The Unofficial

Transworld TW100 HF SSB Transceiver User Manual

M. Greenman ZL1BPU August 2006

Murray Greenman 2006

Page 1

Contents
General Description Brief Specifications Front and Rear Panels General Operation Channel Programming

General Description
The TW100 is a robust and highly reliable HF SSB transceiver intended for military, marine, government and other high-reliability applications. It was designed in the mid 1980s and uses a modular design for ease of field servicing at module level. The design is microprocessor controlled, has high performance, and was quite advanced for the time. The TW100 has a very high reputation for reliability. The TW100 uses microprocessor control of most functions, includes 100 memories, and operates USB, LSB, AM and CW. Using an external power supply and modem, it will also operate RTTY. The unit has a single reference dual synthesizer design with 100Hz steps, offering high stability due to an oven-controlled reference. The unit has three operating modes, chosen to suit the target application and operator skill. In the most popular operating configuration, Mode 1, the unit offers 100 pre-programmed operating channels in the range 1.6 to 30MHz, which can be used for simplex or half-duplex operation. Further, channel 00 can be programmed on the fly anywhere in the same range, and can (for reception only) be used to temporarily control the receive frequency down to about 500kHz (although the receiver sensitivity drops off quickly below 1.6MHz). In this mode all channels can be manually stepped for reception in 100Hz steps (like a simple VFO) using UP and DOWN buttons. The TW100 operates from 12V DC (there is a 24V option version) or from 115/230V AC, if the AC option is fitted. The AC supply is unregulated, and although fine for SSB and CW, is not suitable for sustained high power operation. The unit is large and heavy, but very robust. On the front panel the transceiver has an LCD display, which is backlit, a group of control buttons and a programming keypad, which glows in the dark. The TW100 is available with various Selcall and Transcall (ALE) options, not covered in this simple user manual.

Murray Greenman 2006

Page 2

Brief Specifications Gener al

1.6 30MHz in 100Hz steps (receive from 500kHz with reduced performance) Channels 100, simplex and half duplex, field programmable Display Six digit LCD with plasma backlight Displays channel, frequency or status Tuning Receive only, UP/DOWN pushbuttons, 100Hz steps Scanning Up to 10 channels, automatic Frequency Control Temperature controlled, 1ppm, 20Hz max Operating Modes A3J (USB/LSB), A3H (compatible AM), A1 (CW), F1 (RTTY) Dimensions 107mm high, 345mm wide, 445mm deep, 13kg (DC only 11kg) Operating Temperature -30 to +55 C C Power Supply 13.6V DC 550mA/12A average (28V 350mA/7A) Internal AC supply 115/230V 50/60Hz, SSB only Reverse protected by fuse and shunt diode Frequency Range

Tr ansmit t er
Power Output Antenna Impedance Unwanted Products Audio Input 125W PEP, 100W average 1dB 50 Ohm, transmitter protected against mismatch Carrier 50dB, unwanted sideband 60dB at 1kHz All harmonics and spurious > -63dB, intermod <-32dB 150 Ohm, with automatic gain control

Receiver
Receiver Sensitivity Receiver Selectivity IF and Image Rejection Clarifier 0.35uV for 10dB S+N/N, drops 60dB/octave below 1.8MHz 300 2700Hz 6dB,5kHz 60dB > 80dB 125Hz

Typical Per f or mance

Typical output is 150W PEP 1.6 to 30MHz, with 75W carrier on AM. Audio is good, with adequate gain from a low-impedance dynamoc microphone. The receiver gain is intentionally rolled off steeply at the low end to prevent BC-band intermodulation. Gain is typically 20dB down at 1.4MHz, 40dB down at 1MHz, and 60dB down at 800kHz, but is still able to operate reasonably on the AM band. There is a simple modification which allows the receiver to operate down to 100kHz. The receiver seems bullet-proof, and has quite adequate sensitivity. It would benefit from adjustable AGC hang time, and from an RF gain control and noise blanker.

