[ScanIndiana] SCANNER HELP

[dick elliott]

Your article about poor solder connections
happened to an Alinco dual band transceiver I
used to own several years ago. 

Soon after the radio arrived in the brown box
from the brown van I had the little jewel up and
running. But reports from other hams told me of
choppy transmissions and I also noticed the same
thing on the receiver end. Well I blamed the
repeater. (all hams blame the repeaters!) Well
this went on and on all day. My bald head was
beet red by four P. M. I thought about sending
the unit back and demanding my money back. But
the little boy in me, "what makes things tick"
took over and said what the heck, where are my
mini tools. After taking very careful precautions
not to leave any tell tale marks on the screws
and looking for wax or tape warranty devices the
back of the unit was finally open. Using the
methods taught to my by Elmers in the ham field
(work backwards from the problem to find a
problem) I found the problem almost instantly.
The solder connection from the antenna post to
the circuit board was broken. Aha! A poor solder
connection! Soon the solder iron was put to use
and I was re soldering the connection. After a
few successful on the air tests with the hams who
reported my choppy transmissions I was ready to
reassemble the unit and begin using the radio
with renewed confidence when a light went off in
my head (OK hold the jokes guys). What if this
happens again? What caused the joint to break
again. I looked at the polaroid picture I took of
the break and using a magnifying glass I noticed
the break was not even with each side. Meaning a
slight twist caused the break. Which meant the
antenna connector had a loose nut (OK, OK, I
heard that comment). So I un-soldered the
connection and noticed that Alinco did not use a
copper wire from the circuit board to the antenna
base, they just used solder! So I tightened up
the nut at the base and used a tiny length of
copper wire between the base of the connector and
the circuit board and that solved all my
problems. Now every radio that arrives in a brown
box from the brown van gets the back taken off
and the antenna / circuit board connection gets a
check. Some radios have the antenna base soldered
right to the circuit board which is ideal. So if
you have problems with reception or transmissions
with a radio check the antenna base / circuit
board connection. W9FPJ

=====
Sincerly, Dick Elliott, the Olebaldy1@yahoo.com

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