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Videos showing a complete alignment (TX/RX) ???

guitar_199

Sr. Member
Mar 8, 2011
987
1,324
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Deer Park, TX
So many of the videos that I find out there (mostly YouTube!) ..... the person says... I'm going to give it a good alignment... then the video fades.... and then fades back in the covers are on.. and the alignment is done!

Does anyone know of any videos that actually show the process? Synth/RX/TX ... the whole ball of wax?

Would appreciate hearing.....

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season to all......

Bob
 
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Thank you sir I appreciate your time in responding.
This is something I would like to learn to do correctly. I know that it is pretty much "procedural" and that you need to make the measurements.... I would just like to watch somebody do one... start to finish.

I would make one for you but I am too old and too slow and it would be at least a 4 hour process for me if I had a video camera and a Tube You channel, or Book Face or whatever! Good luck.

73
David
 
So many of the videos that I find out there (mostly YouTube!) ..... the person says... I'm going to give it a good alignment... then the video fades.... and then fades back in the covers are on.. and the alignment is done!

Does anyone know of any videos that actually show the process? Synth/RX/TX ... the whole ball of wax?

Would appreciate hearing.....

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season to all......

Bob

Because most of those techs do those alignments as their means of making a living, is probably the reason. And then there are the sidelines and living room ref who's always quick to critique because no 2 techs do it right enough or the same. A real tech or good tech is already becoming a dying breed, add the diy'ers to the mix and it adds more nails to the coffin.
 
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I would personally like to think that there could be more "good techs" coming up.... but like other radio endeavors.... they would need to be "Elmer'ed" along.

As for me.... I'll figure it out!
 
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Try Mikesradiorepair on Youtube. You probably won't see any alignments from start-to-finish but he shows quite a bit of what he does. Has hundreds of videos. Watch enough of Mike's videos and you'll know why to keep the "Golden Screwdrivers" away from your equipment or self-destruct them on your own.

73
 
I have indeed watched many of his videos and it is his way of doing things that appeals to me. At least not really having much else out there to compare it to. Snake seems to have gone a different path from the way I believe. Then there is the guy that is always showing his calibration certificates. I believe very much that he knows what he is doing... I just also believe that he doesn't want to show anyone else what he is doing!

I may go back to Mike though.... rewatch a few and see what else I can catch....

Thanks!

Try Mikesradiorepair on Youtube. You probably won't see any alignments from start-to-finish but he shows quite a bit of what he does. Has hundreds of videos. Watch enough of Mike's videos and you'll know why to keep the "Golden Screwdrivers" away from your equipment or self-destruct them on your own.

73
 
Then there is the guy that is always showing his calibration certificates.

***TAP TAP TAP, PAY ATTENTION***
(you should get the above reference)

That just means they paid to have the equipment meet set standards...
I bought a rifle once that came with a .25 (1/4") MOA guarantee.... never could get that sucker to shoot that .25 though. I know electrical and mechanical engineers that are useless in the field when it comes to executing their ideas....So what I'm saying is, just because someone has a certificate (calibration included) doesn't mean they know what to do with it, it just means the equipment is capable of doing it. FineTuneCB may actually know what he's doing, but always trashing every other tech out there isn't the best route to take.
 
Gotta wonder if a complete start-to-finish video of a radio's alignment wouldn't prove to be a great cure for insomnia?

The other thing I'm wondering is how you would handle the "What if this step didn't work like that"?

Alignment often proves to be a diagnostic procedure. A tuning slug that won't peak like it should reveals a fault in that circuit.

Somewhere.

You make a good point. This is a sort of "thundering silence" subject in the video-verse.

73
 
the white whale!

the unicorn of CB repair!

That girl on TV who wants to talk to you late at night!

LOL

This is really the most elusive subject when it comes to CB repair.
The tune!

pick up any SAMS manual and it lays bare the whole process.

Well, aside from all the nuance involved.

And that's where the rubber meets the road my friends.
the nuance.

It reminds me of a welder i worked with many years ago.

