[Premium-Rx] Cubic R-3030A ??

[refmon]

Hi Henry,

John Collins here.  I've done a fair amount of surgery on the R3030 and the
A.  I don't have a release-form of my mods list but if you can tell me the
items of interest, maybe I can help.  As for your other inquiries:

1)  contact me off list with the mods inquiries

2)  Cubic's info may be true, however, try to take notice...is every key
bouncy or just one or two?  Every 3030A I've ever had (grand total of 3,
totaling 6 keypads), had bouncy keys...there is alleged to be a debounce
improvement in the 3030 (no 3030 keys bounce), but I have not found the
one-shot yet.  The part of the keypad you see is actually an overlay that
varies among models...is it nice and taught, or is it a little loose and
baggy?  Every 3030A I've ever seen has baggy keypad overlays.  I hate to
admit it, but I've not put much effort into the bouncy keypad...instead I
have realized I've developed an Cubic R3030A button finger... seriously, as
dumb as it sounds, if you develop the habit of pushing the button
straight-on and briskly...no side-swipes, no lingering finger, you can get
this unit to work fairly well pending a solution.  My main point here is
that finding an old R3030A and swapping keypads, in my experience, won't
help...all the A's do this as far as I can tell.

3)  The volume controls probably won't respond much to spray cleaning, and
they are not audio pots...they are linear...note how all the volume
variation is at one end.  How many hours on each receiver?  (see meters on
rear panel).  Radio shack has a log-taper small scale pot that fits,
although it has an extra segment, it being a stereo pot.  My original volume
pots happen to be good, so I tried that trick where you tie the wiper to the
low side of the pot with a resistor...sort of worked, but nowhere near a log
pot.

4)  There's a boatload of minor differences between R3030A and R3030.  The
most significant are:

a)  R3030A has screw and DB9 audio connections...also a few other signals.
R3030 uses MS - type military connector
b)  R3030 has no speaker outputs, although the audio amp and some spare pins
mean all you need is a wire.
c)  R3030A typically has IF bandwidths of .5/1/3.2/6 KHz.  R3030 has
.5/1/2/4/8...the readouts and IF offsets are hard-coded, so the CPU software
version is different just for this...there are other things also.
d)  R3030A uses a serial remote system.  The R3030 uses GPIB....another
difference in software versions

There are a few more that don't count for much...I can elaborate off list.

Then there is always the oddball one-off.

Gee, I wonder if the CIA minds having their beans spilled.  Actually, the
R3030A is all over the place...they may well have a few.

You need to be fairly careful with the Cubics...there is the R3030A, R3030,
R3090, R3050, R3080, etc etc and they all use the same module numbers at a
glance.  The differences are shown in suffixes like 010 020 etc or A, B, C
AND in software and firmware versions.  Without having the manuals for them
all, you'll never unearth the subtle differences.  I do have the manuals and
can answer some questions for you.

What does the improved design step module do that's so improved?  Not sure,
but I think that in step and scan modes, under certain conditions, it will
lock faster, allowing more channels per second.  Also be aware that while
two modules may have identical model numbers and suffixes, there may be
different generation circuit boards inside.  I have found no differences
noticeable to the naked ear...

A possible useful tip.....depending on your antenna type and proximity to
the receiver, you may get a ton of digital hash that changes with readout
display or tuning... this is digital clock crud that is pouring out of the
display and keypad cutouts...I have some cures.

regards and I'll watch for your email.

John Collins
_____________________________________________________________
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Henry Kolesnik" <wd5jfr at oklahoma.net>
To: <premium-rx at ml.skirrow.org>
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2003 01:41 PM
Subject: [Premium-Rx] Cubic R-3030A ??


Hello PRX list:


A few questions for the group if I may.

1.  Where can I find a list of mods or updates for this receiver?

2.  Cubic says keypad bounce is result of bad keypad but they don't have any
replacements!  Has anyone figured out a way to fix this problem or has the
supplier of these keypads been identified?

3.  My volume controls are  quite noisy and before trying to squirt them
with control cleaner I want to make sure I won't make them worse.

I tried to find out the difference between the R-3030 and the R-3030A and
Cubic says the A was made for the CIA.  I compared module number with those
in the Amrad PDF manual and mine all have the same numbers with and Output
Loop of improved design and a Step Loop of Original design.  I'm wondering
what the improved design Step Loop does?

tnx
hank wd5jfr in Tulsa  fighting keypad bounce and the frustration of the
keypad ergonomics or lack thereof!!!!!!!



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