Code practice oscillator completed

The panel mount potentiometer I used in the CPO was missing the nut needed to secure it into place. After determining that I needed a 1/4″-32 thread hex nut, I went scouring my Radio Shack and hardware store bins looking for some.

At Radio Shack, I found a bag of assorted hex nuts in their parts bins, with the right thread number, but none of them were smaller than 5/16″. Next stop was a big box hardware store. There I found 1/4″ nuts, but the finest thread they had was 28. The hex nuts they did have with a 32 thread were all #10 or smaller.

Then I went to a couple of the smaller box hardware stores. Much larger selection of nuts and bolts, but still the same problem as with the big box hardware store. Nothing with a finer thread than 1/4″-28, and nothing larger than a #10-32.

So much for instant gratification.

Thanks to a suggestion in the Google+ Ham Radio Homebrew community, I found some (Bourns H-38-1) at Mouser Electronics. Ordered 20 of them so I’d have extras in case I needed some for later. They arrived a few days ago and now my NT7S code practice oscillator is complete!