A first - ordering and using a 3D manufactured item

A Mod for the FT-817nd

As you use the FT-817 (nd) you notice the tuning knob is quite sensitive. You can adjust the steps, but a slightest move of the dial and you're off frequency quite a bit!.... On other products I have, there might be a detent to step you thru. I guess just a matter of taste. One either likes or dislikes a tuning knob with a detent. I have a shortwave radio with a detent and there's a mod to take it out. It seems the preference for fine tuning is a knob without stepping.

So... How to control the tuning to a finer detail, you ask?.... Make a know or modify the knob you have in such a way that it gives you better control....

Such is what a fellow Ham did... A small knob such as this , is a great candidate for 3D printing technology. The latest tech craze, now that low cost 3D printers are being made.

Drawn up and 3D printed on Shapeways, its available and reasonably priced... I'm waiting for mine. Comes in red, green, yellow, blue, purple and orange!... Decisions ! Decisions!