Getting ready for some winter weather here. Currently at 45*F, overcast to (very) partly sunny, and it was raining a while ago. We're expecting rain turning to snow, with a low of around 23*F tonight. Looks like a good night to light off the fireplace and watch a movie.
-OR- Play with my radio stuff now that it's all back together.
I had my Yaesu FT-1000D apart to fix some issues it has, and install my Inrad Roofing Filter. The roofing filter installation went fine, but I wasn't able to fix one problem, and while I did fix another, it seems I've now introduced a new one.
Sigh.....
The one problem I fixed was a resetting/rebooting problem when I tuned from 6.5MHz to 7.5MHz. The radio would start cycling like the power switch was being turned on and off, and it was hard to get it out of that mode. I traced the problem to the Low Pass Filter board, so I cleaned and reseated all the connectors, along with loosening and tightening the screws that hold that board, and ground it, to the chassis.
Well, it receives just fine now on 40 Meters, but it won't transmit. It's possible it wouldn't transmit before, and the resetting problem was masking it, so it might be a wash on whether I fixed that problem or not.
The other problem is with a printed circuit board with a whole lotta push-button switches on it. Yaesu calls these assemblies "Switch Units", and they're a multiplexed group of switches that use fewer wires than if every switch had it's own pair of wires. The four switches that don't work share a common circuit path, so it should be easy to find and fix the problem.
That's IF I could get the board out!
This particular board is buried behind the front panel, and to get it out would take me a couple of days to disassemble the radio that far. I could do it if I built a fixture like a rotisserie to hold the chassis, but I'm not sure I want to do that. My days of wrestling 55 pound radios around on the bench are behind me, and even if I built a fixture, I'm not sure I want to dig that far into the radio.
One other thing I've finished up while the weather is cooperating has been to get new coax runs installed between my vertical and wire antennas and the entrance box I hung on the house. That also entailed making up some new jumpers for the box on the inside of the house to the coax switch, and coax switch to the radio and dummy load. I now have nice, matching jumpers that are the correct lengths, and the installation looks a lot neater. And there's no more cables running in the house via the small gap between the door and frame! I'm sure my wife will be happy about that.
As far as the radio goes, I'm pretty much in the same boat that SiG is in regarding his Icom Linear Amplifier. I can probably fix it, but it would take a significant effort to do so, and I'm not sure I want to.......
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What I've Been Up To....
Started this post on Monday, then came down with a head cold, which is now progressing South. Feeling better, but still a bit woozy...... To...
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Making a rotating fixture, basically 2 plywood squares with a heavy-duty turntable thingamabob underneath would be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteIt will be useful for fixing stuff and for painting stuff.
Make it. You'll find yourself using it a lot.
Yeah, that would be a "Lazy Susan" type thing, and I have the stuff to make it.
DeleteThe radio needs a frame to hold it, so I can flip it over top-to-bottom, as well as rotate it. I have to access things on both sides, as well as spin it around. Kind of a "gimbal" arrangement rather than just a turntable.
I considered building one as I was taking it apart, but to really use it, I'd have to lug the radio downstairs, do the work, and then bring it back up here.
One of the problems with having a radio "Built Like A Battleship" is that you might need a dry dock from time to time.....
0600 10 miles NNE of you, severe clear, light winds, 23°.
ReplyDeleteAnd all we got for precip was some drizzle yesterday.
DeleteI was really hoping we'd get some rain/snow.
Oh well, next chance is Sunday, when I have a birthday party to attend up in Owl Canyon. Glad I have my Blizzaks back on!
"...or play with my radio stuff now that it's all back together." Everything you wrote after that seems to be Swahili, maybe Serbo-Croation, I'm not really sure.
ReplyDeleteIt's all Greek to me.
Some of us are tech-heads, some aren't!
DeleteThe old one step forward, two steps back, eh???
ReplyDeleteYeah.....BTDT, and I see wrestling this thing around AGAIN.
DeleteAs much as I like this radio, I might just back-burner it and get a new one. Seeing as my Sweet Little Wife just spent $6500 on a three-week Mediterranean cruise, I see no "problem" over a $3800 radio. Now if I went whole-hog and spent $7k on a top-of-the-line model she might squawk, but a "#2 level" radio shouldn't raise her eyebrows.....
It's cold here too, DRJIM. 28 outside right now. I'll throw another blanket on the bed.
ReplyDeleteJust thinking....you must have some spectacular sky viewing there. You should get a telescope for the grandkids!
DeleteIt's 29* at 2125 local, 0325Z. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights are expected to be 10*~15* with snow.
ReplyDeleteJust hope it won't be too frosty for the little ones on All Hallows Eve.....