Radio alignment tools

[[email protected]]

Hello all!

I am working on a 2 meter (146 MHz) radio kit, and I am faced with
the need to adjust various coils and transformers in it. The
directions point out which ones can be adjusted with a metal tool,
and which ones really need a non-metallic tool. My first non-
metallic tool was a cheap plastic flat-blade screwdriver meant for
adjusting trimpots. It started out OK but the tip quickly got
chewed up and it started slipping. So, I get out the regular
(metal) screwdriver set, and managed to crack one of the cores with
my enthusiasm...

I have a new coil on the way and now I am looking at real, official
alignment tools. Basically, I see pure plastic tools of varying
materials, tools that are a metal core covered in plastic, and
some fancy ceramic ones. I'm pretty sure I don't want the ones
with a metal core. The plastic ones are inexpensive. The ceramic
ones sound like they would be more robust, but they also might be
more brittle. My immediate need is for a small flat-blade tip
about 1.5 to 2 mm wide, and a larger flat-blade tip about 4 to
6 mm wide. It seems like you can get a better deal on sets of
tools, which is fine, as long as it has the ones I need. In the
future I might be using them on other two-way radios, for sure
from 450 MHz down to 50 MHz, and then possibly on some radios
below 30 MHz. I don't anticipate using them much on AM or FM
broadcast sets, or television sets.

Are there any particular brands or features that are recommended,
or unfavored? Any sets that are particularly good for this
application? (I like the idea of the ceramic ones, but if they
break a lot they may not be worth the cost.)

Thanks for your help!

Matt Roberds

 

[Ken Weitzel]

Hello all!

I am working on a 2 meter (146 MHz) radio kit, and I am faced with
the need to adjust various coils and transformers in it. The
directions point out which ones can be adjusted with a metal tool,
and which ones really need a non-metallic tool. My first non-
metallic tool was a cheap plastic flat-blade screwdriver meant for
adjusting trimpots. It started out OK but the tip quickly got
chewed up and it started slipping. So, I get out the regular
(metal) screwdriver set, and managed to crack one of the cores with
my enthusiasm...

I have a new coil on the way and now I am looking at real, official
alignment tools. Basically, I see pure plastic tools of varying
materials, tools that are a metal core covered in plastic, and
some fancy ceramic ones. I'm pretty sure I don't want the ones
with a metal core. The plastic ones are inexpensive. The ceramic
ones sound like they would be more robust, but they also might be
more brittle. My immediate need is for a small flat-blade tip
about 1.5 to 2 mm wide, and a larger flat-blade tip about 4 to
6 mm wide. It seems like you can get a better deal on sets of
tools, which is fine, as long as it has the ones I need. In the
future I might be using them on other two-way radios, for sure
from 450 MHz down to 50 MHz, and then possibly on some radios
below 30 MHz. I don't anticipate using them much on AM or FM
broadcast sets, or television sets.

Are there any particular brands or features that are recommended,
or unfavored? Any sets that are particularly good for this
application? (I like the idea of the ceramic ones, but if they
break a lot they may not be worth the cost.)

Thanks for your help!

Matt Roberds

Hi Matt...

If you try not to laugh at a real old guy, back in
the olden days we used to get a couple of knitting
needles.

A few minutes with a pair of cutters and a file, and
we could have several flat blade ones for the price
of a single needle. Double ended, too. Different size
on each end.

Ken

 

[N Cook]

Hi Matt...

If you try not to laugh at a real old guy, back in
the olden days we used to get a couple of knitting
needles.

A few minutes with a pair of cutters and a file, and
we could have several flat blade ones for the price
of a single needle. Double ended, too. Different size
on each end.

Ken

I've never seen ceramic core twisters, i'd have thought them to be as harsh
on
ferrite recesses as steel blades.
I find the plastic shafts of broken darts stems a good starting point,
paring down with knife or small grind wheel.
Anyone any tips for the first shifting - i tendt to heat up with a soldering
iron
but any other ideas. Most tool/ ferrite damage is done trying to
overcome the varnishes or whatever introduced after factory alignment.
I just use a dab of hot-melt glue when done, theory being it should
look like hot-melt to anyone else coming across my fiddlings

electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~diverse

 

[Jerry G.]

