[ARC5] OT? bc-348 bfo question

[John Hutchins]

Fernando -
Based on your photo 1 looks like the original gimik capacitors were 
messed with.    My BC-348 R has 2 gimicks that are tied with lacing cord.
Sorry I do not have a picture.  See if I can dig one up.
Hutch
On 9/14/2013 1:20 PM, Fernando - LU2DFM wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 14, 2013 at 11:39:13AM -0400, Michael St. Angelo wrote:
>> Don't be concerned about the hacking criticism. Modifying our equipment has
>> always been a part of amateur radio.
>>
>> If hacking helps you understand the operation of the receiver it has
>> accomplished it's goal.
>>
>> I started in the hobby in the 1960's. I could not afford new equipment and
>> received my first surplus form an uncle.  He had operated communications
>> equipment in WW2 and encouraged me to experiment with it to learn how it
>> worked and to improve it.
>>
>> Surplus equipment was plentiful back then. Unmodified equipment is scarce
>> these days but there is plenty of modified equipment around these days to
>> hack.
> Thank you. I think that modifying a good radio these days is no go for
> the reasons exposed in other posts. I feel like some sort of vandalism
> to do so, it's better to sell it to collectors or donate to museums,
> there are plenty of junk to learn on, modify or take apart.
>
> *This* BC-348 of mine is not in any good shape by any means. It had a
> rough time in it's life, was heavy modified and "repaired", painted
> several times (silver, light blue!), sanded and what not. I bought it
> for parts, and later decided to try to get it working again.
>
> Which I did.
>
>> Look luck and keep us informed of your progress.
> I've tested briefly the options I've mentioned, and setted for now on a
> bigger capacity gimmick; simple testings and measurements suggest that's
> ok. It needs more time in the air to make clear if it's really good or
> not. For now, it works ok on normal to strong signals on SSB and CW with
> MVC (manual RF gain) and AVC (AGC on). I'll test later low signal
> performance, I need to work other areas of the receiver and then realign.
>
> It's perhaps interesting to note that little changes to the gimmick make
> _necessary_ an IF alignment retouch at least of the 2nd and 3rd xformers
> to evaluate improvement; I was not aware of this fact as yesterday.
>
> I've put a little not in my site with a short video where I tune on a
> strong local SSB signal, MVC and AVC showed. There are a couple of pics
> of the gimmicks:
> http://www.lu2dfm.com.ar/articles/art.php?file=art_20130914_bc348bfo.php
>
> Thank you all for your help.
>