So this is the not ever recommended for prime time VFO mod for the 142GTL.
I was snowed in and bored out of my mind when I started looking in the junque drawer.
I had several multi turn trimmers as well as a few full size 10 turn potentiometers.
There was this beater of a 142GTL in the back room so I went to work.
Getting all the parts in the right place wasn't that big a chore. I was even clean about the selector removal so it could be returned to stock with little effort.
Initial testing was, well, curious to say the least. I didn't have a way to directly read 27MHz but I could see the 34.xxMHz signal. I got tired of subtraction on the fly and just transmitted while tuning to find out where I was.
Ever wonder what those carriers were that slid all over the band? I guess I wasn't the only one.
Even with a precision voltage source this deal wasn't as stable as you might think.
Tuning was smooth enough but stability on frequency was virtually non existent.
Living out in the woods has it's good and bad. I shared a little less than 50a service with the neighbor so variations in line voltage were to be expected. When the refrigerator compressor started up the current drain would sag voltage to the point where the radio would drop 10Kc.
Now if the 1500 watt electric heater was plugged in the radio would drop 20Kc.
So I'm more than serious when I say "not ever recommended for prime time use"
I later found that the power supply in the 142GTL was wounded as well as the variations in line voltage affecting regulation. It's a fun exercise for the competent solder jockey but not suggested for someone that can't wire their own microphone (for whatever reason) .
So , would I ever do it again? Only as a bad joke.
Would I do it to someone else's radio? $$ talk, sign the waiver and disclaimer, I didn't do this, you were never here.
Should you attempt this? Only if you just have to know.
Would I do it differently? If, If I ever did it again it would be with several decades of precision , digital resistors and an optical up/down counter.
In other words, for all the trouble of the slip-n-slide just DigiMax-Lite .
YMMV, gawd kills kittens and puppies for transgressions of this magnitude, no warranty or liability implied, it's better to have a conscience and regret it than regret not having a conscience, batteries not included...