Alignment tools are not always cheap. The good ones will not break or wear
out very easily. They are machine, and or moulded to fit exactly to the coil
core. A proper alignment tool will have a minimal effect on the coil's
performance, due to being inserted with the tool.


The links below should give you something to go on to find an alignment tool
kit.

http://www.oselectronics.com/ose_p62.htm

http://www.radiodaze.com/tooltool.htm

http://www.hmcelectronics.com/cgi-bin/scripts/product/3480-0015



--

Jerry G.
======


Hello all!

I am working on a 2 meter (146 MHz) radio kit, and I am faced with
the need to adjust various coils and transformers in it. The
directions point out which ones can be adjusted with a metal tool,
and which ones really need a non-metallic tool. My first non-
metallic tool was a cheap plastic flat-blade screwdriver meant for
adjusting trimpots. It started out OK but the tip quickly got
chewed up and it started slipping. So, I get out the regular
(metal) screwdriver set, and managed to crack one of the cores with
my enthusiasm...

I have a new coil on the way and now I am looking at real, official
alignment tools. Basically, I see pure plastic tools of varying
materials, tools that are a metal core covered in plastic, and
some fancy ceramic ones. I'm pretty sure I don't want the ones
with a metal core. The plastic ones are inexpensive. The ceramic
ones sound like they would be more robust, but they also might be
more brittle. My immediate need is for a small flat-blade tip
about 1.5 to 2 mm wide, and a larger flat-blade tip about 4 to
6 mm wide. It seems like you can get a better deal on sets of
tools, which is fine, as long as it has the ones I need. In the
future I might be using them on other two-way radios, for sure
from 450 MHz down to 50 MHz, and then possibly on some radios
below 30 MHz. I don't anticipate using them much on AM or FM
broadcast sets, or television sets.

Are there any particular brands or features that are recommended,
or unfavored? Any sets that are particularly good for this
application? (I like the idea of the ceramic ones, but if they
break a lot they may not be worth the cost.)

Thanks for your help!

Matt Roberds

 

[Do Litlle Jr.]

[snip]

In the
future I might be using them on other two-way radios, for sure
from 450 MHz down to 50 MHz, and then possibly on some radios
below 30 MHz. I don't anticipate using them much on AM or FM
broadcast sets, or television sets.

Regardless, in most newer TV's, AM and FM radios, you'll find no
place to use any of those tools. Those old coil days are gone forever!

 

[NSM]

Most tool/ ferrite damage is done trying to
overcome the varnishes or whatever introduced after factory alignment.
I just use a dab of hot-melt glue when done, theory being it should
look like hot-melt to anyone else coming across my fiddlings

I used nail polish. The color makes it easy to spot and it holds well but
breaks easily. It doesn't run down in the threads either.

N

 

[mike]

Hello all!

I am working on a 2 meter (146 MHz) radio kit, and I am faced with
the need to adjust various coils and transformers in it. The
directions point out which ones can be adjusted with a metal tool,
and which ones really need a non-metallic tool. My first non-
metallic tool was a cheap plastic flat-blade screwdriver meant for
adjusting trimpots. It started out OK but the tip quickly got
chewed up and it started slipping. So, I get out the regular
(metal) screwdriver set, and managed to crack one of the cores with
my enthusiasm...

I have a new coil on the way and now I am looking at real, official
alignment tools. Basically, I see pure plastic tools of varying
materials, tools that are a metal core covered in plastic, and
some fancy ceramic ones. I'm pretty sure I don't want the ones
with a metal core. The plastic ones are inexpensive. The ceramic
ones sound like they would be more robust, but they also might be
more brittle. My immediate need is for a small flat-blade tip
about 1.5 to 2 mm wide, and a larger flat-blade tip about 4 to
6 mm wide. It seems like you can get a better deal on sets of
tools, which is fine, as long as it has the ones I need. In the
future I might be using them on other two-way radios, for sure
from 450 MHz down to 50 MHz, and then possibly on some radios
below 30 MHz. I don't anticipate using them much on AM or FM
broadcast sets, or television sets.

