masthead amp needs Power Supply

[Antennaman]

I was trying to track down a Kingray 18V DC 2amp supply shown as a PAK something or other

I think that is a PAK18KR you are referring to, which is used in the Kingray range of MATV distribution equipment. Kingray used to have a PSK18F, which was a 18V DC 500mA supply with F connectors, but haven't seen one of those in a long while.

Antennaman, that 27 V Hills MHA, was that the old Telstar range ??

Not quite that far back. The one referred to here is the PSU1 that can occasionally still be found on the dusty back shelves of electrical wholesalers. They were a very handy device, having the piggy-back plug arrangement, meaning that a double GPO didn't have to be fitted into a ceiling space if there was a convenient outlet already close by.

I take it you have been in this field for a while, can you remember the first Hills transistorised mastheads, called "red spots" from memory? Also, there were some valve distribution amplifiers around as well, I guess they would have been fun as the valves aged and the signals slowly dropped away.

[gordon_s1942]

antennaman, I am not an installer or even remotely qualified in the electronic field. All I have learnt is from moving to an area where the TV was and still is bloody poor and that was the first part of 1963.
The first amp I ever saw and bought was in an aluminium tube about a foot (300mm) long and about an inch (25) in diametere. It was for 300 ohm and powered by a 6v lamp battery. I have no idea who made it.
Then at the end of '63 I started to use the Telstar range on Phased arrays.
Didnt the Telstar have 2 transisitors? no PCB but hard wired?
I did read there was a valve amp, I think it could have been made by Ferris Bros, if not maybe STC/AWA? When I heard about them I asked a now long gone serviceman about them and all I remember was he confirmed their existance but nothing else, not that I would have then understood about gain etc.
What I could not imagine was valve amp up a 50 footer !!!!!
How did they power it up and who climbed the pole to change a valve when required, hmmmm???
I recently emailed Hills/GME asking about cascading amps and I quoted using a MHU42 and I was told that no such animal existed but I not only do have one but I also have the leaflet that came with it. Not a MHU44 of which I have one of as well. Its a 14V only unit.They at the time also had a MHU42B5, the 'B5' signifying it was designed for Band 5 useage only. I never chuck anything away, it just takes me a little while to remember the safe place I put it in.
Also still working is an old 25db VHF only head in the red sliding topped yellow cased amp on a pair of CA16's now used just to pick up FM stations.
I also have a couple of similar in a cupboard but I am not sure what they are or even if they are still working.
I cant remember when the Kingray heads became available now, was it before or after I got married and thats 38 years ago. Trouble is I was in this house from 1965, 5 years before I met and married my wife so some dates are rather blurred concerning minor occurances.

[gordon_s1942]

antennaman, I am not an installer or even remotely qualified in the electronic field. All I have learnt is from moving to an area where the TV was and still is bloody poor and that was the first part of 1963.
I have asked, read,asked,fiddled, tried and failed and asked again over the last gold help me, 43 years and I am still either 2 bricks thick or a dozen short of a load.
What the hell, I am too stupid to quit !!!
The first amp I ever saw and bought was in an aluminium tube about a foot (300mm) long and about an inch (25) in diametere. It was for 300 ohm and powered by a 6v lamp battery. I have no idea who made it.
Then at the end of '63 I started to use the Telstar range on Phased arrays.
Didnt the Telstar have 2 transisitors? no PCB but hard wired?
I did read there was a valve amp, I think it could have been made by Ferris Bros, if not maybe STC/AWA? When I heard about them I asked a now long gone serviceman about them and all I remember was he confirmed their existance but nothing else, not that I would have then understood about gain etc.
What I could not imagine was valve amp up a 50 footer !!!!!
How did they power it up and who climbed the pole to change a valve when required, hmmmm???
I recently emailed Hills/GME asking about cascading amps and I quoted using a MHU42 and I was told that no such animal existed but I not only do have one but I also have the leaflet that came with it. Not a MHU44 of which I have one of as well. Its a 14V only unit.They at the time also had a MHU42B5, the 'B5' signifying it was designed for Band 5 useage only. I never chuck anything away, it just takes me a little while to remember the safe place I put it in.
Also still working is an old 25db VHF only head in the red sliding topped yellow cased amp on a pair of CA16's now used just to pick up FM stations.
I also have a couple of similar in a cupboard but I am not sure what they are or even if they are still working.
I cant remember when the Kingray heads became available now, was it before or after I got married and thats 38 years ago. Trouble is I was in this house from 1965, 5 years before I met and married my wife so some dates are rather blurred concerning minor occurances.

[andrewlace]

The big q?why ain't these things standardized?

it would make life a lot easier!

Anyway i think i better get someone who can drop this mast saftly as it above my skill level.

q2 as a rule does a new digital antenna need to be as high the 40 ft analog?

ones in our area don't seem to be as high

Glad you solved it.

Suggest with digital the key is to get a technician who knows the area and has good test equiptment.

The right antennas are also essential as is the right antennas and cabling.

A big mast is not absolutely necessary in all areas, however in saying that many areas have big masts to overcome ghosting which is one issue that digital fixes.

[gordon_s1942]

antennaman, I was ratting thru the junk pile and found 2 Hills MHA2A MHA's, they are in the smoked plastic cases, 300/75 ohm in and 75ohm outs. Both leads come through the cover.
I think these replaced the Telstar series and was Hills at that time, not connected to GME/Kingray??
Both circuit boards appear the same but one is has a white 'skin' and is rectangular, the other has one corner cut off and is a greenish colour and you can see the tracks on the under side of the board.
One does have a RED sticker about the size of a 5 cent coin but I think it was for the inspector to write that it was passed not the RED spot you mentioned earlier.