08-20-2015, 11:34 AM
Wow, that NC-200 looks in great shape. You have a nice National collection.
I don't have any final photos of the NC-100XA yet, but here are a few during restoration.
The chassis cleaned up nicely. I was able to find a matching electrolytic can to restuff to preserve the original appearance. The nice thing about this particular radio is that it was pretty much untouched, only a few electrolytics were patched in in the late 1960's. All the original paper caps were present and have been restuffed. A few of the resistors were open and replaced, the remaining ones were close to tolerance and left as is.
The catacomb movement was really stiff due to shrinkage of the plastic bushings. I was able to split them lengthwise in place in the casting to relieve the tension and now it moves smoothly and freely
The big problem was the power transformer. These radios are known for their weak transformers and this was no exception. Secondary was shorted and it was was replaced with a Thordarson of similar specs. I made a mounting plate to match the existing chassis holes and fit the transformer within the original cover. You can see the new mounting plate in the original chassis cutout.
At this point after complete alignment, the radio plays great on all bands. I particularly like the dial and the wide freq coverage of each band.
I don't have any final photos of the NC-100XA yet, but here are a few during restoration.
The chassis cleaned up nicely. I was able to find a matching electrolytic can to restuff to preserve the original appearance. The nice thing about this particular radio is that it was pretty much untouched, only a few electrolytics were patched in in the late 1960's. All the original paper caps were present and have been restuffed. A few of the resistors were open and replaced, the remaining ones were close to tolerance and left as is.
The catacomb movement was really stiff due to shrinkage of the plastic bushings. I was able to split them lengthwise in place in the casting to relieve the tension and now it moves smoothly and freely
The big problem was the power transformer. These radios are known for their weak transformers and this was no exception. Secondary was shorted and it was was replaced with a Thordarson of similar specs. I made a mounting plate to match the existing chassis holes and fit the transformer within the original cover. You can see the new mounting plate in the original chassis cutout.
At this point after complete alignment, the radio plays great on all bands. I particularly like the dial and the wide freq coverage of each band.
