Alinco: Alinco DX-SR8 replacement encoder Upgrade?

[kd2goe]

So i have one of them Alinco DX-SR8 and everyone that has touched one knows the rotary encoders on the VFO are Trash plastic shaft the hole knob wiggles and fells like it's going to fall off. but in all honesty the radio is pretty good and that is my only complaint.

So i was digging around and found the part number and data sheet to fined a workable replacement with a steel shaft and maybe adding some sort of drag to it..
the point of this post is to start a discussion on a workable replacement Encoder for the Alinco DX-SR8 and to understand how the encoder works.


Encoder that came on the Radio. Mfr. Part No. REC16B25-201C

https://www.digikey.com/product-det...nics/REC16B25-201-C/REC16B25-201-C-ND/7599677

https://www.nidec-copal-electronics.com/e/catalog/rotary-encoder/rec16&res16.pdf

 

[nanZor]

Wobbly VFO knob fix: (because I've been there)

There are two small shim stickers, similar to small rf-id tags on each side of the shaft. When the factory slides the VFO knob onto the shaft, instead of gliding over the shims, there is a tendency for the knob to just push the shims down the shaft instead. Basically the tolerance is too tight to glide over the shims.

This results in a wobbly loose fit, and sometimes a click-sound as the shim that got pushed down the shaft is rotated around the mounting nut. Sometimes the mounting nut itself is a hair loose. You can tighten the mounting nut *very slightly* too, but don't over-do it.

One fix is to live with just ONE shim and accept a tighter, but slightly offset knob. The shim if not found, can sometimes be found inside the knob. Remove it.

The other fix is to remove both shims, especially if they are no longer sticky, and do the following, which is much easier:

Place a small thin strip of kitchen aluminum foil and bend it over the top of the shaft and down both sides of the shaft part way. Push the knob down over that.

Nice tight fit now. If still not tight enough, use heavier-duty kitchen foil.

If the kitchen foil strip seems to fall away (from angry breathing perhaps) before you can get the knob on, use just a tiny dot of blue painter's tape to just barely hold the strip to the shaft.

 

[kd2goe]

Wobbly VFO knob fix: (because I've been there)

There are two small shim stickers, similar to small rf-id tags on each side of the shaft. When the factory slides the VFO knob onto the shaft, instead of gliding over the shims, there is a tendency for the knob to just push the shims down the shaft instead. Basically the tolerance is too tight to glide over the shims.

on mine it's the hole shaft not the matting from the shaft and the knob i do have shims between them as well.
and by loose i mean it will spin like a top..

 

[nanZor]

Oh wow - didn't know it got that bad. Hopefully your replacements part #'s will help a few out.

I think I understand how it gets that way - plenty of knob turning miles on a vfo that is painfully slow? I could never figure out why Alinco never fixed that, because it was so obvious. Pretty sure the radio was designed for a channelized / scanner / world-commercial mindset, and not amateurs really.

In fact, I have to set the step to 2.5khz and use the mic up/down buttons to take much of that wear off the encoder, so I think I get it.

I even have the rx-only version, but same issue. Bought an 8-pin mic jack, drilled a hole and soldered to the main display board (easy), and wired up and remote up / down paddle. So frustrating since I too like the radio for what it is, but that VFO design bugs me. I would rather have had a better vfo firmware upgrade, than the half-hearted sdr feature.

I just might pick up a spare from your notes, so thanks for posting that.