[Johnson] Ranger Meter...

[joel hallas]

I did that as well in my Ranger days. As I remember, I had to compute an 
additional series resitance to make the scales read correctly, no big 
deal. I also had to drill some tiny holes in the scale to make the 
screws line up in the new meter.

But the reason for my note is to discuss why I lost my meter, a 
cautionary tale for all Ranger fans! The Ranger, in its overzealous 
(IMHO) quest to be RFI free, put the shielding can on the back of the 
meter with two gromets for the terminals. In their design, the meter has 
full B+ on both terminals, rather than the typical cathode voltage and 
ground of many rigs. As a consequence, the very old rubber dries out, 
cracks and allows the B+ to arc to the shield. If you're "lucky" it will 
arc on the supply side and just damage some power supply componants. If 
you're unlucky, as I was, it will arc on the other side, applying full 
B+  across the meter. The result is not pretty.

My suggestion, get rid of the can. Save it in a box in case it needs to 
go to a museum someday, but for an operating rig, forget about it. I 
would be surprised if there were any difference in TVI. If you are a 
purist, you should at least replace the gromets. Better yet (IMHO) open 
up the holes some and get larger gromets to make a longer arc path.

Good luck, thery're great radios when they work!

73, Joel (now happy Viking 2 owner!)
Joel R. Hallas, W1ZR
 

Ed Swynar wrote:

>Tim, 
>
>If worse comes to worst, you can always replace the "innards" of that meter with a similarly-sized surplus Simpson brand meter, 0-5 ma. DC, if memory serves me well...
>
>I had to do that with mine when one of the meter multiplier resistors went south on me, & as a consequence, took the life of the meter with it. The retrofit went well---NOT a place for shakey hands, though!---& the only visible difference was the style of the pointer, i.e. if I recall, the replacement was  pin-shaped at the end, vs. a "spade" end.
>
>The original scale face & case can remain---it's just the movement/needle that is swapped out.
>
>Good luck!
>
>~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
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