Okay, I got the message!

[Kelley, Dave]

Gosh, when I posted that message about turning the list off I certainly
didn't expect what I got.  It was much the same as whacking a hornets
nest with a stick to see if anything was alive in there...  No stings
though - fortunately.

Okay, the list stays up...  We can certainly handle the traffic and as
long as it's wanted, we'll leave it up.  Your tax money at work.

Meanwhile, I'll post a little something about my weekend with my Drakes.
-------------------
I have a pair of PERFECT Drake 4Bs that I bought a year ago.  I'd never
touched them..just unboxed, turned on and enjoyed.  But, being like most
of you, I couldn't leave the covers on a minute longer.  Off they came.
Tubes pulled and I gently dipped the pins in some high grade contact
cleaner and plugged them back in.  I use a very large soft paint brush
to dust out the insides.  We are talking zero grunge on these cabinets.

I also tried to tune these guys up on the bench.  The ham that had them
before me loved to keep his gear tip top - and must have had these tuned
at the factory before boxing them up.  Everything was perfect.  Most
tubes are still RCA and Sylvania - and I think those are what Drake
used.

Got it all back together and they sparkle, and operate just like real
radios should.  Some of the 'been on the shelf to long' crackles are now
gone.  But, for some reason the neon bulb under the VFO pointer wouldn't
come on when the RX VFO was switched on.  I touched it - I must have
broke it. (grin)

Well, I don't have a clue why, but it started working again after a
while.  But not before I took two screws out of the bulb holder and
found that the threaded plate behind the screws was not attached and
dropped into the dial gears!!  BUMMER!  Well, all was not lost.  I
fished it out and found a way to get it back where I could get it back
on.  I felt like the time I dis-assenbled a Collins KWM-2 Dial and never
figured it would work again. (oh, those pliers are supposed to tune it!)


Well, everything is back to normal...until I touch it again.  But I've
had a few very nice contacts since.  Oh, and the Collins dial was
actually better once I got it back together.

----------------------------------

Some folks mentioned they didn't know about the Collins and Heath lists.
For those interested, you subscribe to:

Listserv at listserv.tempe.gov

 and in the body put

subscribe collins firstname callsign
or
subscribe heath firstname callsign

It was also pointed out that the new banner at the bottom was slightly
pessimistic inviting people to leave the list.  I was so excited about
getting the banner to work at ALL I guess I just left the first draft on
it.  I'll fix it to include subscription info so you guys and gals can
forward to your friends and get them to join the fun.

Sorry for the long post - have a great day/night

73

Dave
AI7R

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