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Crystal Grinding

To: Multiple recipients of list From: [email protected] (Paul Carreiro) Subject: Help in FT-243 Grinding Greetings fellow boatanchorites! I need help from all the BA gurus out there practiced in the mysterious art of grinding FT-243 type surplus crystals to operate in the ham bands. I have had some success bringing crystals down in the 6.8 to 6.9 MHz range up into the 40 meter band using dry "ultra fine" grade sandpaper. Some have resulted in fine CW tones, others seem to be chirpy and have rather lousy short term stability as the transmitter is keyed ( Subject: Re: Help in FT-243 Grinding Try tooth paste or better yet tooth powder in a heavy water slurry on a glass plate. Using light pressure from the second finger (the one that is used for signaling) and a circular motion, grind each of the straight outer edges lightly. Then clean off and dry. If you overshoot, a small amount of pencil lead rubbed on the center of the crystal face will either lower the frequency or cause it to fail to oscillate. This takes a light touch and a bit of practice. Avoid grinding the center of the crystal face. Hal K4GFI/7 [email protected] ======================================================================== From: "Roberta J. Barmore"

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