[R-390] Mystery solved....sortakinda...
Todd Bigelow - PS
[email protected]
Fri, 06 Jun 2003 11:48:38 -0400
G'day -
After reading all of the responses on the MC/KC waltz, I decided to pull
the Teledyne out of the rack last night for a quick peek. Really had no
expectations of finding anything too exciting or amazing and NO
intention of getting into it in any depth.
Sure 'nuff, those "clean" looking gears and cams really had a nice gray
crud about them. I sprayed some WD-40 into the gear train just to loosen
things up a bit, not as a long-term solution of course. Well, it did
work better and the MC knob seemed to stop turning when the KC knob was
tuned, at least for the most part.
HOWEVER....while tuning to and fro, I noticed something *else*. The two
slug racks to the right weren't even moving...ever! I could switch
bands, tune up and down, all to no avail. This also means one of the
rear racks wasn't moving either, since it apparently keys off one of the
front racks. Further inspection showed a gear or two, doing absolutely
nothing. Damned freeloaders!
In a weak attempt to ascertain what was going on, I reached in to spin
the front most, smaller gear. It flew off the shaft and fell onto the
front porch. Still more inspection showed....a cracked clamp. a HA! So
maybe this is why I couldn't make it work anywhere but the broadcast
band, and then on last checking, not even there.
Now it's time to bite the bullet and do it all the right way. No more
piecemeal approaches to specific symptoms. Somehow I got distracted with
the mongrel A and never got back to the 'good' radio, probably because
the mongrel worked!
At least for now I have some idea where most (if not all) the problems
with the radio lie. Once I get a clear work area, I'm going to take the
'one module at a time' approach and got through the entire radio. Pull a
unit out, clean, repair, and replace it after completion to be sure I
haven't made it worse. There's always the mongrel set too, for temporary
donor parts.
So....who has clamps? Or where? Recalling Scott's advice on his gear
train restoration, I'm thinking it would be wise to have a few spares on
hand. Also - any other suggestions on spare items (beyond complete
modules/chassis) to have on hand? Besides a good bottle of scotch?
There's just no way around it. I'm gonna hafta do it right.
~ Boomer, KA1KAQ