The shop was full of young 'badasses' when it came to metal fabrication, and one of the guys we looked up to got his dad hired on as a welder.
We had been regaled with many a story about where he got his skills and all the school dances he missed because of dad keeping him busy in the shop on school nights.

So naturally, when he came in, and struck an arc, we all grabbed our hoods and tried to catch a glimpse of what he was doing.
I happened to be one of those who caught him on a bad (hungover) day, and while we were watching, he lifted his hood and shouted aloud, "I ain't no school"

We got the hint and left him alone after that.

Point being that when it comes to the essence of the art, no one wants to teach you for free.

Sure, Van Gogh might teach you a brush stroke or two, but he's not going to show you how he mixes color!

This was not lost on me when i first got interested enough in this hobby to buy a set of tuning tools, and because of that once i felt i had learned what exactly was involved in an alignment, i made a thread on the old Copper forum spilling what i thought were the secrets.

As the years have passed, i went from laughing at my old thread to being somewhat embarrassed by it.
Like, i thought i knew how to play the solo to Stairway to Heaven, but now i can't stand to listen to the old tapes of me trying.

I will probably still feel that way about the way i do it now 10 years from now.

All that being said, i continue to search for the same thing that was asked in the first post in this thread. A video of someone showing 'how it's done'.

Why don't i just post a video of it myself?
Well, for the same reason i won't play in a Led Zeppelin cover band.
I'm afraid of all the critiques from the rest of the people trying to cop Jimmy P.

I think that if ham radios were as 'basic' as CB radios when youtube became a thing, we might have a master lesson available, but if such a thing exists, i haven't found it.

I do believe that i learned what i know from reputable sources, but it wasn't spoonfed, and i still find better ways of doing things every year.

Kopsicle gets the credit for teaching me my latest lesson about IF tuning.
That doesn't mean that he deserves to have his inbox flooded LOL.

IDK, after typing all this, maybe i will work up the bravery to show the world how i do things, but i can't say how well i'll handle the inevitable 'that ain't how we do it in Greesnsborough'! comments.

I certainly don't consider myself a teacher, but i guess i could be persuaded to lean back and let other students cheat off my test.
LC
 
If some of his videos are still floating around. The Cobra man, possible Mike's radio Repair. There was one I knew for sure but have not seen his channel on you tube and I can not find his videos. Arties Garage, had a whole start to finish tuning a 148 GTL. Also he went under Protec electronics. I think possibly he passed away.

Off the subject. You must be a guitar player. I recently picked up my guitar again. I find the calluses on my fingers make it awful difficult working on radios. LOL
Gary
 
Well..... in his case... I think he is on Facebook more for "marketing his business" and there is nothing wrong with that. You just are not going to learn much watching other than "send it to him and he can fix it".

But right on one thing.. I don't care for belittling others either. That is just not my "way". If you are better, more qualified.... let your work stand on it's own merits.

But.... such content gets attention.... so.....

***TAP TAP TAP, PAY ATTENTION***
(you should get the above reference)

That just means they paid to have the equipment meet set standards...
I bought a rifle once that came with a .25 (1/4") MOA guarantee.... never could get that sucker to shoot that .25 though. I know electrical and mechanical engineers that are useless in the field when it comes to executing their ideas....So what I'm saying is, just because someone has a certificate (calibration included) doesn't mean they know what to do with it, it just means the equipment is capable of doing it. FineTuneCB may actually know what he's doing, but always trashing every other tech out there isn't the best route to take.
 
Very true here..... and THAT is what is going to separate the "do-ers" from the "wanna do-ers".

If you have training on and knowledge of such circuits... then at some point you will have to rely on "what you see" and "what you know" and figure out from THOSE where the problems are.

If you are just relying on "cookbook" instructions .... it will not be so easy.

I "LIKE TO THINK" I am in the first group........ :)

The other thing I'm wondering is how you would handle the "What if this step didn't work like that"?

Alignment often proves to be a diagnostic procedure. A tuning slug that won't peak like it should reveals a fault in that circuit.

Somewhere.


73
 

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