On the bench:

2011-Sep-09 - That Elusive DX

I was tuning across the band yesterday and I heard HZ1BL sign with a US station and then call QRZ. Wow, Saudi Arabia. I fumbled with the microphone and called him, then quickly realized that the amplifier was not on. I clicked on the power supply under the bench with my foot, then toggled the reset switch to bring it online. He called QRZ again and I gave my callsign. But something was wrong, the amplifier did not seem to be online. I quickly realized that there was no power from the radio with or without the amplifier. I sank back into my chair. A couple of days ago I had the radio in pieces and modified the slow motion dial. It now uses a Jackson Brothers Dual Ratio Ball Drive. This gives the same 6:1 reduction that I had previously, but then 36:1 when you change direction. It works brilliantly. In the process of installing it I had somehow broken the transmitter and it had cost my a DX entity that I had never even heard before on 40 meters.

It took me about half an hour to pull the front off the radio and find the wire that I had dislodged. The microphone was no longer connected to the transmitter board. So no audio and no RF. I fixed it easily, but by the time the radio was reassembled, HZ1BL was QRT. Oh well, I good lesson in building more reliably equipment.

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