After a nearly a two-week hiatus, I'm back. I've been busy with other stuff, and yeah, still doing some hamming on a catch-as-catch-can basis.
I've been hitting the CW nets pretty solid the last week. I've been putting one of my FT-757GXs through its paces prior to putting it up on eBay. This one (I think it was the last one I acquired) really seems to work pretty well.
As the FT-757GXs age, they have several little quirks, and I picked this one up for a song because of it.
The VFO shaft for the optical encoder was locked up, and someone had tried to simply lube the entire area behind the VFO knob with what feels like either WD40 or simply silicone spray. The result? The VFO knob turned on the stuck shaft. I bought the rig as one of the those sold for parts or repair. After exchanging e-mails with the guy, it was clear the encoder shaft was locked up. I took a chance and bought it worth the money. A little 3-in-1 oil, some gentle solvent to remove the silicone spray, and the encoder was fine. It took a while to get the lube worked into the bushing of the encoder, but that's par for the course.
The rig seems to drift more than it should during the first several minutes of operation. Once past that, its rock solid. Again, I'm spoiled by my Icom gear, so its probably unfair to compare a 25 year old rig with a new one.
The dial is “off” by a couple hundred cycles or so. I say “or so” because the display only shows the single digit after the decimal. I've been running it on CW the last week or so, and its peformed well. The sidetone frequency on this rig is closer to what I'm used to than the FT-890 I had been running.
I have one of the other FT-757GXs boxed up and ready to ship for alignment and to have a couple of things fixed. I probably would be better off just selling it as-is and listing known issues.
I would like to shed my shack of the extra rigs, as I'm thinking of picking up a transmitter to go with my boat anchor receivers. I would like to pick up a Hallicrafters HT32A or HT37 to play with (“picking up” in theory only, of course!). I'm a little leery of the HT-37 on SSB, it used a phasing scheme to generate the sideband signals, and I've heard they can be difficult to properly align. The earlier HT32A used filters, and I suspect I could run one without splattering halfway to WWV.
Frankly though, I would probably use the station more on CW than phone. I've got a couple of transmitters in storage, I should probably setup a station with one of those and save money for the boat anchor transmitter.
I really enjoy my Hallicrafters SR-150 (aka “Old Ironsides”), but its not exactly a CW ops' ideal rig (i.e., no filtering). I have one of those Radio Shack DSP units, heck, I coudl probably get by using that, or one of those MFJ filters or even my Datong. Why not?
So many modes, so little time!
NEXT TO GO. I'm still debating on whether or not to cut lose my KNWD TS-430S. I don't know why, but the audio from the thing sounds just superb. I wish I had never sold my TS-440S, or my TS-450SAT. Both were good rigs, but didn't need to keep either at the time. Both models are selling for more now on eBay that what I sold mine for. Go figure.
SHACK ATTACK. I'm in dire need of additonal desk space in the shack, though it doesn't have to be fancy — just sturdy, given the influx of boat anchors of late. But first I need room for new gear and a desk/table.
The wall next to my computer desk has two large bookcases against it. I'm considering moving the bookcases out to make room for an additional 4 or 5-foot table. Not a full desk or anything swanky. Basically a spot for a boat anchor rx and whatever txmtr I use. Also might be a work space for cleaning/soldering/whatever.
Sound great, doesn't it? But what about all the sh–, er, stuff that's on the bookshelves? It's all radio related. I have 4 shelves of bound and boxed copies of QST (and plenty that need to be shelved but have no room), and a shelf-plus of ARRL handbooks spanning from the late 30s to present day.
I may have to simply clean out some of the books in the library that I've read once or twice and never looked at again. I'm a packrat, so I tend to keep every book I've purchased. If I could find a way to store them safely in the garage I might try that — my books, not the QSTs. It's just when you have things like that outside, you don't know what critters and time will due to it.
There's always the attic. I don't mind boxing gear and storing it there, but books and QSTs make me nervous. I hate to have an attic full of combustible stuff. There's got to be a way to safely (and inexpensively) store some of this without damaging it. Time to do some research.
Time to pull the plug. GN es 73 … dit dit …