[CW] Every now and then you win one...

[Ed Tanton]

Every now and then you win one.

BACKGROUND: back on 1 DEC 2005 I had heart surgery, 5 bypasses. As a 
result, I did not even go down to my basement until sometime in-I 
think it was-FEB of the following year. The reason I went down then 
was to just sort of check things out because my roof-mounted 4 
element TET Yagi had blown over, destroying it. THAT's another story.

Back to this one: when I went down there, I discovered > 1/4 inch of 
standing 'water' all over my operating desk-and the equipment that 
was on it. I put the 'water' in quotes because it was actually 
'stuff' from the rusted-out 5 inch primary drain pipe discharging the 
kitchen sink, the garbage disposal, and the dishwasher. It had been 
draining out onto everything for months! The worst loss was my 
near-mint JRC NRD-515 receiver with memory unit. When I looked inside 
it, there was  1/4" of that 'water' INSIDE along with built-up 
corrosion everywhere. It was SO BAD that I did not even attempt to 
salvage it, but rather, put the panels back on it, and put it on the 
shelf. There were of course other losses, including a number of small 
things like my excellent EICO 717 keyer. It and the NRD are 
absolutely total losses-at least for now. I had 4 keys and paddles on 
that desktop as well. One of my heavily-chromed GHD bugs had 
literally had a corrosion-spot etch through the chrome! That, and the 
insides of the NRD are what I base my 'how-long' timeframe on. I KNOW 
I didn't go down there starting by DEC 1st. Total was around $3000 
damage if you count everything-including the keys. Coarse estimate. 
The insurance company told me I could go ahead and file the 
antenna/etc. and the basement... BUT I decided not to file the 
basement because they virtually guaranteed me my rates would go way 
up with both, and worse, if ANYTHING happened for the next year or so 
I would likely be cancelled. So I only filed the antenna/etc. THAT's 
still being negotiated between the insurance company & the ONLY 
installer in the Southeast who does that sort of thing. Anyway...

I have slowly been cleaning up, and today, FINALLY, had one piece of 
GOOD news from all this: my AEA MM-3 keyer was not directly under 
leak-central, but a couple of feet off to the left, on the tabletop. 
It had taken enough water that the keypad keys were almost frozen. 
They are mechanical, not one of these mylar/whatever keypads. Now 
that my wife's Annual Christmas Cleanup Frenzy is over, I have been 
back down there doing some cleaning/sorting/etc. I got out the 
Pro-Gold Contact Spray and took the MM-3 apart. Heavily sprayed and 
exercised the keypad then cleaned it back up. The interior I had been 
so afraid of seeing initially looked fine. I reseated all the 
socketed MSI ICs, got out my Czech paddle (it was handiest) and with 
great trepidation plugged-in the AEA wallwart power supply.

The WIN? It works perfectly!!! Even the keypad keys have remained 
smooth. Thank goodness!!!

P.S. My Ten-Tec Argonaut II was also in that 'splashed' section. It's 
handheld mike literally had 'water' pour out when I inverted it the 
1st time. I took the Argo II apart several weeks ago for a damage 
survey; and there seems to have been 'stuff' splashed (inside) 
somehow up against the back wall, but no corrosion was evident like 
it was with the NRD. It is going to TT for a repair-and-cal. This week.

So... you win some and you lose some. This was a 
small-but-encouraging win. And it could have been so-o-o much worse: 
my SN 02 Hensley paddle was on the shelf because I had been mainly 
using my GHD bug; my entire receivers rack was unharmed; and my 
beloved near-mint EFJ Ranger II was upstairs to be worked on since 
it's aluminum band-switching cam-block had come loose yet again. I 
consider it irreplaceable-I wouldn't have the $$$ even if I could 
find another Ranger II in that condition.

Next, I have to retrieve my B&W 380-B T/R Switch (which was at 
leak-central with a 1/4" of 'water' on it too.) IT will be the first 
'anything-it-needs' restoration of any of the damaged units. I 
apologize for the length of this-I thought the background necessary 
to understand the sweetness of the small victory.

72/73 Ed Tanton N4XY <n4xy at earthlink.net>
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Ed Tanton N4XY
189 Pioneer Trail
Marietta, GA 30068-3466

website: http://www.n4xy.com

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"Right is right, even if everyone is
against it; and wrong is wrong, even
if everyone is for it."

William Penn
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