[Drake] Drake Digest, 40 meter high plate current

[FJMelick at aol.com]

I have another question  for the  group.
Today I went to tune up on 40 meters . The rig was only on  for a couple of 
minutes to warm up. I pre-tuned rig on 40 with spot  and AM settings and 
read the signal strength on the receiver meter  tuning for max reading. OK we 
are in the ball park. I turned to the tune mode  and the plate current went 
to .250 mils. At this point I have not even turned up  the gain control. 
When I advanced the gain control there was no increase at  first. It did not 
respond to the additional gain setting. As I tuned the plate  for max output 
on the MN-2000 watt meter setting the plate current went above  .360 
mils.close to .400 mils.  SWR was ok and MN-2000 was tuned for low  swr. . I went 
back to 75 meters and tried to tune up on 75. All was well. I went  back to 40 
meters and everything was fine . What the heck happened. Was the rig  to 
cold or is there some getting ready to let go. Let me add one more thing.  
When I checked the bias reading the first time on 40 meters by keying the mic  
the bias reading was above .100 mils. After going back to 75 and tuning 
there  bias seemed to be at the normal .75 mils range again. 
 
Point me in the right direction please. I am not a  technician but I am 
trying to get to a point where with your help I can repair  my own equipment 
and keep the B line going without going into hock. I am trying  to build up 
some test equipment for the shack so I can do some work myself. Any  
suggestions on test equipment? I have a variac 10 amp unit and a fluke 27  DMM and I 
am looking to buy a used 20 mhz scope next. Any opinions on  test equipment 
other than what I have now would be  appreciated.
 
thanks and 73 de Fred WD8ADG