Are there any particular brands or features that are recommended,
or unfavored? Any sets that are particularly good for this
application? (I like the idea of the ceramic ones, but if they
break a lot they may not be worth the cost.)

Thanks for your help!

Matt Roberds

Cores break because of radial, outward force. A hex tool that fits
exactly exerts most of the force to rotate the core. If the tool is
ever so slightly too small or rounded, it will apply considerable
force to expand the core...at the weakest part of the core.

I've had some success with metal allen wrenches. Don't remember whether
it was SAE or Metric. Heat the coil slightly and loosen the core
with the allen wrench. Then adjust it with the plastic tool.

If you're talking about cores with a slot in the top, you have the same
problem with a flat-blade tool. You want it to fill the slot. Forces
go up rapidly as the tool gets smaller relative to the slot.
mike

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[Travis Jordan]

Hello all!

Fiberglass works best for most iron hex cores; plastic is an acceptable
substitute. Any 2-way radio shop in your town will have hundreds of
these tools and perhaps will give you one if you ask nicely. Or for $10
buy a set of your own.

http://www.oselectronics.com/ose_p62.htm

 

[Travis Jordan]

Fiberglass works best for most iron hex cores; plastic is an
acceptable substitute. Any 2-way radio shop in your town will have
hundreds of these tools and perhaps will give you one if you ask
nicely. Or for $10 buy a set of your own.

http://www.oselectronics.com/ose_p62.htm

Forgot to mention - you'll want to be sure to get a small steel blade
tip tool for those pesky little trimmer capacitors.

A GC Waldom # 8605 will do fine.

 

[Bill Jeffrey]

On the RadioDaze link, click on the picture of the Universal Color TV
Alignment Tool Kit and look at the white tool. Then click on the
picture of the CB Alignment Tool Kit, 8 Piece, and look at the first red
tool on the left. Both of these are plastic tools, with a tiny metal
blade fitted into the end. The piece of metal is small enough that it
doesn't appreciably alter the tuning, and tough enough that it will not
mush when you turn the core. I've had these tools for years, and they
seem to work well.

Bill
=====================

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

I used nail polish. The color makes it easy to spot and it holds well but
breaks easily. It doesn't run down in the threads either.

N

I used a drop of canning wax. If you need to realign it later its
easy to melt with the tip of a soldering iron, and lubricates the
threads while its still soft.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Regardless, in most newer TV's, AM and FM radios, you'll find no
place to use any of those tools. Those old coil days are gone forever!

Not in transmitters and commercial radios.

 

[Bennett Price]

Take a look at
http://www.gcwaldom.com/catalog/css/catalog_179.html

 

[Do Litlle Jr.]

Not in transmitters and commercial radios.

True, however, if one compares an old Collins auto-mechanical
transmitter / receiver (the one with brass gears) from end WWII era,
with the latest designs than you have to admit that alignment / tuning
has also changed dramatically. Now with all crystal controlled PLL
frequency synthesizes, pre-tuned ceramic/crystal devices and cavity
resonators, the need for realignment / tuning has really been
minimized, specially in the IF sections.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

True, however, if one compares an old Collins auto-mechanical
transmitter / receiver (the one with brass gears) from end WWII era,
with the latest designs than you have to admit that alignment / tuning
has also changed dramatically. Now with all crystal controlled PLL
frequency synthesizes, pre-tuned ceramic/crystal devices and cavity
resonators, the need for realignment / tuning has really been
minimized, specially in the IF sections.

A lot of old equipment is still in daily use, in some fields. I have
worked on transmitters up to 130 KW Visual and 65 KW aural. You don't
replace these every year or two.

I worked on the production line for an $80,000 (US) telemetry
receiver (RCB2000)and there were still a lot of adjustments to be made
even though it had a dual DSP front end, massive FIR filtering, digital
signal combining and 12 microprocessors. I had a set of ceramic
alignment tools that cost a couple hundred dollars issued by the test
department. The replacement tips were around $45 and would shatter if
dropped to the floor the wrong way.

 

[Travis Jordan]

I worked on the production line for an $80,000 (US) telemetry
receiver (RCB2000)and there were still a lot of adjustments to be made
even though it had a dual DSP front end, massive FIR filtering,
digital signal combining and 12 microprocessors. I had a set of
ceramic alignment tools that cost a couple hundred dollars issued by
the test department. The replacement tips were around $45 and would
shatter if dropped to the floor the wrong way.

