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Old 13th Mar 2018, 9:50 am   #15
David G4EBT
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Cottingham, East Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 5,737
Default Re: Heathkit RF1U Signal Generator Restoration

That's an interesting contrast. The dial is screen printed like the lighter coloured one of mine, but in is painted gray like the darker one of mine, which has a metallic dial. Both that one and yours have larger dials than the lighter coloured one as the dial goes right to the top of the case. On the lighter coloured one, the dial is smaller and the term 'HEATHKIT SIGNAL GENERATOR' is printed above the dial.

My Darker one on the top LH corner states 'Heathkit Daystrom' which I think means the Gloucester factory, and yours has 'Heathkit' in the same place, but in a 'cursive' font. For some reason, Heathkit knobs don't age well over time, and just as the knobs on my darker one had to be changed to the ones that I fitted, on yours, only the central tuning knob is original - the 'chicken head' knobs are replacements, but don't look out of place.

I guess that the different front panel designs reflect what Heathkit considered to be in style at the time. I imagine that the RF1U had quite a long run spanning many years - anyone's guess how long. Despite the high price originally, they seem to be fairly common. As long as the coils haven't been messed with, by reference to the full manual, the RF1U can be checked through step by step to find any errors.

Does yours work at the moment - have you checked the output of the selenium rectifier or is on your 'to do list'??
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