[Boatanchors] Johnson Navigator Meter Question

[Whitebear1122]

Hi Rob, You are correct in that the Adventurer like the Heath AT-1 have that crappy iron vane meter, steel housing, undamped.

This is my opinion, but I think the Navigator meter is just a slight step up from the Adventurer crappy meter.  The Navigator meter is under damped and when tuning up, one has to wait several seconds for the crazy thing to stop wagging.  

Odd for Johnson to pick such a crappy meter when the Ranger 1, 2, Valiant, etc, all have really nice quality meters.  

I saw a picture of a black bakelite meter (typical Collins or Heath style), with a white meter scale and Johnson logo that a restorer created like you were talking about.  Very nice!   Thanks for your comments!

73, Scott WA9WFA



> On Aug 23, 2020, at 5:01 AM, Rob Atkinson <ranchorobbo at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 7:55 PM <whitebear1122 at comcast.net> wrote:
>> 
>> I've got the Navigator on the bench for repair and I am bummed to find the
>> meter is dead.  Ah darn!  I haven't used it in many years.  When I did, I
>> noted that the meter would flail itself to death with no dampening.
> 
> I thought the Adventurer had that meter and the Navigator had a higher
> quality d'Arsonval meter.  The Adventurer, DX-35 and T-50 all had the
> bouncy meters but I always thought they were part of the fun of
> running those rigs in 2020.  I think the Navigator would be okay with
> a same sized replacement damped meter but the key thing is getting the
> Johnson face for it so it looks authentic.  I've heard of hams
> reproducing that somehow with a color printer.
> 
> 73
> Rob
> K5UJ