[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