This weeks project 03-10-2012

[Jack Crow]

Hi all,
Been busy.

Please feel free to share your recent projects here as well.
We learn new and useful things from each other.

First the good news.
Got re hired by my first boss here in VA. He is the one that makes the exotic radios used in the chemical weapons industry. Will be more of a QA whip cracker than a techie. (" QA Whip Cracker, anything like a QA Red Neck?")

This starts again on Monday.
Just for the record, this is not the first time I have worked there.
Left there for my first tip to Iraq. Seems Iraq was the better place to work and they were shooting at me there. He keeps a tough shop. Owner inventer kind of guy. On the plus side, it's only two miles away and if a day and age of five buck gas, this is not too bad.

Also have an order for a bunch of radios.

Knocking togther an order for ten high split VHF Low band radios for a client in KY. AKA Ham 6M radios.

These are 110 watt trunk mount mobiles reconfigured to what I call a 'butt ugly' desk top.
Here are photos of 8 units on the kitchen counter.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9010884...7629543465533/

I mount the control head on the grab handle.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9010884...57603318926879

This takes a lot of work.

First I have to re work the radios to play nice in the ham band.

Re working electronic filters, re programing, re tuning, testing, a whole lot of stuff. Got an article on it if your truly interested.

Had to install and test 'rebuilt' tone control boards since the OEM parts fade out after 20 years. A massive bad caps failure. Six of these awful tiny electrolytics crap out per board. I replace them with SMT monolythics and so far so good after about 200 boards. Zero failures. Posted that here before. Yawn.

Had to re work a jack to make a speaker plug. (connector pins, wire, and red barrel connectors.) I added to the plugs that come with the radios.
This saved me the expense of going to four radio shack stores to get enough of the 9 pin .093 molex connectors that plug into the back of the control head.

Had to hand fabricate new power cables.
Molex connectors, pins, wire, and yellow barrel connectors.

Re work the power jack to take a more standard molex connector (aka radio shack avalable) part.

Had to find and test ten microphones.

Today's task is to attach the control head bracket to the radios.

Then remove and replace the short cables on the speakers, with new wire.
I hope to have enough speaker brackets to finish out this order.

It is not right to sell a client a radio then say "It's yours now, go on a scavanger hunt for the 'little stuff'.
Hams talk and that reputation I don't need.
I need to sell 'turn key' systems, anything less there is no excuse.

All this takes a surprising amount of 'stuff'.
Like visits to the auto parts store to get wire for the power cables.

A trip to Home Depot to get enough epoxy to make sure the new power connector stays put.

Don't forget yellow barrel connectors.
5mm bolts to attach the control head to it's bracket.

When it's all done, most likely this will be my last order since I will be short stock on a number of things. Just about out of control heads for one thing.
Going to have to swap out the 'three button' control heads in the truck for 'four button' heads. Issue the three button heads to the client. The four button heads allow me to have two 'scan modes' rather than a normal "P Scan" mode.

Not a bad deal.

That is the major news.

Some minor recent items.

Tried to fix an exaust gas analyzer, but it was too old and the OEM's were not at all helpful.

Fixed an elderly Aston 12volt 7 amp PSU for a client. This may be a re do, don't remember if I posted this or not. Getting old is a 'cast iron female hound'. Don't recomend it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9010884...7629101349914/

That is the news.
Please share yours.

Jack Crow