[600MRG] RAK and RAL

[Bill Cromwell]

Hi Ken,

The meters in my RAK are both good. I keep mine dB meter turned off 
unless I want to use it. It's laboratory grade instrument isn't it? 
<evil grin> I did notice how sensitive it is. I sometimes am interested 
in how much above the noise an incoming signal is. I back down the gain 
and then sneak up to get the noise give me a reading and then see where 
the signal moves it. Those are decibels and you can just subtract - at 
least that's what I do. After the reading I turn it back off.

An interesting observation is I can easily copy signals that do not 
increase the meter movement above the noise.

Power supplies are not too difficult to make but with all the crap on 
the power lines we can't overlook the filtering required to clean that 
up, too. It's apparently not all that difficult but does take a few 
parts and the time to install them. Standing back and throwing parts at 
a B+ supply plugged into the AC mains is a poor idea.

73,

Bill  KU8H


On 11/03/2014 08:38 PM, Kenneth G. Gordon wrote:
> For those who are interested, I just checked my "inventory": I have 15 ea
> RAK, 9 of which are functional, and 1 of which is rack-mounted, and 4 RALs,
> 3 of which are functional.
>
> I can provide SOME parts for either, although no meters. Knobs are not a
> problem. I have plenty of those...once I find my stash of them.
>
> I have one original power supply.
>
> Meters, especially that darned dB meter, are few and far between. The dB
> meter's switch was often left in its most sensitive position. When the receiver
> is then hit with a sudden strong signal or a loud static burst, it can burn out
> the meter. At least 1/2 of my RAKs have no dB meter.
>
> All the meters, by the way, were made by Westinghouse which have a
> somewhat unique case. Some of the meters had bright yellow faces.
>
> Ken W7EKB
>
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