Yo............ Vinn-Ay !!       You need this.

And be sure to notice where the piece is located. 

Of course it's green.  Why wouldn't it be ?

Check the user guide for the procedure to zero beat the clock crystal against WWV.

I am not intimately familiar with the TS-940, but synthesized rigs of that vintage typically used one master crystal and had an easy method to compensate for parts aging. If the book doesn't say this, be sure to pick a time when WWV is coming in reasonably strong & steady and allow 30 to 60 minutes of warm-up time before adjusting. Once the master clock is set everything else related to frequency accuracy should line up.

Pedestal on the ground. The shortest path to ground will be the path of least resistance to ground, assuming all conductors equal. Lightning can have a mind of its own and do odd things, but if the lowest resistance path is positioned to draw the surge away from the expensive pieces that's a good thing.


If clamping the braid to the case of the arrestor offers the greatest amount of surface contact area between the two that's the way to go. I like to use an automotive type Molybdenum grease on things like that as the grease itself is slightly conductive and will slow down the inevitable degradation of the contact path. Best thing you can do is give your work the hairy eyeball six months from now to see how gracefully the installation is aging. If the electrical integrity is still good that's a sign you did something right..........

I say that if you don't have a call sign you shouldn't be able to use the innerweb.

Sure, one has almost nothing to do with the other, but what's the point in having a call if you can't lord it over those who don't?

<sheesh!>

If you have a junk VCR / DVD player / CD ROM drive / computer, etc...... Chances are you can cannibalize it for the screws.
Asian fabricators rely on two screw sizes almost exclusively and you should find the smaller flavor in many other products. Like a thrift store bargain.

Click this:  http://www.radiomanual.info/ICOM_VHF.html

Check the latest bid on this:  http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=13420461

EICO rules, Heathshkit drools.

And speaking of Unbuilt Heathshkit Affectation Disorder, groove to this:   http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=12836697

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Now, 'fess up. How many of you taking your first glance at this auction had absolutely no clue what a matrix decoder is? What would you do with one today? Why was this worth $64.98 plus shipping to some goober with too much spare cash and a little solder? Hell, for all we know the buyer has no idea what it does and bought it to flip because they know unbuilt Heathshkits can pull serious coin from the obsolete technology deficit crowd on eBay.   (Translation: Old Dudes in Florida)

So....... Have you figured out what it is?

Look at the pics of the parts. Note the jack board with five pair of RCA phono jacks. Big clue it's an audio device. Even bigger clue if you're old enough to remember the first marketing push in the early 70's for Quad Stereo. Four channel SQ surround sound. The great idea that flew like a ruptured duck. The matrix decoder is the piece that splits stereo into Quad. All you'd need to make this play is a turntable, Shibata tipped Audio-Technica cartridge, and a vintage Quad LP like Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. Plus a four channel amplifier and speakers. (Duh)

$64.98 ?       Yo' Mamma...............................................................   


BTW:  If you want to bid on something, bid on this: http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?ItemID=13366483  You'll get more use out of it.

The 5U4 is on a separate 5 volt heater winding as the filament needs to float above ground. Study the legend & lore of full wave rectification using a center tapped transformer and you'll understand why the winding is isolated. The 0D3 has no heater. It's a gas discharge regulator that lights up from the 150 volts it's regulating.

Sounds like the 6.3 vac filament winding in the transformer has an issue.

A fault with the antenna is definitely possible, but I didn't go there first as it has been my experience that even a broken antenna will still hear something... If only what leaks through the feedline. The station selection might be Slim Pickens and weak, but should (?) do more than barely hear a strong local BCB signal as described.

Note to VA3UT:  A quick & dirty check would be to unscrew the outer ring from the PL-259 then pull the plug out slightly. If the receiver comes to life with only the center pin making contact that tells you it's an antenna problem.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........ What could possibly be common to both TX and RX?  What one fault would make the SWR shoot for the moon and the RX go deef?

If you disconnected the antenna from a properly working TS-850 you'd have the same symptoms.

So, if it were mine, I'd give the antenna changeover (relay) circuit the hairy eyeball. If you still have white noise in the RX that tells you the IF strip is OK and might suggest the heterodyne oscillators & mixer circuits are still good. The high SWR tells me the TX driver and PA sections are still trying. Given the age of the set there could be more than one issue, but I'd definitely start with the T/R relay circuit.

But, speaking of things worth having, this would be one.

Not only a sterling example of what a high end set looks like, but the squidmatic goes on forever and it covers the pre-war 45MC FM broadcast band. Sure, that makes it an AM / SW set today, but what a beauty. A few years back when gas was cheap and my inner Gypsy still young I'd have considered going after it......

As John Belushi once said: ROAD TRIP !!

The Acoustic Labyrinth thing is particularly interesting. Folded horn speakers were efficient and tended to sound good although not exactly Hi-Fi. A modern example can be found in the BOSE Wave Radio which has a pleasing peak in the 200 cycle range and to the non-purist gives it a distinctive sound that justifies the sticker price.

OTOH, if there was any RF in the shack a metal table would definitely tickle your fancy.........

I like a work surface that's durable but easily replaceable, non-conductive, and never feels like a brass toilet seat in January.

The classic dogbone resistor is a carbon rod with the leads wrapped / crimped on each end. Then the assembly is painted. My experience is that they tend to age well and can be very accurate as the lead spacing can be tweaked before they're crimped. This is not to say each one is a hand calibrated marvel of accuracy, but the 60's vintage JA resistors Vinnie found in a Lafayette HE-30 were pretty close to spot on, IIRC.

As this thread approaches 40,000 hits, let us contemplate how high the highest bid on this auction might go.........