Uniden Washington, later model. 8719, 5 pin mic plug. After clarifier mod, the radio slides 10 kc down and only .6, (6/10) kc up from "center channel", (.385, .395, etc). Is this normal? And although It is workable in this condition my concern is the possibility of xmit audio warbling so near the operating limits of the pot.. Is there an easy way to more center tune the clarifier pot? I don't have test equipment but do have a digital display reference ssb radio.
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Clarifier Mod Issue
- Thread starter SCW
- Start date
More than likely the mod was done so you could slide inbetween channels - no matter what she'll warble if any other mods to the Audio chain were done - like the R131 mod (limiter disable) - expect to sound like you're underwater or using Lavoris...
Best advice is to let someone else drive you home, and the next morning call the guy back up and re-discuss the effort of modding that radio for in-betweens. For it can work, yes, but not without keeping all the audio limiters intact for otherwise she's gonna slur and drool - and although nice to take advantage of, you will pay for it later.- perhaps more of a switch mod for that "10kc" slide-in than a yank on the knob, hard over to find the channel type of mod instead.
Lol the footnote, Handy.
Actually I failed to mention the radio was channel modded and clarifier modded at the same time. The wide slide to the negative was an unintentional result of the dual mod. It was not evident beforehand. So I suppose in order to achieve a more balanced left/right slide a re-alignment is in order. The tech has done a boat load of these mods over the years. Not using a kit but pretty sure he did the voltage tap from regulator and tapped into the chip and added switches, etc. This is the first radio that was so one sided from "center slot" say's he. And as I indicated in the original post, it is workable as is, just perplexing, and I get good audio reports,. I work SSB almost exclusively.
Actually I failed to mention the radio was channel modded and clarifier modded at the same time. The wide slide to the negative was an unintentional result of the dual mod. It was not evident beforehand. So I suppose in order to achieve a more balanced left/right slide a re-alignment is in order. The tech has done a boat load of these mods over the years. Not using a kit but pretty sure he did the voltage tap from regulator and tapped into the chip and added switches, etc. This is the first radio that was so one sided from "center slot" say's he. And as I indicated in the original post, it is workable as is, just perplexing, and I get good audio reports,. I work SSB almost exclusively.
It may just be something stupid, the more work done at once the more opportunities for minor mistakes (not a knock against the tech, sometimes #### happens). If possible I would let the tech that did it have another look at it to double check his work.
Also as said in previous posts an alignment would probably be a good idea.
Also as said in previous posts an alignment would probably be a good idea.
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The vast majority of SSB stations are within +- 3kc from center. A fair share of the SSB stations is locked and most manufactures do at least a ballpark tweak at centering. With that said, there was a time before PLL’s hit the market that I wanted more clarifier coverage because many stations were far off frequency. We didn't have any locked clarifiers back in the early days of SSB CB's. For a CB radio, I still want all my clarifiers unlocked, but less is more concerning stability and ease of tuning. It becomes a choice between missing an occasional station that’s transmitting beyond the tighter tolerance or possibly sacrificing stability and tuning ease. Remember the wider the clarifiers spread, the more difficult it becomes to return to some semblance of true center. The closer you can get to true center is exactly what you want while monitoring. IMO if you’re really into SSB and want more spread, purchase a ham radio instead. Meanwhile you won’t miss much with a narrower stock spread.
Yeah, many clarifier mods can be done w/o extending the range. If you add or remove resistors that are inline with the clarifier control to the varactor diode; then it tends to push that freq farther than the standard clarifier slide. The standard slide distance will also provide you with a centered control in most cases . . . best way to do it IMO . . .
People want the clarifier to be a VFO, which it isn't.
What I see a lot is this notion that they need to go up for down at least 15 to get to 19A, etc.
They will probably never use it but they want it.
The better way is simply to make those changes in the PLL and then you don't need a wide and unstable clarifier.
Of course, a 10 turn control makes it a lot easier to control but doesn't account for the instability created by altering the circuit to increase tuning range.
What I see a lot is this notion that they need to go up for down at least 15 to get to 19A, etc.
They will probably never use it but they want it.
The better way is simply to make those changes in the PLL and then you don't need a wide and unstable clarifier.
Of course, a 10 turn control makes it a lot easier to control but doesn't account for the instability created by altering the circuit to increase tuning range.