What electronics have YOU fixed lately?

[sunbulls]

The manufacture thinks it's a great idea. Simply another case of planned obsolescence. Not just the watch, but also the human factor regarding individuals not physically fit enough to participate in any intensive exercise. If you have a heart attack or find yourself in the hospital dehydrated, the manufacture could care less. Their butt is covered with a fine print warning. It’s usually found somewhere between the Spanish and Chinese instructions.

 

[Ranch55]

Now, for this past month, I have repaired and restored an old Pearce Simpson Simba SSB transceiver.
I removed the master crystal for channels 1-4, and installed a master crystal for channels 36, 37, 38, & 40.
Also had to replace the main relays.
Ken's Electronics is great to find parts for old radios.
I did this for someone who requested it because he wanted to buy the old radio from me and offered to pay a price that indicated he wanted the radio very much. ($300) .....
I didn't have to do too much to the radio.
The internal power supply wasn't working, so I removed the bad diodes and installed a 4 amp bridge rectifier. It only required a 2 amp rectifying circuit.
also had to completely re-lamp the radio. Used all LED lights .......
I cleaned and polished the cabinet and it looked great.
The gentleman also had an old Turner SSB +2 microphone that he asked me to refurbish and wire to the Simba SSB.
Talks great. Sounds great.

Well, damn ........
The fellow just cannot leave well enough alone.
He has "broken" this radio twice now since I restored/refurbished it and he took it home.
The first time, he thought he could get the turner SSB +2 microphone better. So he opened it up and got the reed contacts all out of sync by bending them some. He then proceeded to use the mic on the Simba SSB. What happened is that the microphone would stay in the transmit position with audio, before the receive circuit would break. Not good. this backfed the transmit signal and audio in to the receive of the radio. I got this repaired about two weeks ago.
Now today, he told me that the radio keeps blowing the DC power fuse as soon as he turns it on.
Now keep in mind I had schooled him numerous times that he had a bad grounding issue with his antenna and coax system. He assured me he had fixed it.
Guess what. He hadn't fixed it.
So yesterday the "fixed antenna coax" swr's shot up to way over 3~4 ......out of an amplifier. I asked if he had actually taken care of the coax/ antenna problem. He finally admitted that he had not.
This fellow is really very nice guy. But he figures he can "jury rig" anything to get it working.
I told him that it will cost him this time, because the previous time was a freeby.
IF, he will be willing to pay the price .......
And that it may take awhile until I get the time to take a look at it. I told him 2~3 months this time.
He is a nice guy, but dang he is his own worst enemy.

 

[loosecannon]

Well, damn ........
The fellow just cannot leave well enough alone.
He has "broken" this radio twice now since I restored/refurbished it and he took it home.
The first time, he thought he could get the turner SSB +2 microphone better. So he opened it up and got the reed contacts all out of sync by bending them some. He then proceeded to use the mic on the Simba SSB. What happened is that the microphone would stay in the transmit position with audio, before the receive circuit would break. Not good. this backfed the transmit signal and audio in to the receive of the radio. I got this repaired about two weeks ago.
Now today, he told me that the radio keeps blowing the DC power fuse as soon as he turns it on.
Now keep in mind I had schooled him numerous times that he had a bad grounding issue with his antenna and coax system. He assured me he had fixed it.
Guess what. He hadn't fixed it.
So yesterday the "fixed antenna coax" swr's shot up to way over 3~4 ......out of an amplifier. I asked if he had actually taken care of the coax/ antenna problem. He finally admitted that he had not.
This fellow is really very nice guy. But he figures he can "jury rig" anything to get it working.
I told him that it will cost him this time, because the previous time was a freeby.
IF, he will be willing to pay the price .......
And that it may take awhile until I get the time to take a look at it. I told him 2~3 months this time.
He is a nice guy, but dang he is his own worst enemy.

I have a strict policy when it comes to this!

It's not so much a problem with the mail in radio work i get, as it seems that people who are willing to mail their radios away tend not to mess with them as much when they get them back.

but then there's my locals!

there are a couple that i just won't do work for anymore because of this exact issue.
The truth is that i get it, because i am someone who likes to tinker with things and make them better, and to some, the insides of a radio are much more interesting than the outsides.

the problem lies in the effect on your reputation. if you keep working on the same radio for someone, word gets around that the radio keeps going back to you, BUT!
the guy never tells his buddies that he's been messing with it!
the crowd just knows that this guy keeps having to give his radio back to you, and your customer lets everyone think you are a hack just so they can save face.

this has happened to me before, and it's tough to disprove without outing the customer as a CB crack-head who can't leave their radio alone.

sometimes you just can't win.
LC

 

[Robb]

Working on a 350w ATX power supply for an old 2001 built computer. Wouldn't even pull 100w before it went kerflewie. Rebuilding the PS involved testing and replacing all but four caps and the first diode bridge.

