Tom,
For what it's worth, the interface cable for radio/tuner I have is the
same, and it was purchased 7 years ago. I guess that's how they do things.
Hope everything is working well despite the glitches. Hope to hear you
in the Michigan QSO party in a few weeks.
73, Steve KW3A
On 3/12/2015 2:40 PM, Tom Behler wrote:
> Hi, everyone.
>
>
>
> As most of you know, I recently purchased an MFJ 998 auto-tuner, and an
> Ameritron ALS600 solid-state amplifier as new additions to my station here
> at the home QTH.
>
>
>
> I have been in the process of re-configuring my station setup, getting the
> equipment installed, and testing the equipment to be sure it is totally up
> and running. I now think I'm just about ready to put everything on the air
> in a sustained way, but wanted to report on a few nagging quality-control
> concerns that I've experienced over the past few days.
>
>
>
> First, I ordered an MFJ 5114K Kenwood interface cable to connect between my
> TS590, and the MFJ 998 auto-tuner. One thing I immediately noticed when I
> took the cable out of the package was that the molex connector that plugs
> into the TS590 was not securely fastened to the interface cable. The wires
> were all connected, but the shrink tubing on the cable was not close enough
> to the connector to insure sufficient strain release for the connections.
> Fortunately, I had some shrink tubing here, and was able to firm up the
> connection, and secure it further with electrical tape. I guess that's
> cheaper than sending the cable back to HRO for a replacement, although I
> don't think this is something I should have had to do.
>
>
>
> Secondly, I ran into an interesting problem with my new ALS600. I purchased
> and installed the 10 and 12-meter modification for the amplifier, and to
> install it, I had to remove the amplifier cover. This should have been a
> simple process, right? Well, installing the mod was actually quite simple,
> but where I ran into problems was when I tried to put the cover back onto
> the amplifier. There are 22 screws that are used to fasten the cover to the
> amplifier, and all went well, until I got to the four screws on the very
> bottom right-hand side of the amplifier case. The screws simply would not
> re-fasten to the chassis. It turns out that there are little pop rivets
> that are fastened to the holes on the chassis, and these serve as nuts for
> securing the screws. Those nuts had fallen out when I initially loosened
> the screws, and I have been unable to fit them back into the chassis holes.
> Of course, the cover is still very securely fastened to the amplifier unit
> via the 18 remaining screws, but it simply seems to me that, after paying
> $1349 for the amplifier, this kind of problem should not happen. I called
> Ameritron Technical support, and they assured me that this will not affect
> the safe operation of the amplifier, so I am not going to pay the money to
> send the amp back to them for a warranty repair.
>
>
>
> I guess this all goes to show you that they simply don't make things like
> they used to.
>
>
>
> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
>
>
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