Seal
plug
edges
with
RTV
now that's
a darn
sight
better
!
Petals bent or cracked?
ater in the Avenger’s slip ring makes
the slip ring’s performance slippery. But
you can prevent some of the faults and
erratic performance commo problems by
telling your unit not to steam clean around
the turret and to use low-pressure water for clean-
ing instead.
Also, remove the slip ring drain plugs and
drain the slipring at least every 6 months. A
good time to do it is when you grease the gears for the turret. In rainy or humid
areas, drain the slip ring more often.
Keep the slip ring dry by putting RTV around the edges of the three plug caps
before screwing them back in the slip ring. That helps them seal out moisture.
PS 568
41
MAR 00
Dear Editor,
We’ve learned a couple of things that will help other Patriot units
operate their AN/MPQ-53 radar sets:
Check the shielding for the RF
(radio frequency) cable connectors
before you go to the field. If the
shielding petals are bent or cracked,
RF will leak and you will get a poor
signal. Report cables with damaged
shielding.
Take off all field gear before you
go inside the radar van. There is little room to maneuver in the van.
If you’re wearing your web gear or mask or carrying your rifle, it’s
easy to catch one of the small wires and rip it out—and you won’t
even know it. It may take lots of troubleshooting to find that wire.
SFC Brandon Brennan
SGT Terry Bonham
B Btry, 3/6 ADA
Ft Bliss, TX
Avenger Missile System . . .
Patriot Missile System . . .
Pick These Tips Up on Radar
Of course, knowing how to clean the
sights’ lenses won’t do you any good
if you get to the field and don’t have
the cleaning materials. Before you
leave, make sure you have lens tissue,
cotton pads, alcohol, the rubber syringe,
and cleaning solution.
Help the lenses stay clean by using
their caps as much as possible. The
day sight doesn’t come with caps, but
you can order a large cap with NSN
piece cover with NSN 5340-01-087-
1298.
kit. Dab the solution on the lens. Don’t
rub it on—you could scratch the lens.
Wait one to three minutes for the solu-
tion to loosen dirt and then rinse the
lens with clean water. If dirt still re-
mains, repeat these steps until the dirt’s
gone. Don’t let the cleaning solution
dry on the lens. It can damage the lens
coating.
For the
night sight
, rinse the lens
with clean water. If the lens is still
dirty, wet a cotton pad with the lens
cleaning solution from your cleaning
Dab on cleaning solution for tough dirt
Rinse lens with clean water