[HCRA] today's Moron Qualifying Event

[Mike DeChristopher, K1KAA]

Oh, I almost forgot to mention...
The keyer is the most valuable piece of gear I own.  It is autographed 
by CQ Hall of Famer, Feeding Hills' own N1RL!

-- 

Mike DeChristopher, K1KAA
k1kaa at arrl.net
AR-Cluster node telnet://dx.413ma.org



Rick Lindquist, WW3DE wrote:
>> "You moron, that's not a tone, that's the letter T!"
> 
> . . . and a veerrrrrrrrry long one, apparently! D'oh!
> 
> I could share similar stories, but I can't remember 'em anymore.
> 
> Live and learn, dude.
> 
> 73, Rick, WW3DE
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: hcra-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:hcra-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On
> Behalf Of Mike DeChristopher, K1KAA
> Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 6:17 PM
> To: HCRA
> Subject: [HCRA] today's Moron Qualifying Event
> 
> ______________________________________________
> -------Hampden County Radio Association-------
> -----------e-mail list (reflector)-------------
> ______________________________________________
> Hi all,
> 	Since the reflector has been quiet lately, I figured I would share
> my 
> most recent M.Q.E. (Moron Qualifying Event).  It occured earlier today 
> while working around the shack, and took up most of the day (and all of 
> my energy).
> 	I was trying to troubleshoot my computer/radio interfaces.  As most
> of 
> you know, I use only TS-440's here; you could call me a collector, 
> although perhaps "acquirer" is more honest.  Owning a TS-440 is much 
> like owning an old car: things break, but you know your way around under 
> the hood so well, it doesn't much bother you anymore.
> 	Anyway, I turn the right radio on.  Everything works correctly, but
> I 
> get this terrible tone.  The tone wouldn't go away unless I turned the 
> AF down.  When I dropped the RX, it was still there.  When I changed 
> microphones, it was still there.  When I transmitted, it was still 
> there.  Since I have two of everything here, I decide to try things on 
> the left radio.  Turned that one on, no tone, no problems.  So it was 
> certainly the right radio.  I swapped the amplifier.  Still heard it.  I 
> swapped the power supply.  Still heard it.  I unplugged the switches, 
> the band decoders, the so2r controls, the qsk block for the amp, and 
> even the power cord, yet the tone was still there.  Now, I'm getting 
> desperate.
> 	Those who own TS-440's know that we are an exclusive group.  Not 
> because we chose to be, but because most people threw these things out a 
> decade or so ago.  Luckily, I have a list of people with similar tastes 
> (and that taste is Kenwood), and was able to shoot a few emails out.  I 
> ended up talking with a guy online, then eventually on the radio, and 
> then eventually on the telephone, and I walked him through the problem. 
>   Within two hours, the radio was taken apart and scattered all across 
> the operating table.  It had been almost eight hours since I first 
> discovered the tone.
> 	I started talking to another TS-440 user on the left radio.  40m was
> a 
> little busy, so the copy was not fantastic, but he was thinking through 
> the situation.  He has me pull out the PLL board and start looking for 
> issues in the VCO area, which I was suspect of, but did anyway.  Being a 
> career TS-440 user, I could draw the PLL board out of memory alone.  In 
> any case, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  I put the radio back 
> together, and turned it back on, continuing to talk with the left radio.
> 	Out of nowhere, he keys up and asks, "Wait, wait...turn up the
> AF...I 
> can hear the tone in the background..."
> 	By this time, several other TS-440 users from a multitude of subject
> 
> email reflectors have assembled on the frequency at our behest.  So, 
> knowing somebody would have the answer.  I transmitted so they could 
> hear the tone.
> 	"Are you sure everything is unplugged from the back of the radio?" 
> Someone asked.  I laughed.  What a foolish question.
> 	"Yeah, yeah, of course."
> 	"That noise doesn't sound familiar?"  He asked again.
> 	I thought for a moment, then immediately looked at the back of the 
> radio.  Sure enough, I had forgotten to unplug something.  The keyer was 
> still very much plugged in.  I looked at the key up on the top shelf, 
> far out of my view, and sure enough, one of the paddles was jammed down. 
>   Without the keyer in iambic mode, and with the radio on SSB, this 
> produced a steady tone from the speaker.
> 	"You moron, that's not a tone, that's the letter T!"
> 	I think the moral of this story is similar to "measure twice, cut 
> once."  Anyway, that was my M.Q.E. for the day.
> 
>