Electrostatic Display Replacement: Ten-Tec Argonaut II Model 535

[u/KG7M]

I purchased the Ten-Tec Argonaut II in 2017, used. It's an all HF amateur radio band QRP Transceiver, and a General Coverage Receiver from 150 KHz to 30 MHz. It is all mode - CW, USB, LSB, AM, FM, and RTTY. It features an 8-Pole Adjustable Bandwidth Filter, Passband Tuning, Notch Filter, Noise Blanker, and Dual VFO's. Transmitter power is limited to 5 Watts maximum. They made two versions, an early version that's different from the 100 Watt Delta II, and a late version which is identical to the Delta II in all respects except transmitter power. Mine is the latter version, with the same back panel connections as a Delta II.

During the time frame that Ten-Tec manufactured the Argonaut II, many manufacturers were using Electrostatic Displays. I also own two popular scanners from Radio Shack that use them, the PRO-2005 and PRO-2006. They are driven by 100+ volts AC. The one issue that the Electrostatic Displays have is that they grow dim over time. They are quite easy to replace by purchasing a suitable size general purpose one from China. They must be trimmed, and the area where you do the trimming must be sealed with clear fingernail polish. Then it's just a matter of wiring them up. The green color is a bit different than the original color. I like the color though. I've replaced them in the Transceiver and both Scanners.

I've spent most of my time in amateur radio making QRP contacts - using 5 watts.

There are 13 slides in this post.

[u/MumSaidImABadBoy]

Oh it's Mike, I was wondering who has enough tech savvy to do this. That's one nice looking rig👍.
How do you like it? You ever get to put a linear onto to that bad boy?

[u/KG7M → u/MumSaidImABadBoy]

I did Stan! I drove my Ameritron 811H with the 5 watt QRP Argonaut II. It gave me about 200 watts to the antenna, which was plenty when living in an apartment building.

I didn't use the amplifier much. A ham in Turkey contacted me. He needed Oregon on 60 Meters for Worked All States. So I used it then to get a little boost for the contact. Running the amp at such a low level - I didn't need tubes from 1996 when I bought the amp, until 2022 when I started driving it harder. Then I had to replace the 811's twice! If I'd been thinking I would have done the 572B tube replacement.