Classic government contracting stuff, eh?

Is Microdyne still around?

 

[Derelict]

Classic government contracting stuff, eh?

Is Microdyne still around?

NASA sites still use some Microdyne receivers and a lot of Harris
Multifunction receivers (MFR) for telemetry.

 

[[email protected]]

I have a new coil on the way and now I am looking at real, official
alignment tools.

Thanks for all the responses!

I ended up ordering some tools from Digi-Key, as I was ordering some
other parts from them as well. I got their 25-piece set from Aven Tools
(243-1017, Aven 13.500) and also the four-blade ceramic adjuster from
Aven (243-1014, Aven 13.230). Both items were made in Taiwan. The
25-piece set seems to be a reasonable mix of tools for the price, but
I'm not quite as happy with the ceramic adjuster; it just looks cheap.
Time will tell.

To answer some other points that were raised, my metal screwdriver was
not a very good fit in the coil slug. It tended to contact just the
sides of the slug's rectangular recess; / is the blade:
___
| |
| /|
| / |
|/ |
|___|

The crack started at one of the corners of the recess. The new 25-piece
set has enough different variations on a flat-bladed screwdriver tip
that I think I'll be able to find one that fits the recess nicely.

These coils were brand new and had no Glyptal or other sealer on them,
but I have seen such sealers used on coils, pots, and screws on factory-
built gear. Before I soldered the coils onto the board, I ran the cores
all the way up and down to make sure they would turn easily; the
manufacturer's instructions mentioned that they might be stiff. One of
them was a little stiffer than the others, but not markedly so. Still,
one of them got very stiff after I soldered it to the board.

Thanks again!

Matt Roberds

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Classic government contracting stuff, eh?

The prices are high because the production numbers are low. On the
other hand, some of the telemetry receivers at NASA had been in service
for 30 years without requiring any service. Over the product life, it
is very a reasonable cost for engineered to order electronics. A
telemetry system is tailored to the application. We built base chassis
with the common parts and added a set of boards built to meet the
customers needs.

Is Microdyne still around?

L3-Com bought them about five years ago, then shut the Ocala plant
down about three years ago. They laid off 200 people and moved a dozen
people to a new building near Philadelphia. They dropped all the mature
Microdyne product lines and only kept the newest product along with a
few people involved with the design. They bought Microdyne after
spending a fortune for an in house digital telemetry design that didn't
work at all. They contracted with Microdyne to test the performance of
their prototype. It was built by a former Microdyne engineer who they
got rid of years before so he claimed we were lying. All I can say is
the test unit performed about as well as the mockup that went to a trade
show, with 50 ohm 2 watt carbon resistors across all the BNC
connectors. A laptop was inside, along with a 250 roll of ribbon cable
to make it weigh what it was supposed to. The display on the mockup
simulated a real radio, and so did the prototype.

The L3-Com prototype was so poorly designed we kept the mockup on
display in the Manufacturing Engineering office for everyone to see how
not to do things. It was flimsy, poorly laid out and would have been a
nightmare on the production floor.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

NASA sites still use some Microdyne receivers and a lot of Harris
Multifunction receivers (MFR) for telemetry.

Don't you have that backwards? The government was buying Microdyne
equipment to replace aging Harris systems. We built a turnkey system
for NOAA at Wallops Island to replace a Harris system they couldn't keep
up and running. We were allowed two weeks after delivery to get it to
meet specs. The engineers arrived a day early, uncrated the racks that
night and wired them together. The next morning the facility's manager
took one look and told our team they could go home, it was perfect.


We also built a turnkey system for the Italian space program,
including a portable system in a large trailer that was to be towed
behind a two ton truck, followed bu a diesel generator. We also built a
one of a kind modified 700 series KU band receiver for the International
Space Station. I was involved in all three projects, as well as
preparing the RCB-2000 for the production floor.

Most Microdyne products were built with the tech in mind because we
had to do so much custom work on every unit. There were pages of
options, and we were always adding new items that customers requested.