HQ-180 Alignment Problem Found!

[Dave Franklin]

Thanks to all that responded to my problem.  The trouble was with the
operator not the radio.

Several responses involved the bandspread setting during alignment.  I had
it set to 100 on the dial scale as called for in the alignment
instructions, but it made sense that it was somehow related to the problem.

I put the freq counter on the oscillator and noted as the frequency on the
main dial was increased the oscillator frequency increased as it should
being above the incoming frequency.  BUT when I increased the frequency on
the bandspread, the frequency decreased!  Somehow I hadn't noticed that
before.

The bandspread capacitor rotates 360 degrees and when I reassembled the
dial I set it to fully meshed at the upper end of the dial scale when it
should have been fully open. The low end of the bands would set but the
upper end would not because of too much capacitance.

The manual warns against removing the stop which would prevent this from
happening.  Unfortunately, I did not get the manual until I had
disassembled the radio.

Am looking forward to getting it re-aligned this week.

Thanks,
Dave Franklin