Murray Greenman 2006

Page 3

Front and Rear Panels

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Power Switch (switches both AC and low power DC, but not power amp) Audio Gain (there is no RF Gain) Clarifier, 125Hz, fully ACW for off TC/SC switch (Transcall or Selcall, leave in SC position) Noise Blanker Switch (if fitted) Speaker Switch (does not affect headphone socket) Squelch Switch (voice operated) Receiver Attenuator Switch (-12dB) USB/LSB Selector Switch AM Selector Switch FSK Selector Switch ATU command push-button SCAN push-button UP (100Hz step) button DOWN (100Hz step) button SC command button (used to enter station to call) CALL command start button to Selcall or Transcall Keypad for channel, frequency and calling data entry. Glows in the dark. S-meter (RX, S9 = 100uV at half scale) and power meter (TX, 100W full scale) LCD Display, with backlight Loudspeaker Power ON indicator LED CW KEY input Headphone Output (disables speaker) Microphone Socket

Murray Greenman 2006

Page 4

Looking from the rear, the AC connector is on the left at the bottom. A standard IEC connector is used. 115V/230V switching is internal and requires a soldering iron. Just to the right of the AC connector is the AC fuse holder. Below and between these two is a ground lug. On the far right is the antenna connector (SO239), and just to the left of it is the DC power connector, with a white plastic surround. If the appropriate plug is not available, the DC connector will accept standard automotive female bullet connectors. Be aware that the internal polarity protection will blow the internal fuse if power is reversed accidentally. Use a 15A fuse in the DC lead. The other rear connectors are for accessories such as linear amplifiers, auto-tuner, modem and remote control. See the Service Manual for more information.

Murray Greenman 2006

Page 5

General Operation
The unit was designed for use by untrained operators, and so is very easy operate in a fixed channel manner, especially if used with an auto-tuner or broadband antenna. This description is for operating mode 1. Operating modes are set internally and cannot be changed by the operator. Switch the power on, and select the desired mode (AM OFF and FSK OFF for SSB). AM can be operated in USB or LSB, but USB is preferred. For accurate frequency control, an oven heated crystal is used, and so the unit takes about five minutes to stabilize. Select the desired channel by pressing C on the keypad followed by two digits, 00 to 99. You can check that the receive frequency selected is the one you need by pressing the F button on the keypad. A second press of the F key will indicate the transmit frequency. When you subsequently transmit, the display reverts to channel number. On receive, you can tune up and down from the programmed frequency in 100Hz steps by first pressing F to display frequency, then using the UP and DN buttons. When you subsequently press the C key or transmit, the frequency reverts to the programmed channel frequency. (On channel 00 only, you can make the new frequency stick if you press F again before transmitting). The display indicates TX and RX frequencies by moving the decimal point on the display. The receive frequency display is essentially in MHz, and the decimal point is above the RX mark on the panel. The transmit frequency display is essentially in kHz, and the decimal point is thus above the TX mark on the panel, to indicate that the transmitter frequency is displayed. Unless operating half-duplex, the transmit and receive frequencies will of course be the same. Channel 00 operates differently to the others. This is intended as a user-programmable VFO channel. The transmit and receive frequencies can be examined as described above, and the receiver can be tuned as descibed above, but the receive frequency does not revert to a programmed value when the transmitter is used. Any frequency can be programmed into Channel 00, by first selecting Channel 00 (C00) and then pressing F and the required frequency (for example F21820 for 2182kHz). To change the transmit frequency, press F again and enter a transmit frequency, otherwise the same frequency as the receiver will be used. Another difference with Channel 00 is that if you use the UP and DN buttons to change frequency, you can then store the new frequency in order to transmit, receive and remember the frequency by pressing F again. Signals that are slightly off-frequency can be corrected by using the Clarifier, which has slightly more than one synthesizer step range each way (125Hz). The Clarifier is crystal controlled, but does not operate on transmit. To switch it off, turn the knob fully anti-clockwise. To transmit, simply press the PPT switch on the microphone. Speak across the microphone in a normal voice. Do not shout! The automatic gain circuit will ensure that even weak voices operate the transmitter correctly. It is best to keep the microphone close to your mouth, especially in an exceptionally noisy environment such as a moving vehicle. The meter will kick up to about 30% or so, depending on the speech content, so dont expect to talk it up to full scale. If it moves much less, check the antenna tuning. If you accidentally press the CALL button, the transmitter will issue a series of transmit cycles automatically. To cancel this, just press CALL again. The CALL (Selcall) feature works only with identically equipped TW100 transceivers. If you accidentally press the SCAN button, the receiver will step through the channels automatically. To cancel this, just press SCAN again.

