[R-390] Panel meters again

[Tisha Hayes]

Grayson,
I think that if you are careful and pay attention to basic decon procedures
you can remove the panel meters, take them apart and make new meter scales.
Yes, the originals were painted with radium paint and I do not want to
digress into that snake-pit. The reflector is filled with the 200 deadly
effects of radium, the ways to avoid it, etc.. and that is a dead horse.

You could make a new bezel for the meter movement. Doing it again I would
use a partially opaque plastic and a mylar film to print on a new legend.
Then backlight the plastic with a white (or red, whatever) LED. It would
look really professional. Maybe go with black lettering on a white
background instead of smudgy, grainy white lettering on black.

There are plenty of software apps out there to make your own meter scales.

I agree with you, I would not want to be hacking bigger holes in the front
panel to put in a completely different meter.
==============================================================================

On Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 2:57 PM, Grayson Evans <wa4gvm at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for chiming in Tisha.
> I remember the first time I discovered and bought a 390A back in the
> 1990’s.  I was very impressed with the radio, but thought “ what is with
> the dinky meters?  I can’t even read the scale”.  I always thought the
> meters were the radios weak spot. Not quite in the same league as the rest
> of the receiver.
> However, they are understandable given the environment the radio was
> designed to work in and what was available at the time.  You don’t want a
> lot of mass in the meter with the radio is subject to a lot of vibration.
>
> When the radio is being restored, I think the meters need an upgrade.
> Something that matches the look of solid built, not something you would
> find on an inexpensive consumer electronics.  Yet something with a scale
> that is larger and readable (and backlit).
>
> Like I said, I can convert most meters to work, but I don’t want to rework
> the panel to take a larger meter hole if possible.   I can move the screw
> holes if necessary.   Anyway, the search is on.
>
> Grayson
> TA2ZGE - Ankara, Turkey
> --
>
Ms. Tisha Hayes. AA4HA

*""It is not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It is
because we dare not venture that they are difficult." -Seneca"*