today's specials is an assortment of secondhand gear, one-offs, special offers and maybe Pete's hints'n'tips stuff.

JUST IN!

INTERNAL ADSL MODEM - (not to be confused with a dial-up modem, this is a straight onto BROADBAND device)

BRAND NEW PCI CARD for installation inside the pc, complete with instal CD, telephone cable user manual and filter. (detailed spec on request) GBP 25.00 plus GBP 2.00 post

SMC AIR TOGGLE SWITCHES 6mm Push Fittings Price: GBP 4.00 each (Picture B - sorry, not available just yet)

"airtec" AIR SOLENOID SWITCHES 24V operation Price: GBP 8.50 (Pic C - click on pic)

Well, going back a bit, the "N Type" connector was designed by a Mr Neill, who worked for Amphenol. A Mr Concelman (also Amphenol) designed the "C Type" connector, which was a bayonet fitting connector similar to the N Type. Then, Messrs Neill and Concelman joined forces and developed the Bayonet Neill Concelman connector and also the Threaded Neill Concelman connector. Get it?

Oh, and the UHF series (PL259, etc.) was designed by a Mr Quackenbush. So the PL259 might have been called the "Q Type".

We've all done it - gone for quick twiddle, then that ominous tiny "click". If only we'd been a bit more patient.

I've seen suggestions for dropping various solvents into the coil former to ease sticking slugs. Now some solvents can be downright fatal. In my previous life as an industrial chemist, I spent a lot of time studying the interaction between solvents and plastics. Polystyrene, sometimes used for coil formers, will be destroyed almost immediately by most solvents. What you really have to consider is the long-term damage: some materials may suffer stress cracking weeks later. There are two good methods which I have used for many years: firstly, try GENTLE warming with a hair dryer. If core lock compound has been used, then it will be softened, also I believe there may be differential expansion between the slug and the former which will help.

There is one chemical which no workshop should be without and that is Vaseline (petroleum jelly), (NOT motor grease). Try putting a blob into the top of the coil former, then warm with the hair dryer until the Vaseline melts and runs down into the former (may need repeating). When its still warm and liquid, try your luck with the trimming tool. I like Chris Lorek's advice to use nothing more brutal than a sharpened matchstick - you can break that as often as you like. Just remember to re-melt the Vaseline next time you feel the urge to twiddle. Vaseline is very inert and I have never known it to damage coil former plastics.

If this sounds like a lot of bother, consider how much more bother it is to change the coil!

WE'VE GOT LOTS OF COMPONENTS, AND PMR EQUIPMENT AND SPARES, WHICH IS WHY IT'S TAKING A LONG WHILE TO GET THEM FULLY LISTED

Meantime: please e-mail any enquiries on these topics to:

or 'phone 07714 198374

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