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November 25th 05, 05:58 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave

In article . com,
wrote:

A while back I posted about how the needle in my R8B's signal meter
would occasionally be 'lazy'. Either it wouldn't spring to life when I
powered up the receiver or, while the receiver was in operation, the
needle would gradually fall to zero and become unresponsive. While this
happened only occasionally, in recent weeks the problem worsened.

I was about to order a new meter from Drake, but decided I'd first open
up the R8B to check for a bad solder joint or anything else that seemed
weird. I meant to do that some time today, so last night I cleared
everything (including a Lowe HF-150) off the table that was around the
R8B. However, this morning, I noticed that the signal meter was
operating perfectly.

Being lazy, I decided I wouldn't mess with the signal meter unless it
started acting up again. So, I put everything back on the table. The
problem returned. I then took everything off the table again, and the
signal meter on the R8B again operated perfectly.

This correlation made me suspicious, so I began to experiment. What I
found was that, when the HF-150 is sitting immediately to the left of
the R8B (which is where it's sat for some time now), it somehow
interfere's with the R8B's signal meter. It's like clockwork: when the
150 is there, the meter doesn't work properly; when I move the HF-150
away, the meter works perfectly. I can only guess that there's a
magnetic charge at work affecting some part(s) of the R8B's delicate
signal meter mechanism.

Weird, huh? Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

That's a very surprising observation because the Drake R8B has a metal
case and front panel. The only way for something to affect the Drake
meter by proximity is through the meter face.

The HF-150 has an external power supply so that can't be the problem.
Chances are the HF-150 is generating some RFI from a local oscillator
that is coming in through the meter face and dampening the meter
movement.

Maybe you can put the HF-150 to the right of the Drake otherwise you
will have to keep them separated by some distance, which probably a
better idea.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

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