> Hi All: > > First, where are the skeletons, specifically are there common failures > that are difficult to repair either because of complexity or > hard-to-find parts?
In my experience, the TR-7 is a fine, reliable radio, with excellent transmit and receive audio. I have it paired up with a R-7 for transceive operation, but rarely use the R-7. You should definitely get your hands on a service manual. You'll need it if you have any kind of the problem. The most common misadjustment that causes problems -- bad audio (tinny, bassy), funky sideband response, etc. is the 10V regulator board and it's associated adjustments to place the reference oscillators in the right spot. But alignment is straightforward. I've had two failures on the digital display board, which caused frequency display problems. They were not difficult to isolate and repair, but might be a problem if you don't have experience tracing and debugging digital circuits. > Second, if one of these radios does fail and needs servicing beyond my > abilities, is reputable service easy to come by? There are guys out there who repair these things. One such person is here: http://www.siscom.net/~jandsuz/index1.htm. Besides that, there are a lot of people with experience that can help, and it's often possible to find complete boards, or parts units at not too unreasonable prices. Also, it's a good idea to look around for a set of extender boards. And then hope you never have to use them :-) But you can't service critical parts of the radio without them. Pulling, applying (sparingly) DeOxit, etc. to board contacts, and reseating is a reasonable "preventive" measure. You may also find that a previous owner has really stretched the limit on power output adjustments, and in my view there's no reason to stress the radio by pushing output to the max. Drift in the analog PTO is affected by heat from the pilot lamp on the analog display. A lot of people (me included) pull that lamp out. You don't need it as long as your TR-7 isn't one of the very early ones without the DR-7 (digital display). It was initially an option and not a standard feature. I wouldn't buy one without the digital display anyway. > Finally, what should I be on the alert for when buying a TR-7 (common > failures, expensive failures, etc.)? If you can get a few minutes with it before plunking down your cash, I'd try to check it on all bands .. at least to make sure the display and asociated digital hardware is working properly. Thats the only place I've ever had a failure with one. Grant/NQ5T ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Submissions: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - subscribe drakelist in body Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - unsubscribe drakelist in body Hopelessly Lost: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - help in body of message Brought to you courtesy of TLCHost.net http://www.tlchost.net/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
