12-24-2012, 06:53 PM
Recently I purchased a Philco Model 49-504 from RadioAttic and the description read that it "receives stations loud and clear across the dial, electronically restored." I was looking for a simple radio I didn't have to work on since I have my fair share of those and this little jewel fit the bill.
I received it today and was sorely disappointed. When I first turned it on there as popping and cracking going from station to station and beyond around 100-1050 there were no stations at all picked up. The volume would fluctuate on a couple of local stations and some were lower than on other AM radios I have on the same station. There was a grey wire bunched up inside the chassis with a connector on the end and the other end tied to chassis ground. I don't kow what that was for.
Curiosity got the best of me and I took the one screw off the bottom and pulled the chassis out. There were some 6-8 old wax capacitors and a filter cap that holds three caps that obviously had never been replaced nor could I detect any resistors that had been replaced. the tubes were suspect at this point as well.
Electronically restored to me means most if not all paper caps are replaced and at a minimum resistors as well if they're out of range along with any suspect tubes.
This is not my radio but it's just a carbon copy of what I saw under the chassis...pictures toward the bottom of the link as you open it up. Does this look electronically restored? Most disappointing. The fellow I got it from was more than willing to make amends as he took a friends word that it had been restored without checking himself. Next time I do this I'm going to ask for a pic of the underside of the chassis.
http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/view...=1&t=73738
I received it today and was sorely disappointed. When I first turned it on there as popping and cracking going from station to station and beyond around 100-1050 there were no stations at all picked up. The volume would fluctuate on a couple of local stations and some were lower than on other AM radios I have on the same station. There was a grey wire bunched up inside the chassis with a connector on the end and the other end tied to chassis ground. I don't kow what that was for.
Curiosity got the best of me and I took the one screw off the bottom and pulled the chassis out. There were some 6-8 old wax capacitors and a filter cap that holds three caps that obviously had never been replaced nor could I detect any resistors that had been replaced. the tubes were suspect at this point as well.
Electronically restored to me means most if not all paper caps are replaced and at a minimum resistors as well if they're out of range along with any suspect tubes.
This is not my radio but it's just a carbon copy of what I saw under the chassis...pictures toward the bottom of the link as you open it up. Does this look electronically restored? Most disappointing. The fellow I got it from was more than willing to make amends as he took a friends word that it had been restored without checking himself. Next time I do this I'm going to ask for a pic of the underside of the chassis.
http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/view...=1&t=73738
