"Bruce in Alaska" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Edward Weigel wrote:
Me Wrote:
In article ,
"Lynn Coffelt" wrote:
-
Hmmmm......... The guys that showed me the ropes used a Simpson 260
with a
battered leather case, an earphone and a wet finger. (Oh, yeah, as
you
mentioned, an NE-2 taped to the end of a diddle stick)
Old Chief Lynn, Anacortes Marine Electronics (for 20 years)-
What, you taped yours to a diddle stick??? We always just held them
in our fingers out in front of the waveguide flange..... Well not on
40Kw Decca 404's.... but all the rest.....
Hmmm, sounds like an old timer....The really good techs came from
Northern Radio, Radar Electric, and Raytheon Marine back in the 60's
and
70's. I am an old Northern Man, and one of the few "Old Boys" left.
Don Hollingsworth Sr. is still around at G & L Marine, and he is a
Raytheon transplant. Billy Pulse came from the end of the era Radar
Electric shop. That's about it for that generation, that still
practice
the "Art" of Marine Electronics. Same with the "Regulators". (FCC)
After the closing of RegionX in Kirkland, there just isn't anyone left
that really understands the Marine Mobile Radio Service. Bob Dietch,
Bob Zenes, Gary Solsby, Bill Johnson, and even Denny Anderson have all
retired.
Me getting old is a Bitch......all the good guys just die off....
worked at Raytheon in Seattle between Feb 1970 and Oct 1979. I sure
remember
Bill Pulse. Is he still with us? When I first applied to be an
electronics
technician, I interviewed with Bill. He rejected me. UG
Allen at Raytheon
hired me. I worked with the guys from G&L a lot.
am now retired in Ironwood, Michigan. Yes, getting old is a bitch. I
still
remember the people and equipment like it was yesterday.
it has been years, since I had thought of Old U.G. Allen..... but I
remeber you, Ed. Can't picture you in my minds eye, but the name sure
does resonate in the dusty memories. Yes, Billy Pulse is still around
in Bellingham, WA and I talk to the Don's Sr & Jr at G & L Marine from
time to time, especially when I get stumped on a Radar problem. Just had
one of those last month. Had a Furuno 1941 start losing range over a
month or so. Went from solid 36 Mile targets, down to barely 4 mile
targets. Still had the OEM Magnitron and something like 6000 Operating
Hours logged. So I figured, "tired Maggie" right? Replaced it, and no
change. After looking at the Manual Receiver Tuning, and finding that I
could run the Tuning Voltage from 5Vdc to 35Vdc with absolutly no change
on the received targets, I got really suspicious of the MMIC Front-end.
Pulled the T/R Pan and looked at the Tuning Voltage @ the inside of the
feedthru Cap inside of the MMIC casting to make sure I just didn't have
a broken wire somewhere. Since I didn't have a new MMIC, and also had no
way to test the T/R Pan offline, I sent it down to Don Sr. and he did the
replacement, and tested it on his testbed Radar Bench. Reinstalled,
and have 36 mile targets again. That was the first time I have ever
heard of a MMIC having that particular failure. (Tuning Line Voltage not
actually tuning the LO in the MMIC) Live and Learn...
Bruce in alaska
UG Allen!!!! Holy Smokes, I don't think I've heard that name for 20 years!
He helped me (via telephone) work my way through a Raytheon that I'd never
seen before...... forget the model number, but you guys probably are
familiar with the beast. 115vac motor generator wasn't it that turned a big
fat open scanner with a tube transmitter and receiver inside the scanner?
Big orange filtered CRT...... all the letters and numbers worn completely
off the indicator controls, substituted by big black pencil marks where the
skipper had the best luck. Easily picked seagulls out at 1/4 mile on flat
water. Quarter size burned spot in center of CRT..... standard for those
Raytheons according to UG.... Local fishermen told me that he was the
smartest man they had ever met, and that he was black. I never met him face
to face, but he taught me (telephone again) the fine points of tuning a 1600
and the hot new 2600. Those were the days!!!!
Old Chief Lynn