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What ever became of the TR7 with issues on the IF/Audio board causing it to be stuck in transmit? Also, wha became of the TR-4CW that had the problem with momentarily going into CW transmit than dropping out? Also, what happened to the TR4-xxx that \had the mouse chirp on power down? It would be nice to close the loops on these. Gary W0DVN

The heatsink and internals of the TR-7 series were designed for the fan to pull heat out of the rig. Some prefer to push air into the rig thus driving heat toward the PTO and increasing drift and actually decreasing cooling efficiency for the finals; I've heard that the heatsink design has a patent on it (long expired) but I can't confirm that. For all of my Drake gear, rigs and amplifiers, I've used remote switches to turn things on/off and I leave the power switches in the on position for the respective equipment. Haven't had any switch failure, maybe I've been lucky. A few years ago I changed most of my arrangements from remote switches to using line conditioners with spike suppressors. I used to use Tripp-Lite styles in metal cases but switched to APC models in beige cases; they look good and they work better. Better?! Yes, the Tripp-Lite models had a high spike at onset, sort of defeating the purpose of using a line conditioner. Switching power supplies can have onset spikes as well. One model I have, for 13.8 vdc at 25 amps, has an onset spike higher than 19 vdc when first turned on. Hence, I put some "spike suppressors" (or whatever the formal name is for them) on the output of the supply. Specs for some of my rigs indicate a max of 16 vdc so that onset spike could be problematic. Not sure why reviews of power supplies don't consider the onset spike. As a side note, a scope is the best way to measure the onset spike since an analog VOM might have overshoot of the meter movement. Let's all enjoy our hobby. And who knows, maybe Hamvention 2025 will lack rain. Well, I can dream can't I? On Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 07:43:23 AM EDT, Craig W8CS via groups.io <craig_severson@...> wrote: Great idea. Ordering the connector today as I hate having to drag both cables up and over the bench when I work on this, and I'm still tempting fate by using the volume control on/off. I have my whole house set up on those remote switches by Gosund so it's a simple task to add another. If anyone finds an appropriate 12V muffin fan, let me know. I was going to replace this anyway as it's turbine-like loud. Perhaps something like this unit would work. It's currently blowing OUT of the unit; is this the latest best practice? -- Craig/W8CS Greenville, SC

I have a T-4XC/R-4C combination that works well on all bands except 40 meters. I get no plate current on 40M with the T-4XC. Makes no difference if I select separate, transmitter or receiver on the PTO selector of the transmitter. My first thought was a dud 18.1 MHz crystal, so I connected the FS-4 to the transmitter using accessory crystal position 1. Still nothing on 40M. My brain is fried, so thought I’d see if anyone has any ideas. THANKS! Larry, KB9VY

I have a Kenwood MC-50 that I'm thinking of using with my TR-4. First off, is this a decent mic for the rig? It has switchable impedance so that shouldn't be a problem but thought I'd ask before going any further. If this will work, then anyone know where I could get one of the 8-pin sockets? I see a set of five on eBay but thought I'd try to find a single before going for those. Thanks, Barry - N4BUQ

I have an MN-2000 that somewhere in its long history, suffered a somewhat catastrophic event that vaporized one set of the rotating fingers on the band switch, damaged two of the contact points on the steatite wafer, and cracked the wafer. I found this switch which has potential: https://www.rfparts.com/jv9002.html The contacts are much like the one in the tuner; however, the rotating part is different. The band switch in the MN-2000 isn't a traditional rotary switch in that it doesn't make use of a wiper and, instead, the rotating fingers are like a rotary shorting bar (for lack of a better way to describe it). Presumably if you've ever looked at one of these, you know what I'm talking about. Does anyone have any pointers on how I might go about replacing/repairing this? The tuner is is in otherwise exceptionally great condition so I'd like to repair it and use it. Thanks, Barry - N4BUQ

I read somewhere that you can install two 6JB6's (cheaper) with their filaments in series, and then just use one 12JB6 - in a TR3. Has anyone tried this, successfully? Thanks, David KD4E

Hi Everyone. I bought a new old stock International Radio Corp 500 Hz CW. Drake R4C is in the 19200 serial number area. Took off the middle back bracket and carefully lined up the four pins and while under slight pressure of that rear vertical copper angled spring I reinstalled the bracket with the two screws. Found CW on 40 meters on SSB but when switched to CW 0.5 mode it’s like the filter was not even there. Is there something I missed doing in the installation. I see in the manual they talk about in AM for some kind of jumper resistor to be removed by taking the top cover off. Is that necessary in order for the filter to work. Where do I find it. Or is my filter a bad one?

