[Boatanchors] Interesting AR-88 Issue

[EP Swynar]

Hi Rodger,

How do you like that AR-88 of yours...?

It's stories like that that are making me STRONGLY yearn to set up a "Studio
B" here in the rec room, devoted just to my AR-88LF & Viking II transmitter.

I got my receiver back some 15 years ago, or so. It has an "original"
S-meter that was installed in 1957 by the second owner: he commissioned the
meter manufacturer to make one for him, & he installed it at that time. The
rig also has the original case, as well as the knob allen keys (there are 2
sizes) on one side of same, AND the alignment "bar" tools under the coil
cover.

What amazes me about the 100-pound / 64 year old behemoth is how abley it
receives SSB on the 10-meter band (when the band is open, of course!)
without any "outside assistance" in the form of add-on peripherals. I cut my
eye teeth on a 50's vintage Hallicrafter S-77A that was absoultely useless
on frequencies above 13-MHz, or so, becasue of images & oscillator
instability...

Not so with the AR-88LF!

What a grand receiver it is, indeed. I love the big rascal...and I oft-times
wonder whatever may have become of all those AR-88's that seemed to be
regular monthly features throughout the 50's / 60's / early 70's, garcing
centre stage in photos of stations shown in QST's "How's DX?" column. It
seemed hardly an issue would go by without a shot of an AR-88 sitting at the
operating table in India, England, Egypt, Burma, Russia, etc. etc. etc.

I hope they're all still "...alive & well" somewhere in their respective
home countries...

~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ


*******************************************

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rodger" <wq9e at dtnspeed.net>
To: <Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 4:50 PM
Subject: [Boatanchors] Interesting AR-88 Issue


> Over the last couple of days I started working on an RCA AR-88 that I
> picked up earlier this summer.  Although it looked fairly good it needed
> cleaning and it was sporting an SX-42 S meter instead of anything close
> to the original RCA look.  Once I started working on it I also found
> several of the "bathtub" caps were leaking oil from their seals so I
> replaced all of them.  Upon power up there was no smoke and good results
> except on the two highest ranges and a quick check showed the HFO wasn't
> working on these two ranges.  A few measurements with the ohmmeter
> indicated an interesting reading because it appeared that a large
> capacitor was slowly being charged on these ranges between the coil
> terminals and ground but the oscillator coils are isolated from the rest
> of the circuit by fairly small capacitors so that made no sense.  The
> tubular trimmer capacitors themselves were the problem.  On the AR-88
> the trimmer capacitors are composed of an aluminum tube with a solid
> aluminum bar inside insulated by a ceramic disc and whatever cleaner or
> lubricant that was used by the previous owner got inside the caps on
> these two ranges and turned them into some sort of home made
> electrolytic cap, when I took them apart I found a white pasty substance
> inside.  I didn't bother to measure the capacitance before cleaning them
> up but fortunately a quick disassembly and cleaning restored them to
> normal operation and now the AR-88 is working properly on all ranges.  I
> checked the other trimmer caps in the oscillator section and they were
> fine so apparently only the two highest range caps were attacked by
> cleaning/lubricant guy.
>
> This ends this breaking news story and now back to your regularly
> scheduled program,  "Upgrade Controversy"  :)
>
> Rodger WQ9E
> _______________________________________________