Its been a while since I posted. In that time the holidays have passed, and time has passed.
My radio the Icom IC-730, gave up the ghost. Spitting sparks and black smoke, it finally died. Gave it away to someone to try and fix, is an anchor to me.
Got a 4 amp Audiotek to run the 817 nd. Works well with no fan noise. Recommended for those lower power uses.
A new radio has arrived, Kenwood TS-440S, Got it for a good price and should have known better. Did I mention the outstanding price? The SQL/NOTCH tuning nob was broken off. Said it had been dropped. But he had the part that needed to be changed.
Should have known better
When I took it apart, things seem to be under stress. Wasn’t sure why. Got it apart, and the part replaced. Putting it back together was a bear. Nothing lined up. I had to use all my skills, with more than a little brute force, and a couple of awls to get it installed.
Putting the final touches on, nothing fits. Use brute force an the faceplate starts to make cracking noises. Cannot afford another one so I backoff, take a breather and review the situation.
The chassis is bent. Not a simple bend, but one of those soul crushing, suck your brains out, bad timing bends. upon further review 2 boards appear to be cracked, receives ok will not send without a lot of help. Money wasted on “too good to be true!”
David Campbell KF7SFU 