[drakelist] TR-6 fun

[Gerry]

I recently acquired a well-traveled (beat up) TR-6 and 2 original manuals. The top chassis has a lot of corrosion, as you might expect and the case was scratched and rusted in spots. Problem: the schematics for the front end and top and bottom chassis illustrations don’t match. Serial number is 175x range, so this must be a later version. The differences seem to be limited to the front end as the rest of the transceiver follows the manuals. I tried to find other sources of manuals but they all seem to have the earlier versions. Does anyone out there have some background on what Drake did at some point in the TR-6 production cycle to warrant these changes? In spite of the poor condition the thing still works on both receive and transmit. A .2 microvolt signal is clearly heard and I get about 130 watts out on the WV-4 I also got in the deal.! Fortunately the front panels of both the TR-6 and WV-4 are in good shape and all controls work. I temporarily repainted the TR-6 case with automotive truck bed liner. It leaves a flat black textured finish I can stand to look at for a while plus it hides all surface imperfections. I’ll think of a more permanent solution in the spring. Painting season is over in New Hampshire. It was 24 degrees on the way to work yesterday morning.