Kenwood TS-530S, pt2

 This is a friend's Kenwood TS-530S that I brought out of the mothballs for a friend, last year. Another minor bug had developed, and I resolved that. This radio wasn't completely recapped, and that was the cause of this instability problem. 

Once repaired, my friend had an Astatic D-104 microphone that he wanted checked and wired for it. I cleaned the gain control pot in the base of the mic, installed a 4-pin plug to mate with the 530, and a new battery. This radio uses pin1 for audio in, pin 4 for audio ground, pin 2 for ptt, and pin 3 for ptt common. With this mic, no processor is needed. I set the rig's mic gain to full, adjust the mic's gain control up until background noise begins to rise, and hold the mic a foot or so away from my mouth when talking. Fine tune with the rig's mic gain to taste.  

Tower Sidearm, Full Vid

 This is the full video, assembled by Chris Hockaday, from a bunch of my poor cell phone videos. He's helping me outfit the workshop to produce much better videos from my projects. 

I've built many of these over the years, and they're much stronger than they look. Here's the video...

Tower Sidearm, pt1

 This is a simple and sturdy antenna mount / tower sidearm for Rohn 20 & 25. I've been building these for around 40 years, and have some that are 30 years old and still in operation. This first part is the part that clamps to the tower leg. Using a 1" PVC "T", cut the back side off so the round part that goes around the leg captures a little more  than 1/2 the tower leg diameter, like maybe 190°. It's not critical, watch the video below...

Measuring Coax Loss...

 I have some bits of old coax that I wanted to test. I have some coax in use that is easily 50 years old. I sweep and check for loss at various frequencies, check for moisture ingression, and put them back in service if OK. 

Sony TC-FX44 Tape Deck Repairs

 This is a cool Sony tape deck I got from a friend. It was physically in good shape, but needed some operational maintenance. I cleaned the head, lubricated everything, and replaced a old drive belt. She's back in operation, and good for many years to come!