Les,

I just took the PTO out and apart, nothing was apparently wrong, but I
reflowed the connections for the 2 caps. Before I put the bottom decks back
in, I noticed a connection between the bottom of the RF and the crystal
calibrator...like a button that makes contact between them when put
together. It was pretty smooshed and not making contact. I fixed that, and
after putting it all together...it works.

Loud and clear,  the dial is about 25kc off. I might stick the original RF
deck back in and see if it's closer and still working, then do an alignment
(my first on a R39x...)

What a strange issue but im glad it's fixed. Whatever it was...

Adam

On Sat, Oct 4, 2025, 17:22 Les Locklear <[email protected]> wrote:

> Open the PTO don't be scared of it. You will probably find two small temp
> compensating caps, 10 pf if my memory is working. They have a tendency to
> spring away from their solder connection maybe from a drop or whatever.
> Reflow the joint and test. I found that problem with a 1962 Amelco R-390A
> PTO.
>
> Les Locklear
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Adam Morehouse <[email protected]>
> To: Jacques Fortin <[email protected]>
> Cc: R-390 Mailing List <[email protected]>
> Sent: 10/4/2025 3:14:56 PM
> Subject: Re: [R-390] R-392
>
> ________________________________________________________________________________
>
> > Alright, so the oscillator is working. I think my problem has to do with
> > the PTO.
> >
> > When I bought the T-195/GRC-19 it came with a tote of parts - I swapped
> the
> > AF/IF/Crystal Calibrator decks out - made no difference. Then I swapped
> RF
> > decks - no difference.
> >
> > I noticed the wiring harness for the big plug on the AF deck had some
> > electrical tape, I unwrapped it and don't see any damaged wires, switches
> > behind the front plate look clean, with no loose or broken wires.
> >
> > But it still makes noises when I gently tap around. I left it tuned to a
> > nearby AM station and flipped the unit over, and it (kinda) came to life.
> > Squealing, and awful sounding - tapping around with a screwdriver,
> > primarily on the PTO seems to affect it the most.
> >
> > Anyone have experience with that? Here's a video....
> >
> > https://photos.app.goo.gl/AZga9HyCqnJ1hyo18
> >
> > On Fri, Oct 3, 2025 at 9:29 AM Jacques Fortin <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Hello Adam,
> >> Swapping the tubes is a good idea, but that do not insure that the 1st
> >> Xtal oscillator is actually working...
> >> You should try to measure if there is any signal on the V401 plate.
> >> This being said, I do not own a R-392, but it is similar to a R-390/URR
> in
> >> architecture.
> >> Do you have a copy of the TM11-858 or the TM11-5820-334-35 ??
> >>
> >> 73, Jacques, VE2JFE in Montreal
> >>
> >> -----Message d'origine-----
> >> De : [email protected] <[email protected]> De
> la
> >> part de Adam Morehouse
> >> Envoyé : 2 octobre 2025 13:59
> >> À : R-390 Mailing List <[email protected]>
> >> Objet : Re: [R-390] R-392
> >>
> >> Managed to get the V401/V203 tubes out with a little bit of gorilla tape
> >> as a puller. The silicone puller I bought just slips right off them...
> >>
> >> I swapped tubes, no changes. The switch seems to be working fine, when I
> >> first start playing with this thing, if I tapped the chassis it would
> click
> >> in the speaker, like a bad connection, etc. I took the bottom decks out,
> >> and dropped the front panel and saw nothing obvious poking around. Now
> that
> >> it's back together, its gone.
> >>
> >> A lot of the tubes do test "low" on my Heathkit TT-1 tube tester (TV-7
> in
> >> the pile of stuff to restore/calibrate).
> >>
> >>
> >> V401
> >>
> >> 1.  -.3 / 118k
> >>
> >> 2.  .01 / 8.4
> >>
> >> 3.  5.8 / 6.2
> >>
> >> 4.  11.38 / 10.3
> >>
> >> 5.  21.9 / 1k
> >>
> >> 6.  21.9 / 1k
> >>
> >> 7.  .013 / 8.4
> >>
> >> V203
> >>
> >> 1. 0 / 107k
> >>
> >> 2. 0 / 3.5k
> >>
> >> 3. 0 / .3
> >>
> >> 4. 23.99 / 3.7
> >>
> >> 5. 10.5v / 8.8M
> >>
> >> 6. .17 /  OL
> >>
> >> 7. 23.15 / 2k
> >>
> >>
> >> On Wed, Oct 1, 2025 at 8:08 PM Adam Morehouse <[email protected]>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hey guys,
> >>>
> >>> Doing a little tinkering between classes (18 credits is awful...). I
> >>> decided to try out a R-392 that came with a T-195 I bought this summer.
> >>> It's nice and clean inside, no obvious defects - but is completely
> >>> dead below 8MHz. Any idea where I should start my search when I dig
> into
> >> this?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks for any help or pointers...
> >>>
> >>> Adam
> >>>
> >> ______________________________________________________________
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> >>
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> >>
> >>
> > ______________________________________________________________
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