Sunday, April 3, 2016, 2 a.m. — Another early morning update, but hey, my family and I went to church last night, so we can sleep in. And who wants to turn in early on a Saturday night anyway??
I missed the 9 p.m. CW net — mostly because I still had the TS-450S and power supply at the operating position and I didn’t have room to operate. However, in the process of making room for the TS-450S, I re-discovered my Icom IC-207H dual bander. The rig has been at the operating desk — actually under the first shelf — for years, and I’ve used it to monitor the local repeaters as well as public service frequencies.
But one fairly common problem with the rig are the dial lamps burning out, and that’s what happened with mine. Without the dial lamps, the rig isn’t much use, and so its been sitting several years unused. I decided to see what I could do to repair the thing — or I would send its on its way to eBay.
I was fortunate to find a detailed YouTube video about the exact repair I sought to complete. I ordered a pack of 12v wheat bulbs for use in the rig.
It was as easy as the video made it appear, it just took a little time finding the low-wattage soldering iron. I’ve replaced dial lamps in other VHF/UHF rigs in the past, and it didn’t take long. Since the rig has a remote control head, it was easy to disassemble and replace the bulbs.
TS-450S OUT, TS-430S IN. Yesterday I toyed with the idea of pulling the covers off the TS-450S to see if I can see what moved in transit inside the rig to screw up the display. I figure odds are there’s a chance the rig could be easily repaired. While I had the matching power supply on the desk, I thought I would get out my old TS-430S from under the desk and try it out.
The rig works well. I never took time to put the CW filter I have in it (of course I couldn’t find the CW filter at the time). The display is about 300 Hz off, I haven’t figured out how to adjust that yet. Some of the relays are dirty and a little intermittent, but there’s an easy way to clean them effectively.
I didn’t make any Q’s with it, maybe later.
BAD ACCIDENT! While working in the shack tonight, I accidently kicked a box that started a chain reaction. I had moved one of my unrestored Lionel J-36 keys in an not-so-safe spot, and the key took a nose dive straight into the floor. The impact bent the top triangular plate — something I’ve never seen happen before. I may have a replacement from a Vibroplex key, but the plating probably won’t match. I’ll have to keep an eye out for a J-36 parts key. It’s the first bad accident I’ve had with a key, and I’m not exactly happy with myself for it.
SPEAKING OF THE TS-450S, I’m going to let the TS-450S seller know that if he gets the rig back and gets it working, I’ll buy it back. I really want that rig. It is equipped with the antenna tuner too. Nice rig.
I’ll pack it up tomorrow and get it shipped Monday. I’m still wishing it was a simple fix. Oh well!
73 es CUL de KY4Z SK … dit … dit. …