Yeah, Butch. ... Like you say, they are a neat idea when they work!  (grin)

As for my current situation, I think I'm just going to keep the four
troublesome screws and pop rivets aside, and get on with life.  There are
still 18 screws holding the cover on the ALS600, so the cover is not going
to go anywhere.

Tom Behler: KB8TYJ


-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Butch Bussen
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2015 9:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Oh, those nagging quality control concerns

Actually, 'Tom, that is likely just what they are.  You can buy threaded pop
rivets and they are installed with a gun just like the ordinary ones.  YOu
have to get them just right or they will fall out or turn in the hole.  A
neat idea when they work.
73
Butch
WA0VJR
Node 3148
Wallace, ks.


On Thu, 12 Mar 2015, Tom Behler
wrote:

> Ed:
>
> I don't know how else to describe the nuts, but to call them pop rivets.
>
> They are round, but one side is a bit smaller, which is where they 
> supposedly fit back into the chassis.
>
> All I know is that between myself and my sighted XYL, who is also a 
> ham, we could not get them to stay in the holes.
>
> The guy I talked to at Ameritron said he had seen this sort of thing 
> before, but not quite to the extent that I have experienced it, with 
> four of the nuts not staying in place.
>
> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Ed Malmgren
> Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2015 2:55 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Oh, those nagging quality control concerns
>
>    Tom, I have not ever seen that kind of fastener, A pop rivet served 
> as a nut but if that is the case it would be very easy to re pop rivit 
> the existing holes with new ones.  Just a thought.  good luck.
>
>
>
> ED K7UC
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Behler
> Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2015 12:40 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Oh, those nagging quality control concerns
>
> 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
>
>