[GreenKeys] Saturday Morning Woes

[W2HX]

Ha, many of those issues you list I am sure plague all of us from time to time. I’ve had problems with plugs and jacks not doing what is expected of them. As it ends up, this is a complex hobby! Not to mention the machines themselves.  I have a problem with my 28 ASR where its printing accuracy is much less than my KSR, but it isn’t a range finder problem. Whatever it is, it might kill me to track it down. This hobby isn’t for the faint of heart!


73 Eugene W2HX
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From: greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net <greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of Tom Hunter
Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2023 2:00 PM
To: GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [GreenKeys] Saturday Morning Woes

Eugene,  You aren''t the only one who had trouble Saturday, I have a Dovetron for copying The 850 group.
But it does not always play nice. The Signal Loss sometimes flickers with space and that throws it into mark hold.
That makes it useless. I dug out a URA-17 and got it working. It worked like  a champ two Saturdays ago.

My 28 is on top of a rack just above eye level so I have to stand on a 9 inch stool to see it.
With the arthritis in my knees, it is hard do get up and hell to get down. I decided to run my 32 from the URA-17.

That day the Dovetron was working so I was printing while I was shooting the 32 problem

Could not even get a good looking reading on the URA-17 loop current meter.

First problem - I must have fooled with the URA-17 during the week. The controls were set all wrong. Corrected them.
Problem solved.

I set the loop for 20 Mils and because I have a 3-circuit plug on the 32 and 2-circuit plugs everywhere else, I built an adapter cable.

The 32 ran open. I normally  use the 32 on an IRL FSK-1000 through a box with a 50 mil meter and a 275D mercury relay which I can use to key a 60 mil loop. I confirmed that the 32 worked with the IRL and the box. So I plugged the box into the URL-17 loop. The 32 ran open. I pulled the box on the bench several times and rang out the wiring with an ohmmeter.

Second problem - box finally failed on the bench, The coil in the relay was intermittent. Another relay solved that.

Still the 32 ran open and there was no indication on the meter. Yet another meter in the same loop read fine.

Back to the bench. The box now tested fine, even through the adapter cable.

Third problem - The jack I was using did not like a Switchcraft plug.When I plugged it in, the shorting contact on the jack stayed shorted. I formed the contact ( that is technical speak for bend it until it works.) Problem solved.

Now the meter read and I could hear the relay clicking. But the 32 ran open

Fourth problem -  had to increase the current to 30 mils. The 32 started printing. Final Problem solved.

By now it was 7 PM. But I will be all ready for next Saturday!

Tom   N3CRK
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