Another computer I'm working on is from 2007. Every time you would unplug the mains power cord from the case, it would lose all of its BIOS settings. The battery tested OK. So, re-soldered the battery clip leads to the top of the board, and that did the trick. Putting a copy of Windows Xp on it so that I can shove a lot of old games on it.

SSD drive, a 7950 nVidia card, 4gb of faaaast RAM, dual core AMD @ 3ghz cpu, and a 500gb storage drive. Cost me nothing except for the price of the new SSD drive. Which was $20/ship incl. The price of SSDs are finally at a decent price to get in quantity - IMO. Upgrading all of my old laptops and computers with them soon, now that they are sooo cheap . . .

Bought a computer sound system from GoodWill for $3. Didn't work. So, I tested the caps on the amp board and had to replace all twelve of them. Works well now. Has a small sub woofer with it, so it will work great with the Xp machine/games.

 

[unit_399]

I bought a Fluke 1900A freq counter at a flea market here. I've had one of these for years, and it finally died. Fluke refused to repair it (too old). The case was cracked on the flea market one, but for 10,000 pesos ($3.50 USD), I decided to take a shot. Tried it out and the freq reading was all over the place. Opened it up and found a solder fracture on the input board ground pin. Resoldered and now works perfect. Looks good too with the case from my old counter.

- 399

 

[Robb]

@unit_399;
Bought the same thing at a swap meet for $5. Had several bad joints. Fixed it. Used a rubidium clock/10mhz to align it back to snuff. Been using it to align radios for the last 5 years. Have a nice Hp counter; but I like and use my Fluke almost all of the time. Cool tool . . .

 

[sunbulls]

During the restoration of my 1940 Philco, an unusual label on the back sparked my curiosity. The label seen here is one I created as a possibly replacement for my badly damaged one. Without understanding what this label represented or how a TV could possibly be involved, I finally found my answer after extensive research. Who would have guessed that some of the early TV’s didn’t have a speaker? It seems like this was Philco’s answer to our modern day Bluetooth. The following video explains this stickers function better than I can. The radio innards represented in the video is identical to mine, except the cabinets. Mine has a grill cloth and his has wooden louvers.

 

[Redbeard U812]

Repaired the remote control today. Seems it was not working correctly, so I checked the batteries, they were good. Good contacts inside. I just could not figure it out. Then it dawned on me the antenna may be loose.....unscrewed and reinstalled it.

Took a few moments making sure thinks were correct, got some coffee and sat down to watch TV. Damn it.....it still wont work. Kept pressing buttons in a futile attempt to force things to work.

That's when I noticed my dog over in the corner convulsing uncontrollably.....what the hell? Awe......Man.....I need to wear my glasses more often and make sure I am awake before performing tasks.

I had been trying to use the Dog Widget Training collar remote to turn on the TV, the other end was still on the dog. I must have hit that button a 10~15 times. Now my dog hates me. I feel so bad.

 

[sunbulls]

I bought a Fluke 1900A freq counter at a flea market here. I've had one of these for years, and it finally died. Fluke refused to repair it (too old). The case was cracked on the flea market one, but for 10,000 pesos ($3.50 USD), I decided to take a shot. Tried it out and the freq reading was all over the place. Opened it up and found a solder fracture on the input board ground pin. Resoldered and now works perfect. Looks good too with the case from my old counter.

- 399
View attachment 28993 View attachment 28994

I found Bondo bumper repair works great for repairing cracks on plastic cases and even as filler for small missing pieces. I also use it occasionally to fill badly gouged bezels. Of course a little grinding and sanding is involved before painting, but the results are satisfactory to great depending upon how much effort you put into it. For cracks, the trick is to create a little valley along each side of the crack with a Dremel sanding drum. This will add strength to the repair when it is filled afterwards.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Just fixed my Samsung Galaxy Tab-S T-800 tablet. The other year we were camping and I was using it in the trailer with it plugged in on the other side of the hallway. My wife wanted to pass and I said "Just a second. I'll unplug it." "No problem"she said as she went to step over the cord. Next thing I know the tablet flew out of my hands onto the floor. She stepped ON the cord instead of over it. It trashed the charge jack. The cord had to be wrapped around the device and held just right in order to charge and it would not charge while using it as any slight movement would break the connection. I gave up using it except whenever we went away on a trip as it was easier to take than a laptop and larger than a phone. I finally found the proper replacement charge jack/micro SD card slot holder and just finished replacing it. It now works great. Now I am just waiting for EVERYTHING to finish updating.

