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The dial scale on a Motorola 53R is usually in
pretty bad shape. Fingers touch the dial scale when the tuning knob
is turned.
Notice there are two numbering schemes, some have the CD marks and
some don't.. |
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The reason I bought this particular radio was
because the dial was in such good condition! |
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We'll just wipe the dirt off this beautiful dial and...
WHAT THE HELL?? |
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The frickin' PAINT came off!! |
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When the light hits the bare spot it looks like
crap! NOW what am I going to do??? |
I could actually feel my amygdala firing!
Well, not really feel it, but I felt the effects of it. |
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Eventually, I got this great idea to scan the
dial, edit it, and glue a photo of the dial on top of the real
dial.
Then I got an even better idea! I'd scan it, remove everything but the
numbers, and make a decal! |
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Recreating the dial was a project in itself. The
background had to be taken out and all the numbers digitally cleaned
up.
Get it? I had to digitally clean up the numbers. |
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I went online and bought clear waterslide decal
paper for a laser printer, even though I didn't actually have a
laser printer.
Since I didn't have a laser printer, I bought a laser printer, too. |
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The dial was taken down to the bare brass and
then painted gold and given a clear coat.
This was done twice. It didn't come out well the first time. I
added more paint, which made it worse, so I started over. |
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The size of the printout was painstakingly
adjusted, then the decal paper was put in the printer. The next part
should have been a piece of cake! |
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It was a disaster. The decal folded on itself
while I was sliding it off the paper backing.
Part of the problem was that I tried to use a decal with a big hole
in the middle that would cover the entire dial plate.
I cut the next decal in half since there are no numbers on the
bottom. That failed, too. The third try was a success. |
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SUCCESS!! |
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Heh! Heheh! Look at his test decals!
(Say it quickly.)
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NOTE: If you are
restoring your dial, you can download the decal file
here.
Use
XnView (free photo editor) and print the file as "DPI,"
or the actual dots per inch. (Other photo viewers will
probably work fine. I happen to use XnView.)
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You can also
email me and I'll send you a decal if I have any decal
paper left.
Clear coat the gold paint before and after you apply the
decal, because the clear coat changes the color of the gold
paint. |
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