Wow the attenuator mechanism on this thing is a joke. There is a bent piece of brass that interacts with a rounded bar of aluminum fixed to a wafer switch. So they are making a thin square interact with a crappy high wear aluminum piece. It must be sensitive to fractional degrees, god forbid someone put a curved surface on there. Looks like that amplifier has gone missing.
Have not been this disapointed with HP construction method since I ran across that 100V "precision" power supply with its plastic switch matrix, that was built like a garage door with literally a bunch of panel meters and shit sandwiched together like a garage door on the front panel with no screws. This old HP stuff is really hit or miss on quality.
I am defiantly not looking to align shitty under built cams with precision sanding in this hobby.
If you have one of these, I recommend sanding the cam down and JB welding a piece of brass shim around the actuator to make some kind of decent surface so its not aluminum. Maybe that would work but I lost my patience on this thing. I think they must have transfered the designer of this attenuator to their printer department, because its about as fun to work on as a printer. This is the literal mechanism that is used to switch in the attenuator :
![Banging Head |O](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/bangheadonwall.gif)
.
![](https://i.imgur.com/lRZbJR8.png)
it looks like a scorpion too.
you know what, that whole attenuator is insane. Why don't you make a module that has a soldered BNC connector that screws in to the front of the unit. Instead you have some cockamy bullshit assembly that has a BNC Connector that is press fit into a piece of a switch (seriously, they have the BNC center conductor solder cup jam into a bent piece of metal) and fixed with a set screw. What the hell is the benefit. You need more screws and more shit to fit together to do it that way. And change the switch to the other kind (normally open/closed) so that the attenuator switch is simply depressed by maximum knob rotation rather then have it necessary to have the attenuator work on the middle switch setting (i.e. why the fuck does the cam have to engage the switch from both directions?). I can't figure out what they were thinking. IMO its nuts to sell this mechanism. If you just press down on it when the switch is fully turned, that would be fine, it would just press the switch on the top like its meant to be. you might not even need a god damn spring if you did it that way.
![WTF? :wtf:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/wtf2.gif)
they treat the switch assembly like a punching bag not a depression switch the way it is. I totally hate this amplifier. Its a push button switch not a 'lick button' switch. god damn what a stupid design, and also the grounding path sucks really bad and goes through so many screws and aluminum pieces.
![Face Palm :palm:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/facepalm.gif)
. This could have been so simple.