Testing And Alignment - Ramsey Electronics FR1 Assembly And Instruction Manual

TESTING AND ALIGNMENT

A Hex head alignment tool is required to tune up your FR1. If you do not
already have a set of plastic or nylon coil alignment tools and expect to build
other radio or transmitter type kits, such tools are well worth having and can be
found at any electronics store, including Radio Shack. While a hex style Allen
wrench will fit the coil slug, the metal itself will drastically change the coil's
inductance while it is in the slug. For this reason you should not use an Allen
wrench unless you don't mind the trial and error process of; turning the slug,
withdrawing the tool, checking tuning, reinserting the tool, retuning, checking
and so on.
You can fabricate your own non-metallic tuning tool with some patience, a bit of
sandpaper and a piece of plastic rod or wood stick. Try a large wooden
matchstick, kabob skewer, or small plastic crochet needle. Carefully sand down
the end to a hex shaped form and check for proper fit within the coil slug. It is
better to have the tool fit loosely rather than too tight, since a tight tool will cause
stress on the delicate slug.
1. Connect the following:
Fresh 9 volt battery (preferably heavy duty alkaline type)
Speaker or earphone
A short length of wire (about two feet) to serve as antenna or
The telescopic whip if the optional matching case and knob set was
purchased.
2. Set the Volume and the Tune controls to the center of their range.
3. Press the power switch 'ON', you should hear some rushing noise from your
speaker.
4. Rotate the volume control and see if it does its job.
5. Slowly turn L2's slug back and forth for maximum noise. This noise should be
similar to what you would hear when a regular FM radio is tuned between
stations. L2 may be tuned with a regular blade style screwdriver.
6. Try turning the Tune control. See if you can receive any stations, but don't be
alarmed if nothing is received since we haven't adjusted the oscillator coil yet.
7. The oscillator coil, L1 is adjustable to receive from 70 to 110 Mhz. We have to
adjust it to cover the frequency range of interest. For alignment purposes we'll
work with the understanding that the standard FM 88-108 Mhz band is what we
wish to receive.
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