[1000mp] sticking relay problem and W8JI mod.

[Tod Olson]

Some time earlier I set off to see if I could get Burghardt to make the =
W8JI
mod. I am sorry to report that I was not successful.

When I read that Burghardt had not seen any relay failures (presumably =
as
the cause of the 'sticking relay problem') I called someone who had been =
at
Burghardt and had left to teach at a local Technical School. During the
ensuing discussion I learned that sometimes relays had failed in the =
FT1000
and FT1000D, particularly when they first came out. There may still be =
some
failures, but they are not 'frequent'. Instead, it would seem that the
transistors controlling the relays also fail (somewhat). All of which =
leaves
us still uncertain as to what is happening. My consultant said that he =
would
expect that some radios may have a problem and need to have "something" =
in
the front end replaced --- but not most. I suspect that if we were to =
poll
everyone on the reflector we would find that the 'sticky relay problem' =
may
be something experienced by 1% or less of the readers. In any event, if =
my
radio did have such a problem I would have someone look at the relays =
and
the relay control circuits.


While I was talking with my friend, I asked if he would be interested in
performing the W8JI modification on FT1000X radios. He said he would =
have no
concern about doing that if it was requested. I told him I would pass =
along
his email address, his web site address and his telephone number in case
some reader might wish to contact him. He, in turn, said he would look =
once
again at the W8JI mod so he had a good idea what would be required. =
Clearly
the parts cost is not the expensive part --- the labor is. I  pointed =
out to
him that there were a number of people who were concerned about the key
clicks coming from their radios, but who also were concerned that they =
were
not a good choice to do the work of the modification. He does radio =
repair
as an after hours occupation but he does have the same test equipment =
that
he had at Burghardt.

The person's name is Tim Moes.
His telephone number is (605) 882-1706
His web site is www.midwest-technical.com
His email address is tcmoes@yahoo.com


He was the lead technician at Burghardt Amateur Supply for many years.


73, Tod, K=D8TO