I guess I will reply to my own message, in the hope that it helps someone
else...
I WROTE (concerning my 238B):
The meter isn't working so it is impossible to tune without using an
additional external SWR meter. Any ideas on what to check if I can't find
any loose wires (this thing can't be that complicated)? I note that the
meter looks slightly askew also... I've seen this as a complaint and will
most likely fix it while I'm inside.
I FOUND:
I've heard of several 238A/B owners who have complained about the meter
being 'askew' or tilted in the display. I discovered that this was causing
my meter to not work; the Ten-Tec meter faceplate had become detached and
had slid down to rest on the meter needle, binding it. My clues for this
were: the meter would not move even if I 'thumped' the side of the tuner
with my hand, and when I applied 1.5 volts to the meter contacts the needle
didn't move. Evidently something was wrong with the meter and I visually
determined the faceplate was loose after I removed the meter/board assembly.
The solution was to remove the meter and board assembly from the tuner,
remove the bezel (held in place by two pieces of clear tape on the top and
bottom), carefully remove the loose faceplate, and then use SuperGlue to
re-attach it. The glue I use has a setup time of about 30 seconds, so that
was enough for me to ensure that everything was where it needed to be.
Now that the needle can move, everything works as expected.
Some suggestions for Ten-Tec: perhaps the tuner assemblers need to let the
meter sit for a few minutes after attaching the faceplate before they finish
putting it together. There was indications that the meter had been glued,
but the glue was not 'flat' so it was obvious that the faceplate detached
from the meter shortly after the glue was applied and the glue then
hardened. The plate may not have dropped down until the tuner was packed in
the box and perhaps jolted a few times. This was most likely caused by
someone who was in a hurry (a Friday afternoon tuner?) and who didn't take
the extra few seconds to do the job correctly; either they didn't firmly
press the faceplate against the meter, or more likely they positioned it a
little high, and then re-installed the bezel which WILL contact the
protruding edge of the faceplate and detach it if the glue hasn't set up (if
it has then the bezel won't fit if the faceplate is too high). The meter
has some indexing nubs... perhaps the faceplate could be notched so that
these nubs would provide positive positioning. I'm making these suggestions
because this can't be the first tuner with meter problems, and I'm sure
fixing this would probably have cost Ten-Tec $40 in labor and return
shipping.
At any rate, now I'm happy as a clam. Thanks to Paul @ Ten-Tec for giving
me the idea of how to check the meter (obvious in hindsight... but that's
why they call it hindsight). In the true Ten-Tec spirit, he also offered to
fix it free of charge even though it's been a while since I bought the
tuner, but what self-respecting ham wouldn't at least try to fix his own
gear?
Semper Ten-Tec,
- jgc
John Clifford KD7KGX
Heathkit HW-9 WARC/HFT-9/HM-9
Elecraft K2 #1678 /KSB2/KIO2/KBT2/KAT2/KNB2/KAF2/KPA100
Ten-Tec Omni VI/Opt1
Alinco DR-605TQ
Icom T90A
email: kd7kgx@arrl.net
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