[Johnson] Comments on constructing/repairing BA equipment

[kwylow zinjanthropus]

All:

Just wanted to make a comment on this. A few days ago, I completed construction of an AC-1 replica transmitter (just in time for SKN!). I was short a few parts in the meantime so I decided to check out the local Radio Shack. Was I in for a surprise: apparently, BA quality parts are getting harder and harder to come by. I was looking for a 220 pf cap for the xtal osc divider circuit. I was lucky to find such a cap...in the discontinued section of the store! Even the terminal strips were hard to find. I spent almost 10 minutes at a local RS because the clerk didn't know what the heck what i was talking about. Many of the clerks don't have the needed skills to know what you are asking for (oh, we don't have a 220 micro micro farad...would a .22 microfarad electrolytic cap work?) and other nonsense like that. 

So if you are about to repair your Ranger, Valiant, etc, or start construction on a project, be wary of these things that are happening at your local "Shack". Be lucky that places like Antique Electronic Supply, Fair Radio, and what have you that are still around. Commercial places that sell radio parts with personnel that are knowledgeable within your local mall's distance are getting harder and harder to find. 

FWIW. Cal, N6KYR. 



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now

--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/html
The reason this message is shown is because the post was in HTML
or had an attachment. Attachments are not allowed.
Please post in Plain-Text only.---