Murray Greenman 2006

Page 6

Tuning Up
No tuner is included in the transceiver, which expects a 50 Ohm load. Although the transmitter is fully broadband in operation, unless using an exactly resonant dipole antenna, an antenna tuner will be required. Using AM mode, adjust the tuner or antenna using an SWR meter placed between the transceiver and the tuner (or antenna if no tuner is used). Alternatively, adjust the tuner or antenna for maximum indicated transmitter power on the transceiver meter in AM mode.

AM Oper at ion
Simply switch the AM switch on. No change is made to the receiver - reception is still single sideband, so some quality is lost, but the distortion effects of selective fading will be reduced. You can operate in USB or LSB. When transmitting AM, the carrier power output will be about 75 Watts and the transmitter will heat up quickly. Because the heatsink and AC power supply are not rated for continuous AM operation, keep overs short. The AM transmitted has only one sideband (USB or LSB as selected), but the signal has true upward and downward AM modulation and is compatable with all AM receivers. It is conventional to use USB when transmitting compatible AM. AM mode is used to tune up the transceiver. This mode transmits a carrier of about half the full transmitter power, and antenna adjustment should be made to give maximum deflection on the front panel power meter (which should be about half-scale on AM). If the indicated power is lower, the transmitter is being prevented from operating at full power due to mismatch. The antenna or matching is inadequate and should be improved. When operating AM, the transmitter power meter moves very little inresponse to speech.

CW Oper at ion
In the TW100, CW is operated as a subcarrier SSB mode, rather than using carrier injection. This means that an audio tone is keyed into the SSB transmitter audio circuitry. Thus the indicated frequency on the display will be about 1kHz lower (USB) or higher (LSB) than the transmitted carrier. Tune up as normal, and operate the transceiver in USB or LSB mode, bearing in mind the offset between indicated frequency and carrier frequency. The key controls the TR switching of the transceiver in semi-break-in fashion, and also operates a tone generator which causes a sidetone to be generated. The sidetone is transmitted as the CW carrier and appears in the speaker. So, if you tune in the station you wish to work to have the same pitch as the sidetone, youll be on the correct frequency. It does not matter which sideband you use, so choose the one with the lowest interference. As you change sidebands, youll need to move the tuning 2kHz to retune the signal.

Murray Greenman 2006

Page 7

Channel Programming
Dont pass this information on to operators if you dont want the programmed channels changed! Just remove this last page from the manual. Alternatively, set the transceiver into Mode 2 (see below).

Pr ogr amming Channels

Select the required channel by pressing C and entering the channel number. Press and hold the F key. Press and release the C key, then release the F key. Enter the required receive frequency, and then press the F key again.

Half Duplex
For half-duplex, proceed as above, and then press the F key so that the decimal point on the display is in the TX position. Press and hold the F key. Press and release the C key, then release the F key. Enter the required transmit frequency, and then press the F key again.

Scan Mode
Any number of channels from two to 98 channels can be scanned! The first scan channel is channel 00. First program the frequencies to be scanned into consecutive channels, starting at channel 01 (see next section). Next enter the channel number of the channel one greater than the last one to be scanned. Press and hold the F key. Press and release the C key, then release the F key. Press the SCAN key. The scan limits are now stored. Channels will be scanned at a rate of one every three seconds. Press SCAN to start or stop the scan process. The scan process must be stopped in order to enter new key functions. The stored scan parameters can be used any time, and are retained when the power is cycled. If a different scan regime is required, enter new parameters.

Changing Pr ogr amming Mode

Mode 1 (as described above) allows the operator to program all channels and the scan function. Mode 2 allows only channels to be selected (for channels 01 99), not programmed, although the programmed frequencies can be viewed. This mode also allows receiver frequency to be programmed into channel 00, but transmit operation on this channel is not possible. In Mode 3, only channels can be changed by the operator, and only channel numbers are displayed. Channel 00 operates the same as the other channels. To change the mode, remove power, open the bottom cover and change the switches on the M9 module DIP switch fitted to U17. Switch positions 2 and 3 are used, as follows: Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 2 ON 2 ON 2 OFF 3 ON 3 OFF 3 OFF

All other switches of U17should be OFF. Mode 3 can be set permanently by removing the DIP switch fitted to U17. When the changes have been made, replace the cover and apply power again.

Murray Greenman 2006

Page 8