I'm the proud owner of a (new to my workbench) Drake 2-C. This one is a very early model (Serial # 0260). I'm on the hunt for a summary of the differences between the early and later version of the 2-C, which will help with restoration. I do have the service CD data, but that does not cover this early version in any real details. 73 - Steve, KW4H

Hi folks, I’d like to sell my TR-4Cw-RIT / RV-4C / AC-4 station, but REALLY want to avoid packing and shipping so a local sale only. This is too nice a station not to be in regular use! Details here: https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/tr-4cw-rit-rv-4c-ac-4-plus-more.827095/#post-6281969 QTH is Menlo Park, CA just off 101 between Marsh and Willow. Email address is good on QRZ. Many thanks! -- Bob (WO6W)

There is a "snap ring" that holds the hex nut in place located on the shaft of the PTO. The 2 holes (in the snap ring clip) seem smaller than the standard size. I purchased an entire snap ring set that came with the internal/external plies but the pliers are too large for the holes. The new snap rings should fit (?) It's just getting that snap ring off of there that I can't seem to figure out? I want to pull out the PTO this Saturday or Sunday so I want to get the correct ones from Amazon quickly. Does anyone know what pliers I need because I know someone out there must had done this in the past. Tnx! Mark

Are there any dimensional or other differences? Thanks for any experiential comments.

I've got a handful of boat anchor radios but my desk can only handle a few at a time. So I've got several on shelves, unfortunately in the garage. I know there are consequences to their being exposed to temperature extremes, dust, humidity, rodents, etc. What are some options? Would enclosing them in plastic along w something like a sock w rice to absorb moisture be recommended? Thanks! /Carl - W5SU Dallas TX

In the TR-4CW/RIT that I just purchased, both the 42.5 and the 43.6 Mhz crystals are missing. Anyone know where I can get these from? Mark

Does anyone have pc board layouts for this radio.... I am especially interested in the board with the rx transistor audio preamp.. It is jammed midst a bunch of cabling.

On my TR-4CW when I turn the rig off, I get a quick mouse sound. I just got my TR-4CW/RIT yesterday and it does the same thing. So either the sound is correct with these type of rigs OR it's the common denominator which makes it the power supply. This power supply was bought used from Ebay. This power supply was rebuilt using brand new boards that contained brand new capacitors and all the rest of the electronics. This was done by the Ebay seller. He claimed that he did testing of this power supply before he sold it including slowly bringing it up for hours on a variac and running it for hours before he sold it to me. So not sure sure what makes it quickly do a mouse sound when the knob is shut off (with gain at full clockwise position) ? Mark

I finally received my replacement IC1001 for the PBT board of my TR-7. (Took about a month, must have come from Asia) It's been a while since I've unsoldered/replaced a DIP IC like this. When I used to be a bench tech we'd use a combination of solder wick and solder suckers. Never easy to coax all 14 pins to release and it was pretty easy to damage something if you weren't patient. Is there a better way? Do better tools exist to simplify this task today? thx -- Craig/W8CS Greenville, SC

Dear Drake community, Some of you may know Stefan, DL7MAJ, who was very knowledgeable with Drake gear, especially TR7s. In the last few years he made some very nice videos on YouTube about TR7 repair. On his website are a few very interesting articles about TR7 modifications (and other amateur radio related material). Just today I learned that he became a silent key on January 20th, unexpectedly after a short but severe illness. See also (German): https://www.darc.de/der-club/distrikte/c/ortsverbaende/18/mitteilungen-aus-dem-ov/#c320924 RIP Stefan 73 de Dieter DL5RDO

On the rig I am working on, when I turn the SSB switch to the counter clockwise (left) position the USB comes on and when I turn the switch to the clockwise (X) (right) position the LSB light comes on. I've watched a few U tube videos where that is REVERSED! So I switched the lamps the other way around. Problem is that I feel the wrong filter comes on! Now that I got the lights correct the filters are backwards or at least the wrong one according to the SSB position. I know (I think?) that looking from the top (with the cover removed) that the wires with the black insulation on them are supposed to crisscross. (that's according to the service manual photo) What do you think is going on? Are the filters swapped? Mark

Looking at the posts over the past year or so, I wanted to comment on something that might help in certain situations. This is NOT a cure-all, but just a thought. CAUTION: ALWAYS POWER DOWN THE RADIO, AND DISCONNECT FROM THE POWER SUPPLY BEFORE WORKING ON IT. A number of years ago, I had a "New" TR4C, that had some plate meter intermittent issues. After going through the entire rig (pretty much a complete restoration, and some overkill I admit), I still had the same problem. But then, I saw that I had missed doing anything to the momentary slide switch that switches the plate meter to "relative output" when pressed in. Then, I saw it is located in a place that could collect a LOT of dirt & dust. Deoxit red partially solved the problem. But, I then removed it, and actually (very carefully.....not for the heavy-handed) disassembled the switch. It was VERY dirty. Cleaned the parts, polished the contacts gently (NOT sand paper, etc.), re-assembled, just a little deoxit, and had zero issues after that. Every unit I restore nowadays, always gets this treatment if there is the slightest intermittent symptoms with the switch. I think I have replied/posted in the past about this fix, and at least one person found it extremely helpful, and fixed a problem. All the best, and 73 to all Mark N5KAE