Turner Expander 500 - Help Please!

[3pinplug]

Hi all
I recently brought one of these but it is in need of a bit of work, i have already replaced the mic lead with some help from a memeber on here but now it is keying i have found a further two isses, they may be related I am unsure.

Fault 1
Sometimes when you dekey the needle on the meeter 'pegs' tot he extreme left, a few pushes and releases of the PTT bar will get it back to its normal position

Fault 2
The volume control doesn't seem to make any difference to the reading on the metter when you talk into the meter, even if you shout into it up close.

I notice their are approx 1/2 a doazen caps on the board inside, would a start be to chenge those of will this be something else, having not owned one before I am unsure of exactly what "normal operation" of one of these is so hoping some owners can chip in.

Heres some pics of the needle pegged and in what I am assuming is the normal position. Also the max needle movement i can get in transmit practically eating the mic and speaking very loud into it, but its alomost the sdame if you are further away or at min theres very little adjustmnent on the slider!

Excuse my typing just noticed a couple of spelling errors in the pics - I mean "Press the PTT Repeatably".

Thanks!

peg3.jpg

peg2.jpg

peg1.jpg

[The Collector]

You'd probably have to strip the meter to see what the needle's catching on, maybe on the edge of some plastic etc. If not, maybe a drop of lube may be all that's needed somewhere, but watch you don't put it where it could affect the meter's functionality.

As for the volume issue, could the slider be at issue rather than a small component? I would have thought that seeing as there is audio, that perhaps the cap's etc might be okay. Then again, what I know about electronics can be written in marker pen on a postage stamp

Is this one of those Turners that turned up en-masse on ebay 2 weeks or so ago? I nearly had a bid on the one with the snapped-off neck myself but it went above a tenner.

[3pinplug]

Hi
Its always difficult to describe an issue but the meter doesn’t appear to be catching, as when you key it moves to the right then returns to the left when you dekey at the beginning of the scale. However periodically it goes past the beginning of the scale on dekey and pegs to the extreme left. Only one or more presses / releases of the PTT will return it yo the beginning of the scale. I did get it recently but it wasnt the snapped neck one ( although i did see it) not sure if mine was the same seller or not because as you say there was quite a few on there at that time, its like someone had been breeding them and they had escaped!

[3pinplug]

Collector you are a legend!!
It was a stuck needle mechanism, found a video on youtube on how to adjust the internals of a meter and all sorted!
Many thanks
Mark

[The Collector]

Well...what can I say, it was just pure luck that I know bugger all and along those lines was about all I could think of...apart from hitting it every time to unstick it lol.

I often use a can of WD40 to unstick things, but find it leaves a crescent-shaped dent if you hit things too hard with it!

You just need to sort out the audio now. My advice is to squirt loads of contact cleaner fluid in the slider...and if that doesn't work, I usually give up and put it in a box ready to send to Nick, Black Spirit


Glad you sorted it though matey

[3pinplug]

Its all in the signature..”legend”!
You are on a roll, switch cleanered the slider and hey presto volume control!
Keep hitting away with that can of WD40 its working wonders!
Many thanks!
Mark

[The Collector]

No worries., glad to help.

My latest technical guide "How to fix things with a sledgehammer" will be available in all good bookshops next week

[3pinplug]

It sounds a “cracking” read!