Drake 7-Line
Solid-State Blue LED
Illumination
Drake has used
blue filters since
the days of the 4-Line equipment. This continued into the later
7-Line equipment including the TR7(A) transceiver and R7(A)
receiver. The problem occurs in later years when the blue filters
begin to change and the displays end up looking green. Since the
meter and frequency displays are illuminated by incandescent lamps they
emit a glow that leans toward the red end of the emission
spectrum. Thus a blue filter being back lit by a yellow/red
glowing filament will naturally result in a greenish
illumination. In the past people would replace the blue filters
with newer and perhaps darker blue filters. This was a step in
the right direction, but you are still stuck with a light bulb that
will eventually burn out and require replacement. In the
TR7 transceiver the bulb that illuminates the analog frequency display
requires the removal of the DR-7 digital readout board to access the
bulb. This is not an enjoyable job and has the
potential of damaging the DR-7 or other parts in the radio if
the deinstall and install procedures are not followed closely.
You will often see the analog display dark as the user never bothered
to change a burnt out bulb.
Another problem area with the 7-Line equipment illumination is that Drake used small round glass #53 bayonet bulbs. Due to their small size they can not illuminate the total coverage area of the meter or analog display evenly. You will have light and dark areas.
To solve both
the aforementioned
shortcomings I have developed a Blue illumination kit to replace the
existing incandescent bulbs provided with the 7-Line
equipment. The kit consists of two custom
manufactured LED lamps. Each lamp utalizes the latest in
Surface Mount Technology (SMT) assembled on Flex PC Board. The
internal lamp LED spacing was designed to provide a wide angle
of light dispersion providing a very even illumination distribution
across the meter or analog frequency display area. Each lamp
assembly has a solid plastic diffusion lens attached to further
distribute the light evenly. Since the
LED's emit a true blue spectrum there is no green affect encountered
with the incandescent bulbs. There is no need to replace
or add additional gel filters.
Lamp assemblies install easily using integrated non-conductive slide-on clips. Thus no destructive changes are made to your equipment. This kit is fully reversible!
Lamp assemblies install easily using integrated non-conductive slide-on clips. Thus no destructive changes are made to your equipment. This kit is fully reversible!
The life of an
LED is long,
typically 80,000-100,000 hours (almost 10 years of continuous
power), and most of us will never experience it going
out. Once the original lamps are replaced you should never
have to replace them again. You will save on current draw!
The two LED lamp assemblies only require a total of 50mA whereas the original
#53 lamps have a total of 240mA current draw. That's almost 0.2
amps less current draw from the power supply and negligible heat
dissipation from the LED's.
|
Before |
After |
Drake 7-Line Kit
One Meter Blue LED Lamp Assembly
One PTO Blue LED Lamp Assembly
Four (4) Heat Shrink Tubing Sleves (If Needed)
Full Installation Instruction Sheet
Simple to Install
Installation is
straight forward
and every attempt was made for ease of installation. Since internal wiring is performed this kit does
require that the installer must be capable of basic soldering skills. If
you've never soldered before, please find someone who has experience to
assist you.
An inside view
 Meter LED Lamp Assembly Installed |
 PTO LED Lamp Assembly Installed |
Ordering
Please Order Using these Part Numbers
| PART NUMBER |
Used In |
Price (USD) |
| MOD-7LINESET |
Lamp
Kit 7-Line TR7 TR7A R7 |
$22.00 |
| MOD-7LINEIND | Single
Lamp Kit RV7 |
$12.00 |
All
products and parts are shipped at the rates shown below. There is no
quantity limit for these rates. You can combine items from other pages
on this site and all will ship together at this one rate!
| Destination | Method |
Cost (USD) |
| U.S.A. |
Priority Mail |
$4.95 |
| Canada & Mexico |
Priority Mail Flat Rate |
$11.45 |
| All Other Destinations |
Priority Mail Flat Rate |
$13.45 |
Send Check or Money Order (US Funds Only) to:
D.A. Buska Engineers LLC
4805 64th Avenue
Kenosha, WI
53144 U.S.A.
For immediate processing we accept on-line orders and payments through PayPal when using the Order Cart below. You can change the order quantity if desired when you view the cart during check out. This order cart can be used throughout the many pages on this site so it is not necessary to check-out until you have ordered everything you need.
| Part Number |
Price
(Ea) |
Range and Radio |
Add to Cart |
| MOD-7LINESET |
$22.00 |
Lamp Set 7-Line (TR7(A), R7) |
|
| MOD-7LINEIND |
$12.00 |
Single
Lamp Kit (RV7) |
