDUCTORS AND TRANS ORMERS ..................................................................................................... 16
7. AMPLI IER PCB .................................................................................................................................... 21
8. INAL ASSEMBLY ................................................................................................................................. 29
9. ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE .................................................................................................................... 33
10. Chassis Wiring Diagram ....................................................................................................................... 37
11. AMPLI IER PCB SCHEMATIC ................................................................................................................ 38
12. CONTROL PCB SCHEMATIC .................................................................................................................. 40
13. REAR PANEL PCB SCHEMATIC ............................................................................................................. 41
[1]
1. INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on your purchase of a Hardrock-50 linear amplifier kit. The HR-50 is designed to
provide 50W of RF power output with a drive level of 5 watts or less on the 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 17 and
15 meter Amateur Radio frequency bands. The HR-50 is supplied as an easy to build kit that includes 3
printed circuit boards (PCBs), all necessary electrical and mechanical components and a rugged,
professionally manufactured, aluminum enclosure. All surface mount components on the PCBs are
installed using the latest pick and place technology and soldered with state of the art reflow equipment.
The HR-50 is designed to provide higher power operation for low power analog and digital radios.
Several interface options are available or under development for popular transceivers. Users are
encouraged to customize the HR50 amplifier to meet their specific operating needs. Here is a list of
possible modifications that licensed Amateur Radio operators have made to their HR-50 amplifiers:
•Expanded frequency coverage to include 12, 10 and 6M Amateur Radio Bands (power output
on 6M is 35W).
•QSK circuit to replace the mechanical T/R relay with diode switching for extremely fast turn-
around time.
•Adding a second amplifier stage to lower drive requirements to the 0.5W input range to work
with low power Software Defined radio kits.
Building the HR-50 will be an excellent experience. The instructions have been thoroughly tested and
updated with builder input to insure a successful build. Real time support is available from the entire
HR-50 community at HobbyPCB.com/forums, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. And if for some
personally make arrangements to fix your amplifier.
The HR50 is designed to be rugged, both mechanically and electrically. The extruded aluminum case
with 1/8” end panels is virtually indestructible, ready for backpacking or field day and laser etched
labels and bright LCV display make the HR-50 look good in your home station as well. Electrically,
the HR-50 is rated to operate in to any passive load from a dead short to open circuit and anywhere in
between without reducing the output power, the input can withstand twice the rated input power
indefinitely and power supply is tolerant to 16V.
[2]
2. SPECIFICATIONS
ITEM SPECIFICATION
requency Range 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15 meter Amateur Radio Bands
Input Power 5W maximum
Output Power 50W nominal
DC Power 12-14 Volts, 10 Amps typical, 12A maximum
Keying Modes Stand-by, Carrier Operated, Push-to-Talk
Input/Output Jacks UH Connectors
Size 4.25” W by 3.5” H by 7.5” D (not including switches and
connectors)
Weight 2 lbs, 14 oz
[3]
3. ASSEMBLY OVERVIEW
Assembling the Hardrock-50 amplifier kit should be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. If at any
time you feel frustrated or are having difficulty, take a break, ask questions on the forum or email,
remember that if you are having a problem with something there’s a good chance that someone else
has had the same issue. We have a “no questions asked” replacement part policy, so if you lose a part
or need an extra length of wire of find something missing and email is all it will take to get you a
replacement.
The assembly is organized into the following subassemblies:
•Front Paned PCB
•Back Panel PCB
•Inductors and Transformers
•Amplifier PCB
•Final Assembly
•Test and Alignment
They are presented in this order as you need all of the PCBs to proceed to final assembly and you need
the inductors and transformers to build the amplifier PCB. The inventory information is the first thing
so you can make sure that nothing is missing. There are a few required tools:
•Soldering iron – A small temperature controlled unit is the best.
•Solder – Rosin core, fairly tin
•Screwdrivers – All of the screws in the kit a Philips
•Tweezers – For holding small parts and reaching tight areas
•Long-nose pliers – For general mechanical assembly and crimping pins
•¼” Nutdriver – Not essential but helps with panel assembly
•Center punch – For marking hole locations, you can use a nail if necessary
•Drill – A small press would be great but a hand drill will work
•Toothpick – For unbraiding coax
•Adjustment tool or small flat blade screwdriver – Turning pots
•Digital Multimeter – Doing resistance checks and setting bias current
•Power Supply – Powering the amp during testing
•QRP Transceiver – The reason you bought the amp in the first place
•Test Equipment and cables for Alignment listed in Section 9
Other things that could come in handy are #4 and #6 taps and a tap handle. I like to tap the holes in the
case with a #6 tap and use #6 screws rather than the M3’s I think that they fit better. Sometimes it
works better to use a tap on the #4 holes but the new screws do OK. A universal crimp tool is nice for
the crimp pins but there’s only 2 of them so make sure you plan on crimping other things before you
drop $30 on one. I like to use flux when I solder but then you’ll need some solvent too.