 

[unit_399]

Every three months , the LIGA COLOMBIANA DE RADIOAFICIONADOS (Colombian Amateur Radio League) has a get-together for members and the general public. There is always a flea market, and much good stuff for sale. I saw this beat up Simpson 260 and bought it for 20,000 pesos (about $6.00 USD). The meter glass was toast, and the needle was broken off. But when I put it in the Ohms mode and shorted across the inputs I could see the meter movement move a little. So for 6 bucks I thought I would take a shot and try to fix it down the road.



A few weeks ago, a NOS Simpson 260 Series AFP-1 Replacement Front Meter Panel showed up on Ebay for a BIN price of $24.00/free ship. The Meter panel was a no fit, but the meter itself was a direct replacement, so I snagged it.



I had to completely disassemble the 260 to replace the meter. It was a real hassle, but I got it done.


Rebuilt 260 isn't pretty, but works 100%.



Nice meter for $30, and a couple of hour's work.

- 399

 

[711]

Every three months , the LIGA COLOMBIANA DE RADIOAFICIONADOS (Colombian Amateur Radio League) has a get-together for members and the general public. There is always a flea market, and much good stuff for sale. I saw this beat up Simpson 260 and bought it for 20,000 pesos (about $6.00 USD). The meter glass was toast, and the needle was broken off. But when I put it in the Ohms mode and shorted across the inputs I could see the meter movement move a little. So for 6 bucks I thought I would take a shot and try to fix it down the road.

View attachment 29210

A few weeks ago, a NOS Simpson 260 Series AFP-1 Replacement Front Meter Panel showed up on Ebay for a BIN price of $24.00/free ship. The Meter panel was a no fit, but the meter itself was a direct replacement, so I snagged it.

View attachment 29211

I had to completely disassemble the 260 to replace the meter. It was a real hassle, but I got it done.

View attachment 29212
Rebuilt 260 isn't pretty, but works 100%.

View attachment 29213

Nice meter for $30, and a couple of hour's work.

- 399

I worked at a Calibration Lab and had to cal those. There were 2 pots that were like a balancing act to get the circuit calibrated. One counteracted the other. Always a fun cal to do

 

[kopcicle]

I worked at a Calibration Lab and had to cal those. There were 2 pots that were like a balancing act to get the circuit calibrated. One counteracted the other. Always a fun cal to do

Range & Zero, Range & Zero,Range & Zero, wash, rinse, repeat...

 

[Robb]

Awhile back, I bought one of the fake GTX-960 viddy cards from eBay.
No biggee really, since I got refunded . . .
PayPal told me to keep the card . . . OK . . .

Recently purchased one of the CH341A BIOS reprogramming USB tools from Ebay, It included the IC chip clamp - all for $8.85 ship/incl. The software was free online - including the drivers.

So I had my first shot at re-biosing the vbios chip. Watched a few YouTube videos on how it is done, and then first erased the fake 960 bios and then programmed the video card with the original GTX-550 Ti bios, and it worked! Now Win10 recognizes it.

Now the card is in a computer, and works as it should.

 

[Redbeard U812]

So today, was fix the stupid AC Day. My main AC unit in camper had been doing strange things apparently due the massive amounts of rain. along the coast there is always a 4 o'clock monsoon. Prepared myself for the hopeful uneventful trip top side, last trip I learned not to try and discharge the capacitor wearing flip flops and standing in a puddle. Yep, you got it......can discharge one of those puppies really fast using the Redbeard U812 method.

Get to the porch only to find that my newest fur baby had decided to turn my right flip flop into a chew toy. Damned dog. No flops today, back inside for my boots. Yes, I scolded the bitch!

Get known tools and head up to discharge that damned cap and Die-Lectric some connections. Performed operation flawlessly this time, no flashing lights and possible coronary. Back down to flip the breaker. Waited few moments for silly computer to do it's thing before hitting the start button.

Nothing! Hmmm?

Powered down, got me a can of Vienna Sausages, because I have enjoyed the poisoning so far this weekend from the two cans I ate Friday night. Had to top that off with couple spicy pickled Bantam eggs....if you gonna do it might as well do it right!

Headed back up hoping the effects of what I had just eaten would not slam dunk while I was up there. Performed the operation flawlessly for a second time, applied a little more Die-Lectric to the connections and proceeded down to try again.

Nope! sh!##! Ph@ck! What is wrong? Turn off breaker, go back up. upon inspection, it seems a furry little mammal with sharp teeth has been gorging itself on the wiring harness that is hidden under the cowling. I hate mice! Crimps, dikes, wire butts, heat shrink, and the propane torch back up top. Cut out the bad, spliced and, heat shrink.

Back down to flip the switch again. Nothing????? Then as though the damned AC had been messing with me, she came to life. Fan, then compressor kicked in. Unfortunately, I don't have any beer......that would be a victory desert on top of the potted meat and pickled eggs.