Two BA's about to be placed on the active list.

[W1GUH]

Finally restored my AC-3 so I can start on the TR-3. Prognosis is good...works on most bands and sounds pretty good.

The other BA is the Heathkit mobile twins I picked up at Deerfield. The Comanche is very much alive; might only need alignment.

The TR-3 power requirements are very compatible with the Heathkits. Now...gotta restore the almost basket case DC-3 I got at the same time.

[KG4CGC]

Best of luck with those Bad Asses!

[NQ6U]

Now...gotta restore the almost basket case DC-3 I got at the same time.

A DC-3?? Man, that's quite a project. Those radial engines alone will take months...

http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/Douglas%20DC-3%20-%201935.jpg

[W1GUH]

At least the APU is operational.

[KG4CGC]

You must have a big garage.

[W1GUH]

It's on blocks in the front yard.

[WØTKX]

The Goony Bird! Great plane, I've ridden in two of them. :yes:

[W1GUH]

http://rigreference.com/img/rigs/26/2683/gonset-communicator-2.JPG

[w2amr]

http://rigreference.com/img/rigs/26/2683/gonset-communicator-2.JPGBeauty, I've never seen one that nice. I have a yellow CD version out in the shed but it's a POS.

[W1GUH]

Neither have I. Seen many many of the CD version, though.

[W1GUH]

Update:

The Commanche calibrated and aligned normally...there were no surprises and now it's "close" -- deferring the final, precision calibration til all the other stuff is done.

Found one quirk with it. I don't know if it's a design problem or if there's something wrong with my radio. With the AGC off, advancing the RF control past a certain point will cause the oscillator to pull, and introduces some bad distortion. It's "close" to "just fine" with the AGC on, except that the AGC action, as observed on a strong carrier, will pull the oscillator very slightly as QSB takes the signal up and down. This is truly "very slight"; with the weak SSB signals I heard, it was hardly noticable. If this turns out to be a design flaw, I'll probably leave it as-is, keeping the radio 100% original stock.

Now, on to the Chyenne. Visual inspection revealed two things. 1) It's got some of those pesky paper caps that will need changing. This is in contrast to the Commanche, which has none of those -- it uses epoxy mylars throughout. But the radios are from different eras. The MT-1 has the old, dull KNOBS, the MR-1 has the new, chrome-plated KNOBS. Heath probably switched over to "good" caps between the two eras.

Also noticed a circuit mod that was installed. Haven't traced it out to see WTF it's doing. The mod includes a couple of diodes and disk caps connected to the VFO (regulated) PS.

So far, I haven't found any Black Widows in either box.