[4]
4. CONTROL PCB INVENTORY
PART ID DESCRIPTION PICTURE QUANTITY
JP101 10 PIN DUAL ROW HEADER
1
JP102 20 PIN DUAL ROW HEADER
SOCKET
1
R111 10K POTENTIOMETER
1
S102, S102,
S103
PUSH BUTTON SWITCH
3
LCD101 2X16 CHARACTER LCD
DISPLAY
1
D105 BI-COLOR LED
1
LCD101
HEADER
16 PIN SINGLE ROW
HEADER
1
LCD
MOUNTING
SCREWS
#4 1/2” MACHINE
SCREWS
4
PCB
MOUNTING
SCREWS
#4 3/4" MACHINE
SCREWS
3
STANDO S 0.375" NYLON CONTROL
PCB STANDO S
3
STANDO S 0.188” NYLON LCD
MOUNTING STANDO S
4
MOUNTING
WASHERS
#4 LOCK WASHERS
7
MOUNTING
NUTS
#4 Machine Nuts
7
[5]
1. REAR PANEL PCB INVENTORY
PART ID DESCRIPTION PICTURE QUANTITY
Y301 12MHZ CRYSTAL
1
X301
DB9 ACCESSORY JACK
1
JP302 10 PIN DUAL ROW HEADER
1
X303 USB TYPE B VERTICAL PCB MOUNT
CONNECTOR
1
X104 RCA JACK METAL VERTICAL PTT IN
1
RONT/REAR PANEL CABLE
10 PIN IDC CABLE
1
PCB MOUNTING SCREWS
#4 5/8" MACHINE SCREWS
3
SPACERS 0.25" NYLON PCB SPACERS
3
MOUNTING NUTS #4 MACHINE NUTS
4
MOUNTING WASHERS LOCK WASHERS
3
[6]
2. AMPLIFIER PCB INVENTORY
PART ID DESCRIPTION PICTURE QUANTITY
13.8VDC, GND
TERMINAL, MALE
DISCONNECT, 6.35MM
2
J1 20 PIN DUAL ROW RIGHT ANGLE
MALE HEADER
1
AMP_IN 2 PIN HEADER
1
DRV 3 PIN HEADER
1
L7,L6,L9,L8,L11,L10 T50-6 POWDERED IRON CORE
6
L13,L12,L14,L15 T50-2 POWERED IRON CORE
4
Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4
RD16HH 1
4
R _IN, R _OUT RCA JACK METAL VERTICAL
2
RLY1
RELAY DPDT 5A 12V COIL
1
RLY2, RLY3, RLY4, RLY5, RLY6,
RLY7, RLY8, RLY9, RLY10, RLY11,
RLY12, RLY13, RLY14, RLY15
RELAY DPDT 2A 12V COIL
14
L5, T1, T3
BN43-202 BINOCULAR CORE
3
[7]
T2 T-75-43 OUTPUT TRANS ORMER
1
U2 LM35 TEMPERATURE SENSOR
1
VR1, VR2, VR3, VR4 1K 25 TURN POTENTIOMETER
4
TOROID WIRE #22 ENAMELED WIRE
10’
DIRECTIONAL COUPLER WIRE #30 KYNAR WIRE
3’
DIRECTIONAL COUPLER AND T1
WIRE
#22 TE LON WIRE 12” WHITE, 6”
BLUE
18”
T2 and L5 WIRE #18 TE LON WIRE
2’
RLY_OUT TO AMP_IN COAX
JUMPER
2 PIN HOUSING
1
RLY_OUT TO AMP_IN COAX
JUMPER
CONTACT
2
COAX JUMPER, RLY_OUT TO
AMP_IN, INPUT to R _IN,
OUTPUT to R _OUT
RG-174
1’
[8]
3. CHASSIS PACK INVENTORY
PART ID DESCRIPTION PICTURE QUANTITY
R INPUT
R OUTPUT
UH
PANEL CONNECTOR
2
POWER SWITCH
POWER ROCKER SWITCH
1
RONT PANEL MOUNTING
REAR PANEL MOUNTING
M3 SEL TAPPING PANEL
MOUNTING SCREWS
8
UH CONNECTOR MOUNTING
POWERPOLE MOUNTING
#4 3/8" MACHINE SCREWS
9
UH CONNECTOR MOUNTING
POWERPOLE MOUNTING
#4 MACHINE NUTS
12
UH CONNECTOR MOUNTING
POWERPOLE MOUNTING
#4 LOCK WASHERS
12
COAX JUMPER ASSEMBLIES RCA MALE CONNECTOR
2
DC INPUT CABLE ASSEMBLY POWERPOLE TO SPADE
TERMINALS, #18 2 COND
1
POWER SWITCH CABLE 2-PIN CONNECTOR W/HEADER,
.10"
1
PCB MOUNTING #4 ½” THREAD CUTTING SCREW
4
MOS ET MOUNTING #4 ¼” THREAD CUTTING SCREW
4
PCB MOUNTING ¼” BRASS STAND-O
6
R IN/R OUT
GROUND CONNECTORS
#6 RED SPADE CONNECTORS
2
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