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TR7 Filters and Knobs

 

So today a care package arrived from Noble Radio. A 450Hz CW filter. A true work of art. I did not delay in installing it. Had to do some cleanup on the filter card; somebody had done a messy remove of its original filters - all except the standard 2.3kHz SSB filter. Possibly my Ebay seller. After all, why sell an INOP rig full of expensive separately-saleable filters?

It works great. Single-signal CW reception.

While I was in there, I did the mod that lets the carrier control work with SSB. It's just one wire tacked to two
terminals on the mode switch.

I also fixed the loose coax terminal I mentioned earlier. It turned out that the "clip" part had come undone. Now
it's nice & tight.

Then I did something purely cosmetic: pulled off all the knobs and treated them to an ultrasonic cleaner bath.
Except for the Mode switch and the Aux Program switch. Those don't seem to have setscrews. How do they come off?

The white paint inside some of the pointer knobs - white paint inside a groove - is a bit discolored and perished.
I may want to redo it.

- Jerry, KF6VB
 

They do have set screws. At least all of mine do.

73

-Jim
NU0C

On Sat, 06 May 2023 19:06:51 -0700
"jerry-KF6VB" <jerry@...> wrote:

Except for the Mode switch and the Aux Program switch. Those don't seem
to have setscrews. How do they come off?
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Knobs without set screws are usually push-on.? Held by a flat spring. Can be pulled off. Sometimes takes a strong pull or careful prying.? Be careful the spring does not pull out and get lost.? Some knobs have screws in the center but those usually have covers. I don't think Drake ever used those but I have seen push-on knobs on Drakes.





-------- Original message --------
From: Jim Shorney <jimNU0C@...>
Date: 5/6/23 8:46 PM (GMT-08:00)
Subject: Re: [DRAKE-RADIO] TR7 Filters and Knobs


They do have set screws. At least all of mine do.

73

-Jim
NU0C

On Sat, 06 May 2023 19:06:51 -0700
"jerry-KF6VB" <jerry@...> wrote:

> Except for the Mode switch and the Aux Program switch.? Those don't seem
> to have setscrews.? How do they come off?
 

Jerry, how did the ultrasonic cleaner treat the metal discs in the knob? ?I had a really grungy VFO knob and used Simple Green in the cleaner. The knobs came out clean nut the metal looked pretty horrid.?

I¡¯m thinking it was the Simple Green but haven¡¯t wanted to further experiment for risk of damaging other knobs with metal inserts.?

73,

Steve Wedge, W1ES/4

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.


Sent from Proton Mail for iOS


On Sat, May 6, 2023 at 22:06, jerry-KF6VB <jerry@...> wrote:
So today a care package arrived from Noble Radio. A 450Hz CW filter. A
true work of art. I did not delay in installing it. Had to do some
cleanup on the filter card; somebody had done a messy remove of its
original filters - all except the standard 2.3kHz SSB filter. Possibly
my Ebay seller. After all, why sell an INOP rig full of expensive
separately-saleable filters?

It works great. Single-signal CW reception.

While I was in there, I did the mod that lets the carrier control work
with SSB. It's just one wire tacked to two
terminals on the mode switch.

I also fixed the loose coax terminal I mentioned earlier. It turned
out that the "clip" part had come undone. Now
it's nice & tight.

Then I did something purely cosmetic: pulled off all the knobs and
treated them to an ultrasonic cleaner bath.
Except for the Mode switch and the Aux Program switch. Those don't seem
to have setscrews. How do they come off?

The white paint inside some of the pointer knobs - white paint inside
a groove - is a bit discolored and perished.
I may want to redo it.

- Jerry, KF6VB
 

I didn't put the metal VFO skirt in the bath. I cleaned it with isopropyl
alcohol and Q-tips. It came out fine; I was worried that the IPA would
take off the paint, but it didn't. The metal disks came out fine.

The VFO skirt had some sort of yellow schmutz on it.

My bath had a few drops of Dawn Ultra.

This ultrasonic cleaner isn't very strong. It's a Harbor Freight unit.
It will only time to 4 minutes, and it takes maybe 10 shots of that to
clean anything. I've been thinking of retiring it in favor of something
with good reviews on Amazon. There's still a little bit of dirt on the knobs.
I'll hit them with Q-tips and IPA.

- Jerry
 

I got one off Amazon -- there are many vendors with the identical units. They can time up to an hour and also heat the bath. I've let mine heat up to 50C and that helps with removing stubborn grunge.

That temperature can loosen hot melt glue or other glues, so have a backup plan.

I am fairly certain that the discs got ruined by the simple green at 50C. It's aggressive on aluminium.

73,



Steve Wedge, W1ES/4

Time flies like an arrow.? Fruit flies like a banana.

Sent with Proton Mail secure email.

------- Original Message -------
On Sunday, May 7th, 2023 at 10:26 AM, jerry-KF6VB <jerry@...> wrote:


I didn't put the metal VFO skirt in the bath. I cleaned it with
isopropyl
alcohol and Q-tips. It came out fine; I was worried that the IPA would
take off the paint, but it didn't. The metal disks came out fine.

The VFO skirt had some sort of yellow schmutz on it.

My bath had a few drops of Dawn Ultra.

This ultrasonic cleaner isn't very strong. It's a Harbor Freight
unit.
It will only time to 4 minutes, and it takes maybe 10 shots of that to
clean anything. I've been thinking of retiring it in favor of something
with good reviews on Amazon. There's still a little bit of dirt on the
knobs.
I'll hit them with Q-tips and IPA.

- Jerry
 

On 2023-05-07 10:16, Steve Wedge, W1ES/4 via groups.io wrote:
I am fairly certain that the discs got ruined by the simple green at
50C. It's aggressive on aluminium.
*** Now that I remember, there was a dustup some years ago with the military.
They were washing airplanes with Simple Green, and it was causing corrosion.

The company developed an alternative:



- Jerry
 

Now that you mentioned it, I remember seeing this product.

73,

Steve Wedge, W1ES/4

Time flies like an arrow.? Fruit flies like a banana.

Sent with Proton Mail secure email.

------- Original Message -------
On Sunday, May 7th, 2023 at 3:05 PM, jerry-KF6VB <jerry@...> wrote:


On 2023-05-07 10:16, Steve Wedge, W1ES/4 via groups.io wrote:

I am fairly certain that the discs got ruined by the simple green at
50C. It's aggressive on aluminium.
*** Now that I remember, there was a dustup some years ago with the
military.
They were washing airplanes with Simple Green, and it was causing
corrosion.

The company developed an alternative:



- Jerry

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