Congratulations on a good deal! I thought at first that you were going
to say that it was your original Omni, but your story is heartwarming
enough. It's a good thing to bring an old rig back to life with some
TLC. I do see rigs at hamfests that have been badly abused, like
they've been stored for years in a shed or on the garage floor. I've
always treated my gear like the precision instruments that they are.
The PTOs are probably OK, but they will need to be disassembled and
re-greased. The official Ten-Tec grease is green. They call it open
gear grease. It's sticky and it stays put on the gears. Do not use a
light grease or the spring tension on the shaft will make the PTO knob
turn by itself! Likewise, whatever solvent you use make sure that it is
safe for plastics and clean it all out before you re lube the PTO.
The connectors are Amp "Mate 'n Lock". They are available from Mouser
(pins sold separately). Ten-Tec also stocks the connectors and complete
power cables for a couple of dollars more.
Cabinet holes and gashes can be filled with JB Weld and sanded. If the
cabinet is the same dark gray color as the original Corsair, Rustoleum
gray hammertone number 7214 is a very close match.
Yes, aluminum electrolytic caps do fail. Those than do can be replaced
with better quality ones or tantalums.
Enjoy your new treasure!
73,
Bob WB2VUF
On 1/26/2011 2:17 PM, Dr. Gerald N. Johnson wrote:
The stuck PTOs may only be congealed grease that would respond to a
suitable solvent for thinning. Or like a Drake TR-4 given to a friend of
mine, have been dropped on the face bending the shaft and PTO assembly.
I was able to make the TR-4 tune properly again. For the Tentec PTOs get
at least the instructions for the PTO rebuild kit and go from there.
Ideally the grease pouch from the kit would be handy but Tentec hasn't
yet identified that as a separate item or what it really is.
Think about and expect failed aluminum electrolytics from power supply
to audio coupling capacitors and bypasses. The electrolyte eats away the
insulation and they tend to go bang or poof with voltage applied. And
when they do that violently and fill the chassis with shredded foil and
electrolyte impregnated crepe paper is when you will really wish you had
chosen another project or hobby. Cleaning up a few of those has had a
big effect on my tolerance for old electrolytics.
Tentec and Mouser sell the parts needed to put a new connector on the
power cord, if its like my Corsair II. Its not a Molex and I have
information on it somewhere and I know its been discussed in the past
two or three months so is in the archives of this forum.
73, Jerry, K0CQ
On 1/26/2011 1:09 PM, Al Gulseth wrote:
Paul,
Great find! If you're technically savvy at all, fix it yourself. There are
plenty of resources on this list who can guide you through the rough spots.
(Are you listening Jerry?) Maybe I'll dig into my OmniA/B (it has a few minor
issues but probably not anywhere near what yours has) as a "parallel"
project. If you were closer by I'd suggest getting together for a "tech
fest".
That brings me to another potentially "inflammatory" point - for the casual
non-contest non-DXCC chasers like myself, is there really a need for
the "latest and greatest"? I've found that I can accomplish almost all of the
contacts I want with the likes of the early Omni (especially B series),
Argosy, 560 Corsair, etc. In fact, I find that I prefer the RX audio of an
analog rig. Maybe it's just psychological, but most if not all of the
synthesized/DSP rigs seem to have a harshness or "fuzz" to the audio that the
analog rigs don't.
Just my $0.02 worth....
73, Al
On Wed January 26 2011 12:17:36 pm PaulKB8N@aol.com wrote:
From the time I was first I was licensed in 1960, I bought used gear.
Finally, in 1980, I bought my first piece of new gear...a Ten-Tec Omni A,
Series B. This radio would be my primary rig for the next 15+ years and
would travel with me to three continents and provide me with well over 100K
QSOs without a single failure. I parted with it in 1995, but always had a
warm spot in my heart for that simple, reliable radio.
Its amazing how the mind can observe and record things without you
consciously directing it to. At a swap meet last weekend, my eyes fell
upon something on the other side of the room that I needed to see. As I
got closer, I saw a stack of beat-up-looking Ten-Tec gear. It was covered
with a layer of dirt and grime. It took a little imagination to realize
that it was an Omni A, Series B, matching remote VFO, 252 power supply and
remote digital display.
It looked as though someone had stacked stuff on top of the Omni and put a
large gash on the top of the case. The trim ring on the transceiver looked
corroded and unrecoverable. I started to walk away, but noticed that all
the lettering on the panel looked good, as best I could tell. I spit on my
finger tips and rubbed some of the grime off the tuning knob. The expected
scratches were not there suggesting that this radio may not have seen a
lot of use. I did the same on the other knobs, and found the metal inlays
to be in very good shape.
I noted that the dial cords were broken and the VFOs were both seized, but
everything seemed unmolested, with the exception of the power cord, that
was crudely cut about a foot from the connector. I made a ridiculous
offer and was countered immediately with a "Sold!".
I brought it home, set everything next to the kitchen and started
cleaning. The more I cleaned, the more excited I got. This gear was in
excellent shape. Front panels were perfect, the cases were much better
than expected, the gash could be repaired, and the trim ring cleaned up
perfectly with just a light application of Soft Scrub. Then I took off the
top
cover......bonus!!!...a 217 CW filter! (it is worth more than half of
what I paid for everything!)
Now I'm in the quandary of whether I should try un-seizing the VFOs and
repairing the dial cords. I'm sure there may be other issues, maybe it
would be better to send the radio back to Ten-Tec (if the still even work
on these). Any suggestions out there? I know there is information on
line on doing these repairs and I still need a power cord to do any
testing. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.
This is one of those good luck stories. This Omni A has serial number in
the 600s, just like my original Omni did. I will keep you posted on my
efforts to get it back on the air!
Paul, K5AF
This radio is probably as nice as any 30+ year old radio you'll find
Paul and Karen Schaffenberger
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