Collins KWS-1 Plate & Ant Tuning Controls REPAIR - FINAL VERSION

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WBear2GCR:
Having just acquired a KWS-1 of early manufacture, I found the Plate and Ant tuning
controls to seize or be rather un-smooth. Apparently this is a common problem.

So, after checking online and finding not much good information on a repair, I investigated myself.

After determining what the problem is, I came up with a few methods to effect high quality repairs.
It's PRELIMINARY because I just wrote this up, and have yet to implement the repairs, and take pics.
I'm confident of good results using these methods.

I wrote them up, and they're in the attached pdf. (A high res version is available on request)

Comments, reactions, feedback and suggestions appreciated!

Feel free to share or put this pdf online, with attribution, please!

Repairing these knobs properly is essential to keeping these rigs on-the-air.

UPDATE: Scroll down I've posted the V1.4 PDF which contains proper information - discard earlier versions!! 6/21/2018

w4bfs:
years ago I bought a KWS1 that had worn out plate/load verniers .... It had pot multiturn counter knobs as replacement ....worked fine and looked good .... your work is better by far but this is a possibility for repair

WBear2GCR:

Yep, I've looked at that, but the issue there is that the knobs on the typical multi-turn pot counter dial
are much smaller diameter. Also, I'm not certain but I think these resolve to 100 places vs 10 turns...
but that might be only because it's a continuously reading dial, might work out the same, other than knob
size.

Purists want the original look, of course.

Hopefully before too long I'll have pix up of the actual repair work incorporated into the pdf.

                            _-_-

WA2SQQ:
Very nice explanation. On my first real job I had an old German boss who was a mechanical wiz. I learned so much from him. Your explanation and the possible solutions reminded me so much of him!

nq5t:
Back when I had a KWS-1, this was the most frustrating part of owning the d*** thing.  I ended up borrowing the two reduction knobs from a 180S-1 I had purchased several years before for almost nothing.  Those were in good shape.

Also, several (15?) years ago, a CCA member was selling the reduction assemblies from the PRC-47 as a solution to the KWS-1 issues.  They had the small knob, and a slightly different scale, but otherwise would work.  I bought a couple of them, but never used them .. not sure what happened to them.  In any case, my understanding at the time was that the KWS-1 assemblies had a "small" knob, too, and the large one you see is actually some kind of cap over the small knob and could be removed and shifted to cap the PRC-47 assembly.  At this point, since the older I get the less I remember, I can't say for sure that that is the case or would actually work.

It's too bad there isn't a way to install a couple of quality 6:1 verniers behind the panel with an original appearing knob.  It would make it a whole lot smoother to change bands .. without having to consult a chart first, and then cause wrist damage cranking those old verniers to the new spot.  Rapid band change was definitely not a design criteria for this transmitter … :-)

Hope you can find a good solution to rehabbing those things …

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