[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] fundamental rule of ham radio

[Ian]

One of the fundamental rules of ham radio is to remove the cover from any
hamfest purchase and peer inside.  That's why the cover has screws on it.
So I did just that with my new MFJ-267 SWR/wattmeter/dummy load that I got
at Hamvention to go with a Heathkit SB-200 amplifier.  Some years ago in my
younger days of ham radio I was at a hamfest with K4CBA (SK) and we were
looking at an MFJ tuner - when we picked it up it actually rattled because
screws were loose inside.  So I've always been a little suspicious of their
QC despite their "no matter what" warranty.  Unlike that tuner my
acquisition didn't rattle but there were several cold solder joints that
needed touching up.  The best discovery was the bypass capacitor "across"
the meter's terminals.  I use quotes here because the capacitor's leads were
merely wrapped around the terminals - no solder at all - easily fixed of
course.  Bottom line - look inside your radios and accessories (regardless
of who the manufacturer is) - no telling what you might find!

73, Ian N8IK