Greetings Ham's one & all.
I just recently bought a Kenwood TS 820S that was DEAD.
SO I decided to FIX it.
Easily I got it to receive in excellent condition & successfully done.
The TX had some major issues.
SO I chose to disconnect the HV & to pull out the Final Tubes.
Also I removed the Fan and rear Fan Cover.
I made a new plate to cover where the Fan had been .
On that plate I installed to BNC's
One BNC is the output from the driver. This is now the input to an external RF amplifier.
The other BNC is for the output of a homebrew external RF amplifier into the antenna relay of the TS 820S.
THAT WAY I can use any RF amp that I choose. Even Homebrew.
When I want to run QRP I simply remove the external RF amp & install a small coax jumper on those two rear BNC's.
Without using an external amp I have been making solid daily contacts of on the average of 1200 miles @ only 1 watt PEP.
My furthest solid contact was 2500 miles away @ 1 watt PEP.
I have successfully been having solid QSO's SSB QRP on 20 , 15 , & 10 meters . & all that I use for an antenna is a Vertical Umbrella antenna wherein all elements Vertical & Horizontal are all one conductor & each is 36 feet long.
Kenwood TS 820S rides again in style.
Dan WD8PCU