[TenTec] Newly acquired Delta 580

[Al]

Hi-

I have been using an Omni D for a few years now, but it has been so rock solid that I have just been reading the list up to now.

I just acquired a Delta 580 at a recent hamfest.  Despite the previous owner stating that the “VFO has been cleaned and lubed”, I could tell that the PTO needed a rebuild because the outer shaft wouldn’t even turn with the inner one.  I bought it anyway because the price was right.

Opened it up to find that the back cover of the PTO (the little plastic part that holds the tension spring) was broken into 4 pieces, no doubt from someone trying to compress the spring using only the 2 bolts!

I was able to 3d print a replacement part and after much cleaning and reassembly, my PTO is super smooth and fully functional.  In fact I now realize just how gummed up the one on my Omni is. Things like that seem to creep up on you.

I thought I would post this in case anyone else had a PTO equipped TenTec that was sidelined with a similar broken cover.  I would be happy to share my CAD files or even print another one if it got more of these great old rigs back on the air.

Also, If anyone has any spare knobs for this rig, I would be quite interested in them.  My tuning knobs, band switch and selectivity knobs are a motley mismatched set.  Functional, but ugly.

73

Al KD4TMW
Pawley’s Island, SC

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