My FS700 arrived yesterday, complete with bonus artistic effects due to the sender believing a thin coat of bubble wrap with an outer layer of cardboard cut from a box and just taped on top, no padding or air gap, would be the obvious way to ship it:-( Physically at least it seems to have survived remarkably well, no damage to the BNCs and the front panel trim, outer covers and transformer cover all looking pretty good again after a couple of hours work. Not having any rack ears attached was probably quite a bonus with it shipped like this! The only obvious internal "damage", and it might have been that way before shipping anway, are three vertical inductors held to the circuit board by silicon rubber or hot melt adhesive that are loose but still seem to be electrically connected Anyway, it powered up ok and is indicating it's locked onto Anthorn in the Lessay chain, even if it does believe it's found the never built station at Loop Head in Ireland:-), but I'm not sure if it's functioning properly. It's close enough that I don't want to start pulling it apart for the sake of it without being sure, and it may just be a case of waiting for it to settle, but after showing as "locked" for several hours the 10MHz output, as indicated both by the internal display and an external counter, is swinging back and forth quite rapidly anywhere within approx +/- 3 parts in 10^9. There was an obvious change in the crystal oscillator frequency as the oven warmed, and another when the conditioning seemed to take over, but it's been "hunting" like this ever since it first indicated lock and with no obvious change, just when I do think it might be converging it "opens up" again. So first question is, can anyone tell me please if this is "normal" or close enough that I should expect it to settle eventually, or do I need to start investigating further? Second question, could somebody confirm please whether or not the LCD display is supposed to be backlit? This one isn't, but it's not immediately obvious from photos I've found online whether or not it should be, and although the contrast range on this seems to be fine it's certainly not easy to see. Last question, for now at least:-), this unit has the FS800 PCB rev C, with revision 2.0 firmware, does anyone know if any later firmware is available that includes Anthorn, or at least Rugby, as part of the Lessay chain? Regards Nigel GM8PZR

Hello Nigel, I would consider doing the maintenance/calibration/performance verification procedure in the manual. A procedure will show if you have equal swing on the VCXO about the center freq needed. The VCXO can be mechanically adjusted for center of the VCXO electronic control range. I recall no backlight on the LCD on mine. It has been awhile since I last turned mine on. Stan, W1LE On 03-May-14 12:57 PM, GandalfG8@aol.com wrote: > My FS700 arrived yesterday, complete with bonus artistic effects due to > the sender believing a thin coat of bubble wrap with an outer layer of > cardboard cut from a box and just taped on top, no padding or air gap, would be > the obvious way to ship it:-( > > Physically at least it seems to have survived remarkably well, no damage to > the BNCs and the front panel trim, outer covers and transformer cover all > looking pretty good again after a couple of hours work. > Not having any rack ears attached was probably quite a bonus with it > shipped like this! > The only obvious internal "damage", and it might have been that way before > shipping anway, are three vertical inductors held to the circuit board by > silicon rubber or hot melt adhesive that are loose but still seem to be > electrically connected > > Anyway, it powered up ok and is indicating it's locked onto Anthorn in the > Lessay chain, even if it does believe it's found the never built station at > Loop Head in Ireland:-), but I'm not sure if it's functioning properly. > > It's close enough that I don't want to start pulling it apart for the sake > of it without being sure, and it may just be a case of waiting for it to > settle, but after showing as "locked" for several hours the 10MHz output, as > indicated both by the internal display and an external counter, is swinging > back and forth quite rapidly anywhere within approx +/- 3 parts in 10^9. > There was an obvious change in the crystal oscillator frequency as the oven > warmed, and another when the conditioning seemed to take over, but it's > been "hunting" like this ever since it first indicated lock and with no > obvious change, just when I do think it might be converging it "opens up" again. > > So first question is, can anyone tell me please if this is "normal" or > close enough that I should expect it to settle eventually, or do I need to > start investigating further? > > Second question, could somebody confirm please whether or not the LCD > display is supposed to be backlit? > This one isn't, but it's not immediately obvious from photos I've found > online whether or not it should be, and although the contrast range on this > seems to be fine it's certainly not easy to see. > > Last question, for now at least:-), this unit has the FS800 PCB rev C, with > revision 2.0 firmware, does anyone know if any later firmware is available > that includes Anthorn, or at least Rugby, as part of the Lessay chain? > > Regards > > Nigel > GM8PZR > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. >