04-25-2020, 11:25 PM
Ron, Thank you 
"Do you have access to another SW radio to compare yours to?..."
Oh boy do I, an embarrassment of them actually, vintage and modern.
Yesterday I poked around more, and attended to some suspect looking solder joints. After this, I was seeing occasional oscillator failure with the original 6A8 tube. I also noticed that there was a blue glow in the tube when not oscillating, suggesting that it is gassy. With a replacement 6A8, oscillator was fine, but even on the temporary antenna, still a bit deaf.
Today, I moved the radio to my radio desk, and connected it to the longwire. Tonight, both SW bands are teaming with stations, and everything seems to be operating just as it should, with good reception. This set just needs the right aerial. What I think was happening is that the temporary antenna was just cancelling out the unintended antenna action from connection to the AC line. On a big antenna, with a good ground, all is fine.
Anyway, now it is on to fixing the last caps, and gentle restoration/preservation of the cabinet finish.
Cheers
Ed
"Do you have access to another SW radio to compare yours to?..."
Oh boy do I, an embarrassment of them actually, vintage and modern.
Yesterday I poked around more, and attended to some suspect looking solder joints. After this, I was seeing occasional oscillator failure with the original 6A8 tube. I also noticed that there was a blue glow in the tube when not oscillating, suggesting that it is gassy. With a replacement 6A8, oscillator was fine, but even on the temporary antenna, still a bit deaf.
Today, I moved the radio to my radio desk, and connected it to the longwire. Tonight, both SW bands are teaming with stations, and everything seems to be operating just as it should, with good reception. This set just needs the right aerial. What I think was happening is that the temporary antenna was just cancelling out the unintended antenna action from connection to the AC line. On a big antenna, with a good ground, all is fine.
Anyway, now it is on to fixing the last caps, and gentle restoration/preservation of the cabinet finish.
Cheers
Ed
I don't hold with furniture that talks.
