KA-116: introduction & chassis

Author: Edgardo Castro Bruse


Introduction

In late October 2009, while visiting short wave converter, I came across the description of the KA-116, russian made, short wave converter. The design of this converter intrigued me, and at the same time it remainded me of a USA made converter called "The Sumariner", which diagram and photo were published in the October 1931 issue of "Radio News". I decided to contact the owner of this web page, and the first approach resulted in a fruitful friendship.

On Friday, November 13, 2009, I did get the KA-116 diagram that had the values of the resistors, and condensers, and with a large number of photos describing every angle of the original construction of the KA-116. From that day on, the project gravitated in my mind, and I was lucky to get more photos upon my request. Little by little I collected the parts, and once in a while, dedicated time to its construction. Finaly on the eve of August 1, 2010 I had the pleasure and satisfaction of tuning the first short wave stations on the Replica of the KA-116 Short Wave Converter!

Preparation of the chassis

Searching in my Junk Box (HUESERA in Spanish) I found an old and rusted chassis of a Heath Kit CC-1 Cathod Ray Tester. It still had the meter and a few parts in it.
This chassis had no large holes and had almost the perfect dimensions for the KA-116. So I decided to built this converter on this chassis.
The preparation of the chassis can be seen in the sequence of pictures shown below. (Click on images to enlarge)